How to Arrange Part/ Quarter Board rider for your horse?

[yrfholdings]

I’ve had my horse for 3 months now, and will be looking for a confident rider to part/ or quarter board him.

My question is how to assess how much is fair to charge someone to ride your horse? My horse is “green” but very safe, and was trained by a professional before we got him. I would assume not to charge the same amount as a highly experienced/ competition horse. For the average hacking/ indoor riding horse, how much would I charge for someone with enough experience (not a pro) to ride him 4-5 times a month? And also how much riding is a good amount weekly for one horse?

He is a DHH x Friesian, 10 yr old. I myself am taking lessons on him and riding him about 4-6 times a month, as a beginner. Looking for opinions and suggestions. Thank you

[GraceLikeRain]

Having someone ride your green horse 4-5x/month is paying someone for training rides. Perhaps you may luck out and find a talented amateur happy to get a few free rides in a month. The only person who would pay to ride a green horse 4-5x/month is someone who doesn’t know enough to know that this set up isn’t in their favor.

It is very easy to put baggage on a young horse. I’d pay a professional.

[Scribbler]

The typical half lease price is half your monthly expenses, give or take a bit.

Realise that for a “very experienced” rider, a safe but green horse is not really that much fun.

You only ride 4 times a month? Once a week? Is he in a full time training program or just sitting in a field?

At our barn there are basically three ways to get riders on your horse.

One is the leaser pays you. This works when you have a horse that the average rider can enjoy. Often these leases stipulate the leaser has to take lessons with the owners coach. Typically these charge a per cent of monthly costs. Our barn is inexpensive so a typical half lease is $200 to $250.

Another is, you pay a trainer to ride your horse, generally your coach. Our trainers are all very small time so I’d expect about $30 a ride.

Then there is a third category. Right now I can think of one adult (horseless) and one junior (with flexible time, homeschooled) that fall in this category. They ride well enough that people know they will improve the horse. But they haven’t fully professionalized and don’t make any promises about actually teaching your horse anything on a timeline. These people ride for free. They don’t charge, but they aren’t willing to pay to lease your horse either. There aren’t that many people that fit this category, since most of the better ammie riders at our barn have their own horse and not a lot of time for other people’s horses.

So I would say in general if you want an experienced rider to improve your green horse then you pay them.

[Equkelly]

Think of it this way if you can find a rider that needs miles and a horse that needs miles and they’re both a decent fit for each other that is an even exchange.

If you have a green horse that needs miles and an experienced rider that does not, you pay the rider for training/excercise.

If you have a schooled horse and a green rider that rider pays because that’s the one who needs the experience and miles.

You will not get an experienced rider to pay you to get on this horse. It’s never going to happen. If you want an experienced rider to get in you’ll have to pay them. You might find a decent enough young rider willing to ride this horse for you for free MAYBE. Or you might also be able to convince your trainer to use him in lessons so he can get some miles.

[Scribbler]

As far as how often a horse should be ridden, that depends on the horse’s age, fitness level, soundness and work load.

Most fit competition horses get worked 6 days a week though not jumped every day.

My mare is fit and healthy but does best with 4 or 5 days on, one day off. It keeps her more energetic. But if you want a horse to be less forward then 6 days a week is good.

Regardless, a horse should not just stand in a stall or small paddock on his days off. You still need to take him for a handwalk or a bit of a longe. The only exception would be if the horse is in a big field and actually spends time galloping in a herd every day.

Riding 4 to 6 times a month is not good for a horse. I would say a horse needs minimum 4 days a week to stay fit for riding.

[Vyce]

Your boy sounds gorgeous (love those Friesians and Friesian crosses). I doubt you’ll find many experienced riders willing to pay to ride a greenbean though. Seasoned riders generally in my experience have - even when horseless- plenty of offers for free rides coming out their ears. At my barn we have one elderly gentleman who is a retired trainer. He doesn’t own anymore since his last horse passed, but he has offers from multiple boarders to ride their horses anytime he likes.

As for what to charge- that can vary by area, and what you’re offering. Competition/ show horse leases cost so much because the rider is paying for that athletic skill and training level. Quite different than a general backyard hacking horse. My current lease is $300 a month for a full lease, ride anytime I want 7 days a week. Standard vet care and feed and farrier etc are all covered by barn owner. If my lease was a partial lease (say riding about 3 times a week) I’d expect to pay half that. If only once a week I’d expect to pay less. My horse is just a hack horse and I’m an ammie.

[joiedevie99]

A standard half lease on this type of horse is for a share of expenses. If you want the horse ridden 5 times per week, assume 20 rides per month. Let’s say your monthly board and farrier bill totals $800 per month. A half lease would be $400 for 10 rides. A quarter lease would be $200 for 5 rides.

That said, it’s hard to find these situations for green horses. Most riders who are capable of training a green horse aren’t going to want to pay for the privilege. I would suggest you approach your trainer and ask if she has any other students in her program that might be interested, or whether she might be interested in using the horse for lessons.

[Equisis]

Your best bet in this situation is probably to see if your trainer might like to use him in lessons. He will be ridden under supervision, and you can likely negotiate a small fee per ride. The risk with this is him being used in too many lessons- you would want to have a written contract with the amount of usage clearly spelled out.

If you are a beginner and only riding 4x a month, your horse is likely fairly unfit and not going to be appealing as a paid lease. Is your goal in leasing to get more exercise for the horse, or to get help with expenses? If you are just looking to increase his exercise, you can probably find a good riding kid (perhaps one without a horse of their own) who is happy to ride your green horse for free, and probably clean your tack/help with chores in exchange. The optimal amount of exercise for a horse varies tremendously based on their age, physical shape, and what kind of work you are asking of them. For a horse to be able to do beginner type lessons (W/T/C on the flat, maybe some cross rails) he should probably be getting ridden at least three times a week, to maintain enough fitness to safely do the work in your lessons. 4-5 days a week would be better, especially if turnout is limited.

[candyappy]

What are you looking to accomplish? Are you talking about finding a partial lease situation? Or just some random person who is willing to pay a flat fee to ride your horse once a month?

If you are looking for a way to get some decent rides on your horse and help with the cost of ownership then have your trainer help you find a qualified person and do a partial lease situation. At 10 years old your " green" horse would benefit from at least 4 rides a week.