I cannot address the fee, but I would encourage u to discuss with your daughter the wisdom of knowing ahead of time what a service will cost. I learned this from my mom and have practiced myself and in front of my now adult daughters when they were children. The statement, “l don’t like surprises,” or “l want to make sure I have enough in PayPal or Apple Pay or my checking account to pay you,” can u let me know about how much X will cost? ". I just asked that when I took my trailer in for brakes and bearings–I was given an estimate and asked that the service shop call if cost was considerably more. Turned out some wires had to be replaced–ok do so, but take a pix of the corrosion b/c trailer is still under way! As I said, I don’t like surprises! With pix, company paid immediately ,
and this is what they want to turn eventing into. No way could I afford this LOL that show invoice for both is like my entire summer eventing budget.
Agree with all others that this bill is normal, but I also wonder if your barn does smaller local shows and if your family could concentrate on those for a bit. If you are even just slightly concerned about budget, I would really try to avoid going to HITS Vermont and similar to ride in the short stirrup and crossrail divisions. Vermont is beautiful and the show well-run, and I know we all need to start somewhere and that sometimes the customers have little to no control over the show schedule, but it doesn’t seem worth the cost and what was likely a huge hauling fee to participate in the unrated divisions. I myself am considering not going next year because the hauling is so expensive.
Is it normal in the US for the splits on the show bill not to be itemized? I’m in Canada, and every show I have competed at or worked at up here shows the actual number of tack stalls, hay, shavings, etc.
I’ve caught a number of errors over the years by being able to see exactly how many I was charged for (i.e. the trainer’s horse’s stall being charged as a tack stall, shavings being charged even though I brought my own, etc.). Now, in this case it looks like the trainer is very organized and likely gave the office the correct information about how to split everything, but I still find it odd that the show didn’t itemize the splits.
Depends on the show, but I have seen more and more shows lumping it into one lately. I agree that it’s not very transparent.
. Budgeting around $1500/2000 for a rated show
for the horse at the show, then add your lodging and living expense
I did not see any shipping charge in OP’s billing, we often loaned horses to juniors who could not afford the shipping of their horse for a few classes
I will agree with everyone else who has said that these bills look fairly standard for the activity involved. It is an expensive sport, no question.
I will say the idea of a 12 year old forbidding the parent from asking questions strikes me as a bit much, unless the child is paying those bills herself from a fantastic babysitting job.
Otherwise, the parent is perfectly within bounds to ask the trainer polite questions about the bills. Any trainer who has taken kids to the short stirrup ring has answered those same questions many, many times.
Welcome to the wonderful world of horse shows. And welcome to the BB! 
I agree with everyone that it’s a nice thing that the barn itemizes everything. I also agree, however, that it’s totally okay to ask questions about a bill, and also if it’s worth it to your daughter as a horsewoman to allocate your resources this way.
Kudos to you about being so transparent about costs, btw! But just out of curiosity–what made you choose this particular barn/path for your daughter into horses? Is the aim for her to start moving up divisions and continuing to show in rated shows regularly?
I agree on this X1million!
12yo me would not have dared give this sort of ultimatum to my parents 
Can we hope it was presented in a more polite manner than OP implied with “forbade”? 
That said, these fees were surprisingly (to me) not that far out of line from what I paid as a 30-something AA showing a Hunter in the early 90s on a Regional circuit (NIHJA) & occasional B or A show.
This is super normal. The non-obvious charge - trainer splits - is likely hay, shavings, golf cart rental, tack stall, feed stall, grooming stall. You can always ask, despite what your child tells you.
The only odd charge here is the $200 for the short stirrup equitation division that it doesn’t look like she rode in. If she’s only going to show Saturday and Sunday, 3 divisions is a lot.
It is the norm for every east coast bill I’ve seen to have just one lump fee for “Trainer splits”. I don’t compete in H/J but have close friends who are running an A show barn and they’ve sent me bills before to eyeball, since I have a background in finance and a big part of my job is finding fraud or mistakes.
I agree it should be more transparent. As a general rule you[g] should always ask for a sum to be itemized. You would be shocked how common mistakes or hidden fees are. Sometimes they are genuine mistakes, but more often than not they are deliberate overcharges packaged into a single fee.
Another vote for super normal show bill, and tbh not everyone itemizes it as nicely as this barn does. As a trainer, I am always happy to discuss billing and expectations ahead of time and when the bill shows up. I also like to make sure my billing is clear, fair (for the client and for my time/staff time and supplies). I appreciate it when parents are involved and interested in all aspects of the sport and showing. Perhaps a way to reduce expenses may be to ask about doing your own grooming or care, but many barns at this level require you to use theirs. Keep asking questions and learning!
