Help: Handling riding expenses $$

[KateKat]

[QUOTE=BostonHJ;7459004]
The advice I think I agree with most right now is that $850/month is a lot of lessons.

One other thing to consider is that there is a large gap between the barn you were at and the barn you’re at now. Neither sounds right for you. You’d be better off with a barn that doesn’t do many AA shows - maybe just does Fieldstone for the day and the other local options. A half lease will be much more affordable at a barn like that and you won’t feel like you have to keep up with everyone else quite so much.[/QUOTE]

This. Pretty much exactly what I was going to reply, but BostonHJ made it much less wordy

At a barn like that too, there might even be clients who will do a half lease on their horse with you for free.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

I find this thread both fascinating and very sad. Fascinating because there are some great stories from horsewomen (or men) who started at a very young age, worked their butts off, and made things happen for themselves because they wanted it so badly.

There is lots of great practical advice - sell the $5000 saddle, change barns, change disciplines, don’t do any of those things but keep taking lessons at the current barn. There is lots of great life advice as well - be grateful for what you have, don’t focus on material things, work hard, set realistic goals.

I find it sad because as the thread has unfolded, it’s become apparent that OP intends to take very little of the advice being so fervently and sincerely offered. She is 17 years old, and she cares about having the fancy stuff. She would rather be a small fish in the large expensive pond that is the hunter/equitation show world. It sounds like her 2’6" to maybe 3’ equitation goals are somewhat realistic for the time she has left as a Junior but only if she has significantly more $$$ to support those goals than the current $650-850 per month from parents plus any part time earnings at a job she does not yet have.

What I am really curious about is the parents behind all this. Sounds like a split family situation since mom and dad appear to be operating independently. It sounds like OP has been riding for a long time, and they have supported her riding with lessons and leasing at a less expensive barn where OP has maxed out the possibilities - hence the move to the more elite facility. But just as we wonder if OP really engages with the horses she rides, I am wondering OP’s parents really engage with her. Reading between the lines, it seems like they are doing as little as possible to try to keep her somewhat happy with her horsey hobby while not getting in any deeper than they already have. Yeah, it does sound like OP is spoiled, but she didn’t spoil herself. Mom caved to pressure and bought the $5000 saddle, but it may be that the desire to have the best stuff is something mom can relate to even if she can’t relate to the riding part of it.

Interesting.

[goodlife]

OP - I am six years your senior and have been paying for my horse-related expenses since I was around your age. When I finished high school, my parents were generous enough to fully fund my university education (something I’m very thankful for), but understandably were unwilling to continue to fund my riding as well. Here’s my advice to you:

Right now, my first suggestion would be to scrap any notion that you’re going to make it to an equitation final. You need a new goal, and it doesn’t have to have an age limit on it. You need to find a promising, but extremely green young horse for about the price of that saddle you just bought. I’m not going to harp on you and tell you about all the comparable USED models you could have found for less than 2k, because what’s done is done, but you’re now in the unfortunate position of being out $5500 that could have gone to some horse flesh.

Anyway, based on Punkie’s valuation above, I’m going to venture to guess that a paid lease is going to be unsustainable for your parents right now and from what you’ve described, dropping another 5k+ is not in the cards for your parents. Spend the summer riding what you can for anyone that will let you swing a leg over their horse. Put horse showing on hold right now. See if your parents would be willing to place the money they would have spent on a lease/board/etc. over the summer into a fund for future young horse. At the end of the year, once prices have deflated and things are winding down, present your trainer with your budget and ask for her assistance in finding a suitable horse. If she’s a reasonable human, she should be more than willing.

Getting a nice young horse will give you exponentially more value for your money - money that would have been used up by a lease fee in a few months, leaving you with not much to show for it and nowhere to go from there. Patience is key, though. I’ll reiterate that your goals will likely be changing. Familiarize yourself with the baby hunter ring, because that’s where you’ll likely be. I know of what I speak - I’ve had my horse for nine years. When I bought her at age 15 as a green-as-grass coming four year old, she had never jumped a course. I spent my years moving up through the crosspoles, baby greens, pre-greens, childrens, juniors, amateurs and eventually, high performance hunters. You’re going to have to lean on your trainer a bit for professional help in the way of occasional training rides and regular lessons, but don’t let anyone tell you that you will be unable to handle it without full pro training on the horse ($$$$$). Instead of doing the Maclay like the other sixteen year olds I frequently showed with, I was just hoping to get down a line on stride without too much wiggling. When other kids went on horse buying trips to Europe and came back with two or three new junior jumpers, I was toodling around the 3’ starter jumpers.

