Sharing Your Horse

As winter approaches many horse owners are dreading the extra bills that inevitably arise from increased feeding, bedding and stabling expenses. Combine that with this year’s credit crunch and the fact that many people have been made redundant or have had their working hours reduced and it’s easy to understand the anxiety that some owners are experiencing.

One solution could be to find a sharer for your horse. A sharer is someone who can help to ride your horse, share the workload of caring for him and importantly to take on some of the financial burden that is involved. Many people who long to ride a horse regularly and enjoy the care of one are reluctant or unable to commit to a purchase, perhaps because of inconvenient working hours, family ties or lack of money. Putting two like-minded people together can be a perfect way to solve the problem and have a happy horse with two people to care for him.

However, there is no getting away from the fact that sharing can result in problems and if things go wrong, particularly between friends, the outcome can be disastrous. It is therefore important to adopt a business-like, professional approach to the idea and draw up a written contract to ensure that each party understands what is involved.

Just as you wouldn’t dream of sharing a car or flat with a complete stranger unless you had got everything down in writing first, so you should make a written agreement with the person who is going to share your precious horse.

Because sharing usually involves the horse remaining at his current yard it is potentially less problematic than putting a horse out on loan. A shared horse remains in the ownership of his owner, who sets the rules and decides the days and times the horse will be available for riding. Obviously there must be a degree of flexibility and the schedule should be reasonable, or the arrangement will be doomed to failure before it even starts.

A good place to start is the British Horse Society sample loan agreement (click here). The agreement can be adapted to suit your needs but any agreement should include details such as:

who is responsible for the horse on which days.
The duties of each person involved in the horse’s care.
Arrangements for shoeing/insuring/worming/veterinary care.
How other costs will be paid for such as clipping, feeding, replacement of tack, travel etc.
Details of where the horse will be stabled.
Activities the horse is to be used for.
Length of the share agreement.
Period of notice to end the agreement.

Word of mouth is a great way to find a sharer, or put an advertisement in your local tack shop. Be honest and realistic about your horse’s age, temperament and abilities and be prepared to conduct an interview with potential sharers and follow up references to ensure they are suitable. When you have a share arrangement in place it is always a good idea to inform your insurance company of this and ensure that you retain the horse’s passport and other papers so that you can prove ownership if necessary.

Author: Andrea McHugh

	For those that love horses

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