Looks very average for a AA-ish show. Cheap even … coming from CA prices… nicely itemized, too.
Wish my parents even paid for more than 2 lessons a week when I was that age …
Good teaching moment for your 12 year old to learn about expenses, budgets, and how they can contribute to these bills once they get working papers at 14! Maybe chores around the house could go to the cheapest item on the charge sheet - like the USHJA Fee. That could be a 12 year old’s responsibility to save up allowance to contribute. I, at 32, appreciate how my parents taught me the value of money and how saving and budgeting works young - literally the only reason why I own property in major California city with my mortgage as my ONLY debt.
You’re a nice parent, mine would have laughed in my face and told me to ride my bike to the barn in the snow if I still wanted to ride at all after “forbidding” an adult who is doing me a great service (that costs time & $$$) to do something*…
*dual income city parents, non-horsey > I was doing my own laundry under 10 and was working full time summers by 14…
I’m pretty sure we should be done raking mom over the coals on her child rearing based on one sentence in her first post on the forum.
I think this type of situation is a great teaching experience to help your daughter 1) understand what things cost and 2) learn that it’s okay to ask questions and understand bills and 3) start planning/budgeting for the future.
I know plenty of adults who still feel uncomfortable questioning a bill or asking about costs. Learning how to discuss costs in a friendly, non aggressive way is a great skill to take into her adult years.
People showing in the 2ft don’t have to be at a week long A show. But if the parents are okay with paying for it, and the child has fun, what is the actual downside? Do I wish showing wish more affordable? Obviously.
But I think the increased accessibility by offering lower divisions at great venues like Vermont is also a nice thing. I remember being a 16 y/o on a leased TB all set to go to VT the next month. My trainer had a long talk with my parent about how my horse didn’t have the stride or jump to be competitive, and we wouldn’t place well, so maybe we shouldn’t go. We didn’t.
I was crushed. I was doing the 2’6’’ on our very local circuit and had never thought I going there to win. All I wanted out of the experience was to go to my first big “away” show, and to spend a week at a horse show with my friends, my barn, and my horse.
Some people will never show higher than 2ft. Should they never get to go to bigger venues then? Vermont is a lovely show, with a lot of fun things to do locally. I could easily see how a family could make a week there into a mini-vacation, especially when you have the horse’s care covered and are not tied to the show grounds all day. Why should it only be for people further along/jumping higher?
One problem with advice on here is many have a tendency to assume everybody has the same options and choices available no matter where they live. Then pass judgement based on that assumption.
$15 a class local shows, easy access to trails and rent or lease horses to ride without owning them simply don’t exist everywhere. Not fair to assume OP has these options to consider.
Somebody else suggested the under 12 child do self care to save on show fees? If it was the child’s horse, maybe, but its a lease, the child a beginner and horse is at an away show in a stall 24/7 for most of the week. Not practical here.
Add me to the list finding these charges normal, if not a bit lower then average, and the trainer doing a great job itemizing charges. Trainer this transparent is no way going to mind OP asking for details in the “splits” and certainly not going to act like a mean school girl and tattle to DD that Mommy dared ask about it. 
Why is it any of your business how people spend their money? Maybe the kid is new to showing and wanted a low key height before moving up. Maybe the whole barn was going and the kid wanted to go with her friends and root on her barnmates. Maybe it was a good opportunity for the whole family to get away. Well-run horse shows are AWESOME, and if you can afford it, it’s a far more pleasant experience than getting up before the crack of dawn to haul in to some local show, working off the trailer, and choking on dust in bad footing in the warmup while attempting to avoid crashing into a bunch of kids on ponies careening around.
Also I’m not sure where you are going to find a local show with decent footing and properly set lines for $15/class in this day and age. That ship has long since sailed.
Oh I was that terrible brat. I don’t know how my parents survived my teenage years. Believe me, I’ve apologized countless times for being that terrible kid. They assure me that I was a breath for fresh air compared to some of their friends kids that did much worse and had them up all night. That’s love, folks.
There’s definitely a new world now of entitlement that goes even beyond our stupid teen angst, where it seems like the kids are running the show. I’ve had to had several conversations with a friend’s kid about she might get away with talking to her parents that way and bossing them around, but I made it this long without a tween barking orders at me, and unless they were paying the bills, I wasn’t compelled to start now. The weird part? They always want me around now. It’s like the structure and “I don’t give a crap what you want to do” attitude is something they enjoy. Perhaps it’s the challenge to win me over. Who knows? I don’t pretend to understand Generation TikTok.
We have boatloads of these in my area.