Of course, this is when I could afford to go to a local horse show - when I wasn’t studying or actually in school, I worked at my local coffee shop at any hour that I could (hint: really early in the mornings). I planned my school schedule to maximize my working hours. I took one lesson a week and carefully tracked my expenditures. I rode in a 1980s Gail Greenough saddle. When I went to a horse show, I would work for a pro and his amateur wife as their groom, taking care of their four horses as well as my own. I braided as well - more often than not, this would completely offset the cost of a horse show. I boarded at (and still do board at) a barn that attended all the A shows and had the firepower to take me to any level in my riding career, but was reasonably priced and was totally okay with me doing my own self-care in every way possible. I would spend <$1000 every month all in, which ate up basically my entire working wage, save for a little gas money (living at home in University is great, by the way).

Before I bore you completely to death with the story of my life, I’ll fast-forward a bit - I’m now finished University, have a great career, and for the first time, can afford to enjoy my horse at the height of her prime (only nine short years after those crosspole hunter days). We hold our own against the best in the high performance hunters, enjoy some success in the A/O jumpers and have the time of our lives in the occasional USHJA derby.

I got very lucky that my young horse turned out to be even better than I could have expected and has stayed sound all this time (knock on wood!) but I accomplished it all on a shoestring budget and still managed to get to the top level of the sport - just in a bit of a roundabout way.

Best of luck to you. Hard work and budgeting is your friend.

[soloudinhere]

I grew up near where the OP is and I can tell by the details where she rides.

There is just no comparison between a small program and where she moved to, though they do try to accommodate the less-committed, by age 17 she is the twice-weekly rider that the trainer has to deal with instead of focusing on the girls with 2,3,4 horses who are going to the shows. I rode there EONS ago since I spent summers on the Cape as a teenager.

There’s better programs out there for those who want to RIDE, and LEARN but if all you’re interested in is going to hunter shows and being a small fish in a really big pond, then I guess you’re in the right place. For example, True North Farm in Harwich has a great working student program for ages 14-up. But, you’d have to slum it as an eventer, and based on where your current farm is I am not sure if that is too far away.

When you get out of this barn, and that will probably only be a year before it’s off to college, you’ll realize that what you’ve learned hasn’t put you in good stead–it’s not about who has what. On a college team, someone who shows up with their $5000 saddle but who can’t really ride, isn’t going to even make the team. Nor will you earn friends quickly with the attitude that you can “negotiate” your way into anything you want.

There will always be someone who is richer than you, prettier than you, smarter than you, or otherwise somehow “better” than you. You have to play the hand you’re dealt, so you can be smart about it, or you can waste time spinning your wheels.

I think the parents just sound a little clueless, but I am guessing kiddo has been feeding them some lines about how she needs this and that to be successful because the other kids have that.

[boosma47]

Ditto Denny Emerson’s ‘How Good Riders get Good’ !!!

[soloudinhere]

[QUOTE=boosma47;7459102]
Ditto Denny Emerson’s ‘How Good Riders get Good’ !!![/QUOTE]

Unfortunately in this case I think some of his advice could be taken the wrong way, since he advocates buying top quality horses, etc and there is at least some portion of the book dedicated to the idea that you need to get yourself a fat bankroll to do well. Is he wrong? no, but the way it is presented, at least to me, could be misconstrued by someone like the OP who is young with stars in their eyes.

[PNWjumper]

You’ve received some really good advice here.

Whether you listen to it or not is completely up to you. It seems to me that you might be too young to understand what people are trying to say to you.

My 2 cents? You’re at the wrong barn.

There are barns that cater to every type of rider. You’re at a barn where most of the clientele have money to spend on the sport. I’ve ridden at those barns too. There’s a very materialistic side that is AOK if you have expendable cash, but quickly turns into a “keeping up with the Jones’” if you don’t. And there’s nothing nefarious about barns like that (well, most of the time), it’s just a different perspective on what’s “necessary” to ride.

What you need is a barn that focuses on good riding, but doesn’t believe that good riding = showing, with no other options.

In other words, you need to find something between where you are now and where you were before. A place with a good trainer, but not necessarily one that does all of the big stuff. You don’t need that. What others have been saying is true. You’re not going to be doing the 3’6" competitively in the last year of your Junior career. So focus on becoming a better rider, period. You have the rest of your life to show. Funny story - I don’t even remember my junior years clearly any more. When I think about showing, I think about the last 10 or so years and the rest kind of fades away (though admittedly I have a terrible long term memory!). And guess what? I’ve done big classes with more horses in the last decade than I did in my junior years.

