yours2share now has well over 300 horse share ads, from all over the UK, from Devon to Ayrshire and Cardiff to Surrey (lots and lots there!) I’ve recently spoken to several people who have successfully found sharers through yours2share.
I’ve also spoken to a few who have found a sharer, it’s worked well for a while, and then the arrangement has ended and they are back advertising again. In some cases this is because circumstances changed, but in a couple of cases, it was because the owner of the horse was unhappy with some aspect of the sharer, and in both cases one factor was that the sharer simply didn’t turn up sometimes.
If you are going to share your adored equine friend, I strongly suggest that you do two things.
- Firstly make sure the person is suitable. This doesn’t just mean that their riding skills and knowledge of horses are sufficient; it also means are they reliable? Will they turn up on a grey Wednesday in November when it’s pouring with rain? If they have agreed to do some duties in lieu of payment, will they conscientiously do this every said wet Wednesday? You don’t need to take their word for it, ask for two or three references: from an employer, teacher, previous owner of a horse they have shared. And then ring them up. You can tell a great deal from a simple phone call: much can be gleaned from what isn’t said. If your prospective sharer is under 18, call (and preferably meet) their parents and make sure that they know about, and are happy with, the arrangement. Again this will help you to acquire that warm happy feeling, or not.
- Secondly, spend some time discussing how the sharing arrangement will work in detail, and then write down everything you have discussed in an agreement. Here are some of the things you need to discuss. Ideally this is proper contract; you can buy a template contract from our friends NetLawman. But even if it is just a statement of all the key points you’ve agreed which is signed and dated by you both, this is better than nothing. In effect the written agreement is proof that you’ve thought it all through and agreed how you will do things. It means that you are much more likely to have flushed out any misunderstandings.
Do these two simple things and your horse sharing arrangement is much more likely to be successful.