How much? Never been given this option before!

[MyBeloved]

Hi all

Hoping I can ask some advice:

I am viewing 2 potential ponies in the coming week for share/loan, two days per week with yard duties. One is a happy hacker who is kept in a familiar herd on a yard with a small sand school - nothing fancy but lots of great hacking. Owner has stated she will leave any financial contribution up to me. I've never been in this situation before, and whilst I want to be fair and not take the Mickey, she has made it clear it is more important that the pony is loved, gets some pleasure from hacking and can build a good relationship with me.

What would you suggest I offer? I'm not exactly rolling in it (none of us are, I suspect) so would welcome your thoughts.

Thanks :)

Ooh tricky one, if she really genuinely means what she says about it being more important that pony is ridden and the yard duties are fairly onerous e.g. mucking out, poo picking, then there's an argument you shouldn't pay anything at all as you are saving her a lot of time and effort by doing them for her. If you think she's genuine in what she says and won't be offended, I'd offer a token contribution of maybe £10 p/week? Or you could offer to pay for the farrier which is a fairly common 'sharer' contribution - depending on whether pony has full shoes or just fronts or is barefoot that should work out as £50-£100 every 6-8 weeks?

When I last had sharers they paid a bit more, in the region of £150 p/month but they didn't have to muck out or do any heavy yard work ever (just bring in/turn out, groom or wash down, pick up any poo on the walkways or in school and generally clean/sweep up after themselves and keep yard tidy, as one was a teenage boy this didn't always get done that reliably ). And I am on a big yard with nice facilities. Others on the yard charge a lot more I know, someone reportedly charges £350 p/month, but that is for a lovely competition horse on gold standard full livery so no yard work at all, not even grooming, sharer literally just tacks up and rides.... my point being it does vary a lot but good experienced sharers are like gold dust so you can probably get away with not paying too much? Have you got any points of comparison locally?

I put a pony on full loan a year ago and didnt want any money. The loaner paid for all costs invoved ie shoes

It depends on what the pony costs to keep really and what he needs in the way of farriery, feed etc. If you have a good idea of how much then you can work it out from there maybe?
I'd maybe offer to cover the farrier, or feed if you don't know how much he costs to keep completely.

My sharer lays £80 a month for a pony that lives out in summer with minimal food and a trim every 6 weeks. For that she has no poo picking and as much riding as she wants. The £80 covers half his livery and costs so not a bad deal ( she spends that again on treats for him). He’s a fab chap who hacks out alone etc so I feel he’s worth the money.

When dd was sharing her horse she paid £20 per week plus half farrier costs (fronts only). He was on grass livery at the time so no mucking out but she had to poo pick

How much is the other pony owner asking? That would give you an idea of where to start.

Thanks everyone!

The other owner is looking for £15 per week, with minimal duties, but I'm very happy to turn out/catch/muck out etc, so it sounds like this is a conversation I need to have with owner number 2!

The cost of sharing does seem to differ wildly - anything from £10 - £50 per week!

Yes, offering to cover the farrier sounds like a plan.

Fingers crossed!

Yes offering farrier costs sounds fair for two days a week.

I have a pony on part loan with a devoted and very caring loaner. I have never asked for a financial contribution as I just want him to be ridden by someone caring and competent as he can be tricky at times.

However, over the years she has volunteered to pay half towards shoes, physio, saddle checks etc and often buys him things like replacement fly rugs so I reckon it's a good deal on both sides.