The trainer I grew up with was brilliant at finding diamonds in the rough. He found my 16h QH doing his first 3’ hunter rounds and told me it was my future Grand Prix horse (ha! I could barely make him trot on my test ride!). We paid very low 4 figures for that horse. And then true to his word he became my first GP horse (many years of hard work later - including 2 years of doing the hunters with zero blue ribbons, even in the best rounds of my life!), and one of the best horses I’ve ever had the chance to sit on. And because my barn wasn’t a high end barn there was a focus on functionality of equipment, not brand name. None of us had brand name saddles, or any other gear for that matter. But because that was the focus of the whole barn it wasn’t a race to get the best stuff either. I coveted what my competitors had at the horse shows, but I never really felt like I was missing out on anything because my “colleagues” were in the same boat as me.

Oh, and I never got a chance to really focus and hone my skill as a hunter or eq rider. I didn’t have the quality of horse to do that. But you don’t have to go the eventing route to find the cheaper way to go…you have the jumper rings right in front of you. You can lease a nice jumper that’s either coming back down the ladder or has maintenance issues MUCH more cheaply than a hunter/eq horse. You just need a barn that sees value in cantering around the jumpers with the goal of becoming a better rider (as opposed to only going for the win).

And I’m with Lucassb. Don’t sell the saddle. You have it and it fits you and you’ll take a loss if you sell it now. I would wait until you have a horse to ride and see if it fits. If it does, great! If it doesn’t then you can figure out what to do next.

My biggest piece of advice, though, is to reread this thread and every single post in it several times.

There are more perspectives on horses and showing than just the ones you’re immersed in now at your barn. Find a trainer/barn that mirrors your situation and goals (not blessed with bottomless pockets, but eager to become a better rider and horsewoman), and you’ll be a lot happier rather than focusing solely on what you can’t afford.

[soloudinhere]

Also, doesn’t your barn have an IEA team? Why can’t you participate in that to get some experience/mileage?

[foursocks]

I think perhaps, OP, you might want to sit down and really figure out why you want to ride. If it is to be a big deal equitation rider that doesn’t seem like an attainable goal given your circumstances and the fact that you are going to age out soon.

If you simply love riding and want to improve (which, I am sorry, is difficult to imagine given your posts), then finding a situation where you can ride a lot with your relatively limited resources is very doable.

One cannot climb quickly or easily up the competitive ladder without money and what it provides- good horses, the opportunity to ride, train, and show consistently enough to get that important mileage, good instruction, and so on. If you don’t have it, you don’t have it, and there is little use beating yourself up in the face of that reality, or being bitter or resentful about it.

If you really, truly want to climb that ladder you are going to have to do it more slowly, recognizing the problems you face and figuring out how to surmount them. Again- getting into the Big Eq ring at this stage in your junior career with your limited resources is probably not a viable goal. However, if you want to gain the skills and abilities to pursue competitive riding into your amateur years, you have all sorts of options to consider.

Get a job and put that money and whatever your parents are willing to pitch in to good use- lessons, perhaps a half-lease on an older campaigner, some smaller shows to dip your toe in the waters. The better a rider you become the more likely it is that you will be able to catch rides on other horses- even just to flat them for their owners. If you cannot see that happening in your current barn then move to one that will be more useful to someone in your position.

And so on- you have to understand where you are, think about where you want to be, and decide if it is possible and how to get there. It is unlikely that anyone is going to hand you anything (other than your parents, who seem to me to be quite generous), so if you really, truly, actually want to ride and become competitive you have to be realistic about it or you will never get anywhere. That is the most important first step you can take- after that, it is up to you.

[supershorty628]

OP, you should go read the thread “My More Mature View of the Sport” posted by MTSeaLark. You two are the same age and have radically different perspectives. Try to be more like her.

[jlphilli]

@supershorty628;7459204

OP, you should go read the thread “My More Mature View of the Sport” posted by MTSeaLark. You two are the same age and have radically different perspectives. Try to be more like her.[/QUOTE]

^This

[QUOTE=SaturdayNightLive;7457509] I very seriously doubt that there is a legitimate BNT out there telling lesson clients that the absolutely HAVE TO HAVE a brand new custom saddle. Sounds like something a JAW trainer would do in order to imitate what they think the BNTs do.

^and this from earlier I really just wanted to emphasize. I have seen this in my local area and it’s just annoying.

