Looking for a new sharer... Update

Rubic

Rubic

Equine Karaoke Queen
Apr 15, 2012
3,771
571
113
Glasgow
You might remember a while ago that I posted that I'd found an advert for someone looking for a horse to ride. I contacted her and things seemed ok. I'd said that eventually I would like a financial contribution but until we were both sure it would work out I didn't expect anything.

She seemed to get on ok with Rubic. Said she would be able to do times during the week when I was working so it all seemed good to me! Then she was cancelling and I wouldn't hear from her for a week or two then she'd come up one day then ask if it was ok to come up on a certain day, I'd say yes then it'd be raining and then she'd text me saying she wasn't going up. Basically it wasn't consistent so I wasn't getting any help with her. After my car accident I bit the bullet and spoke to her and explained that it had given me a kick up the bum and as I was going to have to pay out extra every month for my car I had to sort out what was happening with Rubic. I told her what sort of price I was looking for per week and that she could ride any days during the week for that (no limit). I said I was sorry to have to do that but told her to have a think about it and get back to me by the end of the month (so she had a week and a half). She still hasn't contacted me so I assume it is off.

What do we think my chances are of finding a sharer at this time of year?! Slim to none?!

Ideally I just want a fairly confident adult to hack her during the day when I'm at work mon-fri - they can pick whatever days they like. I don't expect any stable chores to be done but if they want to do that then it is a bonus. They can use the school a little if they want but I'm not hugely keen on someone schooling her and doing things differently from me and Rubic then getting confused. There are a good few nice hacks around my way so that shouldn't be a problem. How much would you say would be a reasonable amount to expect someone to pay for that?
 
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I am looking for a new share just now. And I am a weekday, day time rider. However tho I mainly hacked my old share, please do think again about asking your sharer not to school the horse.
Because it suggests their riding isnt up to the same standard as yours - faintly insulting.
I did take my share horse in the school three or four times - first when getting to know her, teaching myself how to open gates from her back etc and then again after she spooked and bolted with me . The school is a sheltered place in which to get to know a new horse and to re-establish control (and one's nerves) after a scare.

And for me the most important part of my share was the owner telling me she trusted me with her horse. She knew I didnt ride exactly as she did and had less experience but she allowed me to ride her horse as if it was my own. Watch any potential sharer riding your horse and make sure you like what you see and then, please trust them. I dont think I could share a horse whose owner did not trust me.
 
Skib said:
I am looking for a new share just now. And I am a weekday, day time rider. However tho I mainly hacked my old share, please do think again about asking your sharer not to school the horse.
Because it suggests their riding isnt up to the same standard as yours - faintly insulting.
I did take my share horse in the school three or four times - first when getting to know her, teaching myself how to open gates from her back etc and then again after she spooked and bolted with me . The school is a sheltered place in which to get to know a new horse and to re-establish control (and one's nerves) after a scare.

And for me the most important part of my share was the owner telling me she trusted me with her horse. She knew I didnt ride exactly as she did and had less experience but she allowed me to ride her horse as if it was my own. Watch any potential sharer riding your horse and make sure you like what you see and then, please trust them. I dont think I could share a horse whose owner did not trust me.
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It is nothing to do with their riding not being the same standard as me (in fact it wouldn't be difficult for them to be better than me) and I would explain that. The problem for me is that, in winter I can only ride Rubic in the school as it is too dark for hacking. I'd still want to ride a few days a week (and the extra work would be good for Rubic to help keep on top of her weight). If she is in the school constantly then she'll get fed up so really I'd prefer someone who'd rather hack more than school so she can do a bit of both. As I said I don't mind them going in the school for a bit (maybe once in the week or for 5-10min before or after a hack) but I don't want them to only focus on the school. I have been trying to work on Rubic in the school and I know she still has some little issues I'm trying to iron out and I suppose I'd rather iron them out myself first. I would worry that the sharer might try to sort it out their way and I think for Rubic's sanity we would both need to be singing off the same sheet - that is a trust thing. I need to trust they'd discuss any issues with me and be willing to co-operate with me on working with it. (Please note, I wouldn't disregard their opinions/advice but I'd need to know they'd talk to me about it). For hacking it is simple with Rubic she can be a bit spooky on her own which is why the rider needs to be confident, that is her only hacking issue, and my only hacking rule with her is "don't let her eat" as I think it is bad mannered and potentially dangerous.

Initially they would be in the school with her anyway so I can see how the person rides and how they get on before I take them out and show them the hacking.

Perhaps I should just wait until towards the end of winter and get her fitness levels up and schooling totally established so I won't need to worry so much about the schooling aspect and the nights will be getting lighter so I would be able to take her out if sharer had been in the school. Also it means I wouldn't have the issue of worrying about what will happen to the sharer if she is a bit footy when I take her front shoes off at the start of Dec - they might not be able to ride as much etc. Maybe I just need to rule out having a sharer altogether but money-wise I could really do with a little bit of extra help.
 
joellie said:
I would say depends where you are, but where I am you could ask about £25 til £30 per week.
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Well I'm glad you said that as I asked old sharer for £10 or near enough! I was starting to think I was asking too much! I suppose it depends on how often they were going to ride - if I said £5 a day then that seems fairly reasonable and about what you are saying. I'm in Glasgow so its not the cheapest part of the horsey world (just been told that our YO is going to be charging £50 for a big round bale of hay now:timebomb:)
 
Sorry, I misunderstood about the not going into the school. It is quite fair to have a sharer just to hack - my share was like that. And my next will be too as there is no school at that yard.
I too like an arrangement where I pay by ride, but I need to write to the BHS about that, as you will see from the recent thread here, it may invalidate the third party liability insurance. And if one re-classifies the share as a pay by ride and insure to ride a hired hack (which one can do), eml has told us that puts the owner in a bad situation as one must have a local authority licence to hire out a horse.
Previously I actually paid the whole livery cost for the days I rode, as there was no other rider.
In your place, I would look on the web and see what local riding schools charge for an hour's hack. You need to charge less than that. But you can also charge according to the rider's skills and ability to pay.
 
