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Troth Wells and Glynis Coxeter, and their horses Copper and Harley, have benefited from having a group of sharers.
We’ve all heard the stories: horse rescue centers across the country are being inundated by enquiries from people who can no longer afford to keep their horses.
“Animals which have been cherished for 20 years and are now approaching retirement age are becoming too expensive for owners to maintain at livery,” said Susan Lewis of The Horse Trust. She added: "Most people are saying, 'Help, what can I do? I adore my horse which has lived with me since I was a tiny child – but now I can barely feed myself let alone my horse. He has always come first – but having lost my home and the field in which I keep him, I just don't know where to turn'.”
Contrary to the popular image of horse owners being wealthy, many are not. The majority makes big sacrifices to keep their animals, and the current squeeze on people’s jobs and mortgages is forcing them to make painful choices.
Lots of us just keep very ordinary horses or ponies in a field or at DIY livery, and work hard to keep the animal we love.
What can people do? Well, what we have done is find people to share our horses. We advertised in the local paper/online and also put the word out through friends. This seems to work well, and we have had plenty of sharers coming forward. Many people, like myself before I owned a horse, would have loved the opportunity to ride and be involved in someone else’s horse – and to help share the costs. Of course we interview any prospective sharer and see them riding before we settle on anyone. This is for their sake too as some people have expectations that we cannot meet – for example, our two horses Harley and Copper are strictly for hacking only.
Our horses live out all year round and are fairly low maintenance (if one can say that about any horse!). But they still need the vet, the farrier, the feed and the looking-after. So sharing the fun as well as the work seems the best solution.
The arrangement is excellent. Our sharers – we have about six at present – take it in turns to exercise the horses and do the yard jobs, for a modest fee of £5 per week. This contribution helps towards the bills, but it is not too high to put people off. We have been very lucky with our sharers too. Nearly all are women, and with differing levels of riding ability and horsey knowledge or experience. Some just want to help and to be around the horses. It is a very informal arrangement which we can manage because the horses are kept privately – but it should be possible to do something similar on a livery yard.
With this larger group of people involved, it’s fun also to have social events such as barbeques (in the horses’ field; see photo) in summer or in the pub in winter, and sometimes we get together in someone’s house for a bring-and-share supper while watching some sloppy horsey film.
It has been, and is a pretty positive experience for all concerned. My friend Glynis who owns Harley says: ‘Not only have we got some help, we have also made lots of new friends.’ And Susannah, one of our sharers, sent me this lovely email this morning after riding my horse, Copper: ‘I can never thank you enough for the sheer joy of riding your beautiful horse.’
Troth Wells
Horse owners seeking help and advice can call World Horse Welfare on 01953 497238 or Redwings on 01508 481008.
Date Created: 25/01/2009
Last Updated: 25/01/2009
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