[Limerick]

[QUOTE=goodlife;7459084]
OP - I am six years your senior and have been paying for my horse-related expenses since I was around your age. When I finished high school, my parents were generous enough to fully fund my university education (something I’m very thankful for), but understandably were unwilling to continue to fund my riding as well. Here’s my advice to you:

Right now, my first suggestion would be to scrap any notion that you’re going to make it to an equitation final. You need a new goal, and it doesn’t have to have an age limit on it. You need to find a promising, but extremely green young horse for about the price of that saddle you just bought. I’m not going to harp on you and tell you about all the comparable USED models you could have found for less than 2k, because what’s done is done, but you’re now in the unfortunate position of being out $5500 that could have gone to some horse flesh.

Anyway, based on Punkie’s valuation above, I’m going to venture to guess that a paid lease is going to be unsustainable for your parents right now and from what you’ve described, dropping another 5k+ is not in the cards for your parents. Spend the summer riding what you can for anyone that will let you swing a leg over their horse. Put horse showing on hold right now. See if your parents would be willing to place the money they would have spent on a lease/board/etc. over the summer into a fund for future young horse. At the end of the year, once prices have deflated and things are winding down, present your trainer with your budget and ask for her assistance in finding a suitable horse. If she’s a reasonable human, she should be more than willing.

Getting a nice young horse will give you exponentially more value for your money - money that would have been used up by a lease fee in a few months, leaving you with not much to show for it and nowhere to go from there. Patience is key, though. I’ll reiterate that your goals will likely be changing. Familiarize yourself with the baby hunter ring, because that’s where you’ll likely be. I know of what I speak - I’ve had my horse for nine years. When I bought her at age 15 as a green-as-grass coming four year old, she had never jumped a course. I spent my years moving up through the crosspoles, baby greens, pre-greens, childrens, juniors, amateurs and eventually, high performance hunters. You’re going to have to lean on your trainer a bit for professional help in the way of occasional training rides and regular lessons, but don’t let anyone tell you that you will be unable to handle it without full pro training on the horse ($$$$$). Instead of doing the Maclay like the other sixteen year olds I frequently showed with, I was just hoping to get down a line on stride without too much wiggling. When other kids went on horse buying trips to Europe and came back with two or three new junior jumpers, I was toodling around the 3’ starter jumpers.

Of course, this is when I could afford to go to a local horse show - when I wasn’t studying or actually in school, I worked at my local coffee shop at any hour that I could (hint: really early in the mornings). I planned my school schedule to maximize my working hours. I took one lesson a week and carefully tracked my expenditures. I rode in a 1980s Gail Greenough saddle. When I went to a horse show, I would work for a pro and his amateur wife as their groom, taking care of their four horses as well as my own. I braided as well - more often than not, this would completely offset the cost of a horse show. I boarded at (and still do board at) a barn that attended all the A shows and had the firepower to take me to any level in my riding career, but was reasonably priced and was totally okay with me doing my own self-care in every way possible. I would spend <$1000 every month all in, which ate up basically my entire working wage, save for a little gas money (living at home in University is great, by the way).

Before I bore you completely to death with the story of my life, I’ll fast-forward a bit - I’m now finished University, have a great career, and for the first time, can afford to enjoy my horse at the height of her prime (only nine short years after those crosspole hunter days). We hold our own against the best in the high performance hunters, enjoy some success in the A/O jumpers and have the time of our lives in the occasional USHJA derby.

I got very lucky that my young horse turned out to be even better than I could have expected and has stayed sound all this time (knock on wood!) but I accomplished it all on a shoestring budget and still managed to get to the top level of the sport - just in a bit of a roundabout way.

Best of luck to you. Hard work and budgeting is your friend.[/QUOTE]
Love this!! I think the Chronicle should tell your story. I would read it.

[IPEsq]

@Groom&Taxi;7459067

I find this thread both fascinating and very sad. Fascinating because there are some great stories from horsewomen (or men) who started at a very young age, worked their butts off, and made things happen for themselves because they wanted it so badly.

This can happen, sure, but the OP is not young enough to where making things happen in the equitation ring is a realistic goal. Even if she wants to do adult medals, then there’s the potential issue of earning your way working your butt off, not having your own horse, and riding in amateur classes. To work enough to get the knowledge and respect from the trainer that she needs to get to show in some medals on the cheap, she still needs separate financial support to pay for the rest of life.

Was it Michael Matz who is famous for making it to the top level of show jumping after entering the sport late (I think he was 15), and he started as a groom? Ones like him are the exception, unfortunately.

