Do you think someone would share her?

[KimT]

Given that fact that there are a lot of horses out there and a few threads that are negative about sharing I wonder if anyone thinks I could find a sharer for Ellie.

Ellie's details;
15hh 8yr old Welsh Sec D cross. Despite her age she is green. She has been hacked out but not done a lot of schooling. However she has an absolute heart of gold. There have been times something has terrified her so much I can feel her heart pounding against my leg and she will still do what I have asked her e.g. stand still for huge vehicle to go past. I havent jumped her yet but we have been over trotting poles and raised trotting poles so I see no reason why she wouldnt. She doesnt like fillers so would not make a good showjumper but would turn her hoof to dressage, endurance, trek, possible cross country. She hacks out alone and in company. Will leave a horse (if you hack out with someone from another yard for instance), doesnt get worked up by horses galloping around a field next to her, isn't 'fizzy', doesnt go crazy in a group. She doesnt ride any differently if you leave her for a month and get back on to if you rode her everyday. She is good in most traffic but needs reassurance with very large vehicles.

She is barefoot and ridden only in a saddle and bridle (full cheek snaffle). Good to catch, loves affection (you could groom her all day), good to worm, perfect with the vet. Only problem is she doesnt like picking up her back feet but we are making steady progress on this.

She would not be suitable for a complete novice purely because she can be nervous with new things and just needs someone to guide her and give her confidence. She can occassionaly spin at something truely scary but only ever goes to the right and has never unseated me or my mum (who has had a hip op).

She has been out of work purely because she needs a new saddle and I cant afford one yet. I will have one in March and plan to spend a month or so working with her to give her more experience before putting ads out.

She is a very good looking girl and has loads of potential in Welsh PB classes both ridden and in hand.

I would be asking for a financial contribution towards her but to be honest, after I have backed Lady I probably wont have a lot of involvement with Ellie depending on how many days the sharer could do (I wont tell them that to start with).

Do you think I could find someone? She would not really suit a teenager because she is not that whizzy but maybe someone who would love to pootle around the countryside. She will walk, trot, canter, etc but is just not hot headed. If that makes sense.

[highlanderpony2002]

She sounds lovely I cant think of any reason why she wouldnt attract a sharer except in some areas they are few and far between so it might take some time. Where they are rare they get the pick of horses for free and may not want to pay.

[antares]

well it would depend for me how much work you managed to do with her once you have sorted a saddle out.

I personally wouldn't charge a 'sharer' as I would see it as them doing me a favour and exercising/schooling/bringing my horse on with me not having the time and inclination myself

[KimT]

To be honest I'm not fussed about anyone bringing her on. If they just wanted to hack forever she would be happy. I will charge because at the end of the day they will probably get a whole horse to themselves and tbh, people often respect and commit more if they have to pay. I will only be asking £60 ish per month to cover everything so it's not huge money. I wouldnt charge if they were teaching her something I wanted her to know but because they will basically have half a horse with half the responsibility, most of the riding and essentially joint ownership (in a non legal sense) I would expect them to pay. No one ever gave me a free horse. lol.

I bought Ellie from my mum because mum wasnt getting on with her and in the current market I didnt feel she would find a good home with her level of experience. I always intended to share/loan her because I have Lady and never wanted 2 horses (especially just coming into winter. lol) and planned to do a lot more work with her but the saddle didnt fit and I needed a new one. I won't sell her though.

I feel that she has all the making of a fantastic horse but just needs a bit of work. The sharer will have free choice to teach her what they want to do, e.g. showing, dressage.... I honestly dont mind. Ellie would already produce a reasonable prelim walk and trot test. She just needs to go out and do it really.

[antares]

Well £60 a month is not much I suppose but I still wouldn't charge ;D

[cookie]

I guess it does depend where you are but sounds similar to my boy and I have an adult sharer who I charge, just a little more than you charge for a min of two days, more often three and any extras if I'm not around are no problem.
He's also on full livery so no chores except grooming and a bit of tack cleaning.

