What to ask when visiting/riding a prospective share horse?

[SayItIsntSo1]

I’m going to visit with the prospect of sharing him 2-3 days a week

I’ve been riding the last 6 months after a 5yr gap. I’ve had full loans previously, but not for years... it’s a bit of a dream come true as I know a good share arrangement can be like rocking horse shite to find.

I’ll ask about yard duties, turnout, feed, routine, quirks... what else???

Think you have most things covered...
Only think I can think of is getting your own 3rd party insurance, making sure the owner and horse are insured, discussing (and getting in writing) who covers vets fees and where you stand if horse is poorly/injured/has to be retired. Eg, are you expected to carry on with the share/fees if horse pulls a tendon/gets an abscess/is kicked in the field and isn't fit to be ridden for 6 weeks or do you just do jobs. It's important even if you know the owner well. The last thing you need is to discover horsie only has 3 legs when you go down at 8am on one of your days and end up with a huge bill for something that wasn't your fault...

What happens if you want to ride him on the same day would be a good thing to establish

Always ask what’s the worst thing about this horse

When a good time to ride is
5:30-6:30 pm both of our arenas are like trying to ride on the m25 but the roads are quiet

Middle of the day you can have your pick of the arenas but the roads while not busy have a lot of heavy farm vehicles rattling up and down them.

What’s it going to be like in winter? Ie is the arena floodlit, does it flood/freeze/do the roads get gritted

Any yard policies/rules to be aware of-ours has a completely inflexible no under 18s rule

Thank you! There are some good ones in there. I will mostly be doing mid week, middle of the day, so hoping that is quiet for the yard facilities.

Very excited, but trying to contain my excitement in case we aren’t right for each other. I suppose the positive is that it proves there are share options out there if you’re in the know/ have some contacts.

I have just got an amazing horse on a share (genuinely never believed something suitable would come up). I asked about what happens if I can’t make it up to the yard (eg illness). What about if you want to go on holiday. What it’s like to hack (if you’d be doing that). Any limitations on riding. Eg mine can be ridden for no more than 45 mins a day and jump no higher than 80cm, unless in a lesson.

How did the visit go op?

Hi @Mysa74, I agreed to take him on and have been sharing the last few weeks.

He’s lovely but green. All going well so far.

I had forgotten the ‘yard drama’ though

That's great news, I hope you have a lovely summer with him and that winter is kind.
What sort of yard drama do you have? My place is lovely at the moment and has been for a while, the yard owner, who was in her 90s died and the clique panicked and made a mass exodus. We just have annoying txt messages now...