[goodlife]

[QUOTE=Limerick;7459254]
Love this!! I think the Chronicle should tell your story. I would read it. :)[/QUOTE]

I’m flattered! I am incredibly lucky that my horse ended up being as great as she is - I thought she would probably top out in the Children’s/AA hunters and small medals, but has far exceeded that and thus far has shown zero signs of slowing down. She’s 13 this year and just keeps getting better and better - if all goes well, I’m planning to take her to the Spruce Meadows Masters for the first time ever (and am eating ramen noodles every day so I can afford to do so. ;))

[PaintedHunter]

I am a working adult with a household income well into the six figures, and I would never buy myself a 5K saddle. MY HORSE cost 5K, and he lopes around 2’9"ish like it’s nothing while I learn eventing and grow some balls, and he’s totally capable of more.

If your goal is to learn and get show miles, you don’t need AA shows, or medal finals, or fancy gear or a 5K saddle. You need time IN a saddle. Any saddle. it’s about partnership and hard work, and earning the respect of that horse, not trying to look the part. Is your goal to have good equitation and skills, or do you want equitation ribbons? There is a difference.

[ParadoxFarm]

[QUOTE=goodlife;7459409]
I’m flattered! I am incredibly lucky that my horse ended up being as great as she is - I thought she would probably top out in the Children’s/AA hunters and small medals, but has far exceeded that and thus far has shown zero signs of slowing down. She’s 13 this year and just keeps getting better and better - if all goes well, I’m planning to take her to the Spruce Meadows Masters for the first time ever (and am eating ramen noodles every day so I can afford to do so. ;))[/QUOTE]

Awesome. She’s beautiful. Good job.

O.P. - Question for you. Do you really love horses, or do you really love competition? What is your passion? Why do you think you gravitate toward this sport? I ask because I haven’t read anywhere that you love horses and just love being around them. There are different types of horse people. It’s hard to give advice if we don’t know how you feel about them. Are they your life? Are they a means to an end?

[french_fry]

I think it’s okay if the OP really loves competition. We all get different things out of this sport. If it was really all about the nickers and velvet muzzles we would be breeding them a lot smaller and trying to keep them as house pets.

There is nothing wrong with the OP trying to ascend to the highest level of competition that she can. Being competitive doesn’t necessarily make her a bad person or less of a horsewoman.

However, being focused on the trimmings of this sport - the aforementioned Ogilvy pads, CWDs, Tailored Sportsmans, etc. - at the expense of saddle time is getting away from the heart of things; whether the heart of the sport to you is competition or merely time spent in the tack.

I’m not down with judging the OP just because she has aspirations of competing at the higher levels. It is wise, however, if she learns the difference between the stuff that matters and just “stuff” when it comes to improving her riding.

[foursocks]

Well, that was my point- if she is all about competition, she still has to be realistic. I am hugely competitive- I also love riding, and I adore my horses, but if all I could ever do again was to trail ride I’d quit. Seriously. I would get bored.

So, if the OP wants to show, she needs to figure out how to get there within the limitations she has, or discover how to lessen those limitations. It’s what I did, and what most of us have done to enable us to ride, to show, to trail ride, whatever. Horses are expensive, so it’s important to figure out what is a realistic goal, not focus on something that is so far beyond reach it becomes impossible.

[Belmont]

[QUOTE=anyanicholson;7457204]
So, this past October I moved to one of the top show barns in my area for Equitation, Hunters and Jumpers where they also hold horse shows.

(Background on why I left my previous barn: my trainer wouldn’t let her girls jump any bigger than 2ft (even if you were on lease) unless you bought your own horse. So, after being there for about 6 years and after leasing all the horses she had to offer, my parents and I made the tough decision to leave and bring me back to the barn I started out taking lessons at when I was very young, knowing that I could continue to grow as a rider there.)

The big difference for me at this barn is not only the up in lesson fees ($50-$75 depending on trainer and paying an extra $25 to owners for the use of their horse if you’re not on lease) but especially since I went from paying $650 a month for lease (including 4 lessons a month) to considering lease at this new barn which would be $1000.00 + not including training; due in part that the board is more, and the horses are anywhere from $30,000.00 to $100,000.00 so it’s something to expect.

Another thing to add in is that more than 3/4 of the riders at this barn owns their own saddles and at my other barn every horse had their own saddle, so my mom just dropped a bittersweet $5500 on a saddle which she can barely afford since my dad won’t consider buying me a saddle.

