We have two special horses here on long-term livery who are looking for part sharers to keep them busy and help with their costs.

In both cases their owners are regretfully unable to be as involved in their horse’s life as they would like to be, but these horses are too nice to part with.

Ideally, you would take on your chosen horse for on a long-term basis, buying into a 2-4 day a week share, at a cost of £15 per each of those days. So, say you think you would like to spend 2 days a week with a horse you could consider yours for those days, it would cost you £30 per week, with no hidden extras. In fact, having a share in a horse gives you the same perks as any livery, including discounts on lessons of £6 per hour. If you are currently borrowing a horse for a lesson, then having a share in a horse would give you a saving of £12 per hour on a lesson.

This isn’t a “pay per ride” scheme, as of course there may be days when the horse is unsound, or there is torrential rain, but all being well “your” days are your opportunity to ride, long-line, groom, chat to, and generally be with your chosen horse.

It’s important that everyone who shares a horse (there may be 2-3) all adopt a consistent and Intelligent approach, and unless you already ride with us (and possibly even then) a few lessons to ensure everyone understands the best approach to each horse would be a pre-condition.

If two people are sharing a horse and would like to hack out together, we can also make available the famous Finn to facilitate this. You will have to fight it out as to who gets to ride Finn!

Saturdays and Sundays are prime teaching days for us, so ideally your share would happen during the week, but if you have a 9-5 job, please don’t be put off, as we can probably work something out.

Now, the horses:

MILBURN

We do have pictures of Milburn being ridden, but he has his head chopped off in all of them! Will try to find some more…

This is what Milburn’s owner says about him:

 “16hh 19 year old traditional gypsy horse. Great all-rounder, done a bit of everything, but now concentrates on hacking and schooling.  Lovely manners, a pleasure to be around.  Barefoot and good with the trimmer, great in traffic, good to load, very sensible alone and with other horses.  He is well versed in Monty Roberts’ methods, and classical riding, and is a light, responsive ride.  He’s not great to clip, and is a seasonal headshaker, but this is controlled with a nose net.”

We’ve know Milburn for quite some time, and whilst he ticks all the boxes as a traditional confidence-giving, weight-carrying horse, he genuinely is a light, responsive ride, who can do posh sideways stuff and we even, somewhere, have footage of Adam doing a Good Effort at piaffe with him. He is very polite to handle, and has learnt that using his considerable weight to push people around is not acceptable. Despite his bulk, he’s a sensitive chap, and it’s important that new sharers understand how to handle and ride him to get the most out of him and not to cause him to worry. Not that he would do anything silly when worried, but he’s a lovely chap and we want him to be happy!

MINX

This is what Minx’s owner says about her:

“10 year old, 15.1hh, Dutch Warmblood x Welsh. She is able to do most of the basics in terms of schooling but has the potential to do a huge amount more and is rather bored with the limited attention I can give her. She is a fast learner with a curious nature and would need a knowledgeable, devoted rider to love her. She is a beautiful, intelligent and headstrong mare who loves people and I need to find her someone who can give her the long term input she deserves. ”

It has to be said that I didn’t warm to Minx initially when she first arrived, which is unusual for me, but as soon as I got the opportunity to work with her, I realised just how wonderful she is, and how much potential she has. Adam also has been blown away by how quick she is to learn, and what a lovely riding horse she is turning into. She has been quite “green” and filling in the gaps in her education has been very rewarding. If you were to take her on, at least 2-3 lessons initially would be a good idea to get a basic grounding in how to deal with her. She has been amazingly light and responsive, but could easily do “seaside donkey” if kicked and pulled.