Who pays the vet in a horse share?

Routine costs (vaccinations, deworming, dental check) belong to the owner. Acute emergency without sharer fault also to the owner. If the sharer causes damage through fault, her private liability comes into play.

What happens if the sharer breaks something?

With own fault, sharer's private liability comes into play, ideally with the 'riding someone else's horse' add-on. Normal wear belongs to the owner.

Who pays for an extra training lesson?

Whoever requests it. Sharer wants riding lessons on the horse, she pays. Owner wants the sharer to work with their shared instructor, she pays.

How to document extra costs?

With a clause in the agreement and a brief note before each extra cost case. Per item, one line with date, amount, who triggered, who pays. Receipts photographed.

Guide

Handling extra costs in a horse share: vet, farrier and co.

3 min read

The monthly fee covers routine. As soon as unusual costs appear (vet emergency, special shoeing, damaged equipment), it gets tricky without written rules. This guide shows the Swiss standard logic for extra costs with a clause template.

Why extra costs often cause friction

On reitbeteiligungen.ch and Swiss forums, extra costs recur as a friction topic. The reason: monthly fee covers predictable costs. Extra costs are by definition unpredictable. When responsibility, amount and timing are open, conflicts almost arise.

Three categories cause 90 % of friction:

Vet costs outside routine (colic, injuries, lameness investigations)
Special farrier appointments (abscess, different shoeing, emergency trimming)
Equipment replacement or repair (blankets, bridles, girth, halter)

Vet costs: causer principle plus ownership principle

Routine to the owner. Vaccinations, deworming, dental check. About CHF 50–100 per month.
Acute emergency without fault to the owner. Night colic, box injury, unclear lameness. Even if the sharer rode the day before, she's not automatically responsible.
Emergency with sharer fault. Demonstrable overload, ignored instructions, misriding. Sharer's private liability with Mobiliar's "riding someone else's horse" add-on.

Important: sharer's responsibility activates only with demonstrable fault. Bad luck (horse stumbles into itself at gallop) isn't.

Farrier: routine and special appointments

Regular shoeing every 6 to 8 weeks, CHF 80–200 per shoeing. This routine belongs to the owner.

Special appointments follow different logic:

Emergency (abscess, lost shoe, emergency trim) → owner.
Special shoeing at sharer's request → agreed in advance, generally borne by sharer.
Sharer's presence at a regular appointment → not extra cost, part of care routine.

See Hoof care DE for details.

Equipment: wear vs. damage

Most small frictions. Swiss consensus boils down to two rules:

Normal wear to the owner. Stable blanket worn out after three winters, girth loosened, halter aged. Part of horse keeping.
Damage with clear cause to the causing side. Bridle dropped and trampled. Blanket forgotten and eaten. Sharer's private liability with the add-on.

For middle cases (blanket buckle broken after two weeks), splitting is often simpler.

Clause template

Fits most Swiss agreements:

Vet routine and prevention: owner.
Acute vet costs without sharer fault: owner.
Damages by sharer fault: sharer's private liability with "riding someone else's horse" add-on. Sharer proves this insurance at share start.
Farrier routine: owner.
Special farrier at sharer's request: sharer, after prior agreement.
Training lessons: whoever requests, pays.
Equipment replacement: wear to owner. Damage with clear cause to causing side.
Joint investments: prior written agreement with concrete share and deadline.

Swiss practice: document, don't argue

Photograph receipts. Every vet bill, farrier receipt, equipment purchase immediately photographed and noted in the shared chat or app.
Communicate immediately. Extra cost situation discussed same day.
Escalate if in doubt. Read the agreement, talk to the stable manager, mediation as last resort.

Frequently asked questions

Who pays the vet? Routine to owner. Emergency without fault to owner. Fault activates sharer's private liability.

Who pays the farrier? Routine to owner. Special at sharer's request to her.

Sharer breaks something? With fault, private liability with "riding someone else's horse" add-on. Wear to owner.

Extra training lesson? Whoever requests pays.

Document extra costs? Clause in agreement plus note per case. Receipts photographed.

Sources

Document extra costs in HorseCompanion

Extra costs are noted per horse with date, amount, causer and receipt. Start for free

Updated: June 2026