As an ex sharer who is currently looking for another, I'd be expecting to hack with the occasional use of a school if there was one available for the first few days getting used to the horse and then when its bad icy weather.
 
Skib said:
Sorry, I misunderstood about the not going into the school. It is quite fair to have a sharer just to hack - my share was like that. And my next will be too as there is no school at that yard.
I too like an arrangement where I pay by ride, but I need to write to the BHS about that, as you will see from the recent thread here, it may invalidate the third party liability insurance. And if one re-classifies the share as a pay by ride and insure to ride a hired hack (which one can do), eml has told us that puts the owner in a bad situation as one must have a local authority licence to hire out a horse.
Previously I actually paid the whole livery cost for the days I rode, as there was no other rider.
In your place, I would look on the web and see what local riding schools charge for an hour's hack. You need to charge less than that. But you can also charge according to the rider's skills and ability to pay.
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Yes I read that thread, very interesting and I will be sure to check my insurance to find out if a sharer would be covered under it or whether they'd best get their own riders insurance. I think I'd probably charge £10-15 a week as ideally I would want someone to ride 2-3 times a week so rather than charging per ride, I'd just charge per week on the assumption that they would be riding 2-3 times a week, I can iron that out when I talk to them - by the sounds of things paying per week rather than per ride would be a safer bet with the insurance etc?

Round here an hours hack can range from £20-30 so I would still be charging less than that.
 
As a sharer who can only hack (horse doesn't shool, rather than owner not wanting me to school), I get pretty fed up when the weather is rubbish and I can't ride. I have to say if the horse could school, and I just wasn't allowed to do it, I would be pretty miffed on the days the weather was rubbish and I couldn't hack but wanted to ride.

Plus a hacking only sharer doesn't really get much riding in over winter....I wouldn't be so keen to take one on at this time of year. I am happy to have minimal riding over winter now because I adore my share, but I might not have been so happy if I had started at that time of year!
 
Laura_107 said:
As a sharer who can only hack (horse doesn't shool, rather than owner not wanting me to school), I get pretty fed up when the weather is rubbish and I can't ride. I have to say if the horse could school, and I just wasn't allowed to do it, I would be pretty miffed on the days the weather was rubbish and I couldn't hack but wanted to ride.
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Read my other posts - its not that they cannot ever go in the school it's just that it suits me and Rubic better as I cannot hack at night after work as it is too dark and I don't want her schooled twice a day when the sharer is riding and I want to ride after work. This basically means Rubic is stuck in the school all through the week and only gets to hack at weekends, I want a bit more variety in her work and she needs a bit more work to help with her weight so someone who wants to hack more than school just suits our situation better. Over summer it actually won't matter so much as I can hack after work.

The other thing is that when the weather is bad here the school is actually useless - it is like riding in a giant slippy puddle. So actually when the weather is bad I hack or don't ride at all! I'm not a fair-weather rider. Rubic has a waterproof exercise sheet and I have a long riding coat (which, if it fits, sharer would be welcome to use) and luckily our hacking is good for bad weather.
 
a hacking only sharer doesn't really get much riding in over winter....
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If your sharer works weekdays that is true. But some lucky women or retired people dont work. I hacked 3 times a week from October 2011 till Christmas, and cut that to twice a week for the rest of the winter - the excuse was age and weariness.
 
I do think that you could easily find a suitable sharer. There are many people who are happy to hack and in my experience most leisure riders prefer hacking to schooling anyway.

I hope that you find someone suitable soon.
 
Skib said:
If your sharer works weekdays that is true. But some lucky women or retired people dont work. I hacked 3 times a week from October 2011 till Christmas, and cut that to twice a week for the rest of the winter - the excuse was age and weariness.
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I work half six to half past two so can find some daylight to ride in potentially.
 
I have put an advert up on equine adverts. (any other free places anyone can think of?)

I'm not getting my hopes up about finding someone at this time of year but I suppose you don't know if you don't try!
 
I got mine on gumtree, seems to used more than preloved up here.

Hope you find someone, rubic sounds like she is going to be a nice fit horse :biggrin:
 
See a setup like this would suit me down to the ground. Schooling bores the hell out of me, I adore hacking and Id prefer not to have weekends!

I cant afford a horse at present as I am a full time mum so I certainly would consider a set up like this for £10-£15 a week.
 
I can't see why you wont get anyone either... I took on my first share in October - a hacking only horse - I worked Thursday to Monday in those days so could only ride in the week, I too had no interest what so ever in schooling and would ride in any weather apart from fog and got planty of riding in - when that share ended I took my second share in February and although there was a school I rarely used it, so good luck with your search there will be someone out there Im sure. Oh and I think what your asking is quite cheap, I used to pay £20 a week.
 
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