Advertise, be honest and fussy

Sent from my GT-I9100 using proboards

[KimT]

Hahaha. I am more than prepared to be fussy. lol. Ellie is so sweet that she will try her absolute heart out for you but is a little nervous so needs a helping hand sometimes. I dont want anyone who would take advantage of her nature.

We are moving yard at the end of the month to our own bit of land. It has 3 stables, 5 acres and you can hack on the ridgeway from there. We dont have a school but can borrow the one over the road for a price. In the summer they can school in one of the paddocks as well. They will need to poo pick/muck out but only on their days.

[Deleted]

I think you sound like you want someone to loan her, not share. The chances are someone looking at adverts for sharers doesn't have time to do more than 2 or 3 days a week, that's why they're looking at share adverts not loan ones so if you're hoping someone will take her on more than that I think you should advertise it as a loan.

The balance of money vs help for a share always gets varied responses, but as a rule if you loan a horse I think people expect to care for it too. When sharing a lot don't. I paid if the horse was on part livery and there weren't any jobs to do. I don't think I'd have been willing to pay to muck out and poo pick, although at that time I couldn't have mucked out and poo picked because I didn't have time which is why I went for a share rather than loaning or buying.

[KimT]

The problem is that I would want to full loan- stay at present yard and not a lot of people want to do that. Reasons for this being that there will be 3 horses on the land. If Ellie left, we would never be able to ride separately.

I don't mind doing mucking out/poo picking on my days and even helping on theirs cause I'm doing Lady anyway. I really like Ellie and it is not only about money or exercising her. It's just that I think she needs more of a relationship than I am giving her. Both her and Lady want more of my time grooming them and doing bits with them and I just can't commit it at the moment. Ellie enjoys riding but would equally happily be a field ornament but wants some love. lol.

[cheekychops]

I don't think you'll have trouble finding a sharer and it could work really well for you. I used to be Cheeko's sharer - I paid £80 a month contribution and rode 3 days a week. I didn't do any chores - literally tacked up and out I went.
There is definitely a difference between looking for a sharer, and looking for someone to school your horse, and you definitely seem to be looking for the former. Someone will bite your hand off as there are lots of very capable people who for one reason or another just aren't in a position to have their own - through work, money etc.
Good luck!

[BJMM]

I don't think it is at all unreasonable to ask a sharer for a financial contribution. I shared Blaze with her owner before buying her. I paid £25 for three days and had total charge of her for those days. The way I saw it is that it would have cost me more than £25 for a lesson per week and all I would be able to do is get on, ride and get off. By sharing Blaze I got to do all the other stuff which, to me, is part and parcel of being with horses. Also, I got to teach my daughter to ride and care for a horse. Pretty good bargain really!!
Eight years later and I share Blaze with Ladyndibs. When I was at my previous yard Ladyndibs was giving me a contribution to Blaze's keep. Now that we share a place she does my horses one day a week instead, which works well for both of us.
I'm sure you will find someone for Ellie, she sounds very sweet. xx

[somanyhorses]

I think she sounds lovely and it shouldn't be hard to find somebody for her. Whether it be a sharer who pays a bit towards her keep or a loaner who pays for absolutely everything, or somewhere in the middle... It is up to the owner to decide what he/she wants, and to look for the right person accordingly. Some people would prefer to pay and not do the "chores!, simply because they don't have the time to do everything, and often that is why they don't have their own horse, because they KNOW they can't commit to that extent. Others would prefer to do everything and not have to pay in exchange for that. The owner needs to decide what he/she wants to get out of it and then advertise accordingly. Simple as that. A financial contribution often makes sharers feel they should have more input than owners may be willing to allow, though, from my personal experience. Decide what you want to get out of it for you and for Ellie and see if anybody is interested. If not, review the situation.

[KimT]

Thank you all for your thoughts. Ellie does make me smile. Like tonight. I was faffing around with rugs at the back of her stable with her in it. she had her head out the door but kept turning her head round to watch what i was doing. Everytime i do her surcingles up she sniffs my hands and nuzzles you. She is very sweet and the better we get to know eachother the sweeter she is. she really enjoys being around people and falls asleep if you stroke her forelock. I think she and Lady are the best horses ever but of course I am totally biased!!!