Who is that riding the bay mare?
A young woman you have never met is tacking up one of the livery horses on a Wednesday evening. She says she is the new sharer. The owner, when you ring her, confirms it, and says she thought she had mentioned it. The sharer has not filled in the yard's forms, does not know the arena rules and parked in the field entrance.
Over the year, the bay mare has had three different sharers. Your office has a form for one of them.
The same week, another livery mentions that a sharer on her horse's days has been using her grooming kit and her hay, thinking it was the owner's. Nobody on the staff could have told the difference, because nobody knew who was sharing which horse, or when.
Why sharers slip under the yard's radar
Sharing is a private arrangement between the owner and the sharer, and the yard is often the last to know.
- Owners arrange sharers through adverts and word of mouth.
- Sharers change often, and nobody tells the yard.
- Sharing days are agreed between owner and sharer only.
- Yard forms, rules and inductions are not built into the process.
- Staff cannot tell a sharer from a stranger.
Unknown people on the yard
A yard needs to know who is on site and why. Unknown riders make staff uneasy and create awkward moments. If something happens, the yard wants to know that the person involved had seen its rules and given emergency contact details.
Sharers also use facilities: the arena, the car park, tack room space, sometimes hay and bedding. Without knowing who they are, the yard cannot apply its rules consistently, and other liveries notice.
It also creates work for staff. They spend time asking who people are, ringing owners to check, and answering questions from sharers who were never shown where things live or how the yard does things. A short, consistent welcome for every sharer saves more time than it costs.
Sharer records owners and staff can see
We build a simple sharer register tied to each horse.
- Owners register a sharer against their horse from their phone: name, contact details and the agreed days.
- The sharer gets a link to complete the yard's own forms and read the yard rules. Your forms decide what is asked.
- Once the forms are complete, the sharer shows as active, and staff can see them on the day's list for that horse.
- Changes to days or an end to the arrangement are recorded by the owner, so the list stays current.
- The yard can see all sharers on the yard, their horse and days, and any forms still missing.
- If sharers use yard services that are charged, those can be added to the owner's invoice.
| Question | Today | Sharer register |
|---|---|---|
| Who is sharing which horse | Found out on the yard | Listed per horse |
| Which days | Known to the owner | Shown on the day's list |
| Yard forms | Sometimes | Completed before becoming active |
| Arrangement ends | Nobody told | Recorded by the owner |
| Emergency contact | Unknown | On the sharer's record |
The sharing agreement itself stays between owner and sharer. The yard only records what it needs to know, following its own rules and advice.
A yard where you know who is riding
A new sharer is registered by the owner, completes the forms that evening and appears on the staff list for Wednesdays and Saturdays. When she arrives, staff know who she is and which horse she is there for. When the arrangement ends, the owner marks it ended and she drops off the list.
The yard's rules are seen by everyone who rides there, which makes applying them fairer.
When something goes wrong, such as a gate left open or a rug missing, staff can see who was expected on the yard that day with which horse, so they ask the right person rather than everyone. Owners find it easier too, because the yard's welcome and forms are handled for them each time a sharer changes.
Are sharers on your yard a mystery?
- You meet sharers for the first time on the yard.
- Owners do not always tell you when a sharer starts or stops.
- Sharers have not completed yard forms.
- Staff cannot tell who is expected on which day.
- Sharers use facilities without the yard knowing.