(My mom is one willing to negotiate–convinced her to get me a saddle since I had nothing decent to ride in–while my dad on the other hand who pays for all my riding expenses is one where when he puts his foot down and says no, there’s no negotiating. Don’t get me wrong; he’s strict about $ but a very generous man when he wants to be.)

Since I moved to this barn to expand my junior career in equitation, I’ve come to seeing how expensive it is, and my parents have already turned down the lease.

I was wondering if there is anybody else out there in my situation :sadsmile:who could give me some tips, suggestions etc. in order for me to be able to find oppertunities to keep doing what I love at the level that I want to be able to move up to.

Has anybody ever been a “working-student”? And how does that usually work…

The owner/top trainer at this barn is very good with coming up with prices for lease and working with price ranges so I’m told but I know it’ll still be expensive.

What I’m hoping is that my dad will agree upon paying the same as he has each year ($650) my mom agreed to pitch in $200 and when I start working part time for the summer that I can come up with the rest for half-lease, lessons and horse shows. But even that I think my dad will turn down because he doesn’t want me or anybody else to pay more than he’s already paid.

Any comments, suggestions, tips, ideas are welcome![/QUOTE]

The entitlement in this thread almost makes me sick and so annoyed.

When I was a kid I worked my a$$ off for everything. My mom would take out a loan to buy me a new horse never more than 3k anytime I moved levels or switched disciplines. When we sold the other horse that money paid off the previous loan and helped gear towards lessons and shows. I don’t know how she did it as a single mom with two children, but I remember sleeping at the vet’s office on the surgery table or in the waiting room because she took the night shift to help me afford my passion.

I never asked for the $5000 saddle. I was okay with the synthetic wintec. I got my first pair of REAL leather boots that weren’t hand-me-downs TWO years ago (I’m 21… been riding since I was 3). I worked for people starting at 12, getting paid under the table to help buy things or pay entry fees. I wore synthetic leather boots at shows, and the last time I was in an 'A/AA" show, I was 5 years old. I ride in a $350 Crosby, that is a inch too short for me, and that has no knee rolls and a tear in the seat. I’m saving for a saddle that I can only hope to afford at no more than $700. I just bought a new helmet, after years of riding in a old IRH Velvet and plastic Devon Aire (OMG THE HORROR. YOUR EQ FRIENDS WOULD SO CALL ME A BOBO). I stopped asking my mom to help me with horses and expenses when I was out of high school, but she told me the other day she dreams of buying me an expensive saddle when she is rich one day.

I am almost certain I am the reason my mom get into financial trouble, but she won’t even admit it. I hope you sit back and realize how wonderful your parents are for only contributing $650 :no: to your riding. Poor pitiful you.

I’ve been a “working student”. They are tough. You will probably cry and be extremely frustrated, because you get stuck riding the crappy 3 year old while the next big star rides the nice horses. You will be the first person at the barn and the last one to leave. You will learn a ton, ride a million different horses, and work your butt off. At shows, you are usually running around with at least one horse in hand, towels, backpacks, and grooming buckets. You play secretary, psychologist, groom, and jump crew. It’s hard but it is SO worth it. Once you prove yourself, you get to ride nicer horses, but it isn’t always rainbows and butterflies.

Most barns want a working student that is knowledgeable about horses and horsemanship. You don’t sound knowledgeable about horsemanship. You are not a lost cause. Join a local pony club! You will learn so much and usually there are horses and connections to be found and made. YOu may be too late for a “Junior Career”, but you aren’t too late to become a good horse person.

Yes, owning horses is expensive, but leasing a horse is like renting a house. You are pumping a ton of money into something that isn’t yours. You can find a decent horse for little money. My horse just so happened to fall into my hands, and I would do anything for him.

[Trixie]

I agree completely with Foursocks.

I was fairly competitive as a teenager - did some eq - but only ever had a two year lease on a pony. People lent me horses the rest of the time, mostly because I was a barn rat. I took as many lessons as my parents could pay for, and eventually wound up finding a friend, actually, through COTH that lent me horses when I couldn’t afford to ride when I was in school.

I rode at a show barn throughout my childhood. I was NEVER the one with the fanciest stuff. And I was NEVER going to have a major “career” as a junior. Most people don’t. The best thing about riding? You can do it for a LONG time competitively. Look up Betty Oare if you don’t know who she is (and if you don’t know who she is, I’m questioning your knowledge of showing anyway) - she’s competing in her 70s.

FWIW, I’m now a self-sustaining adult who makes more than many households in this country, and I don’t forget it for a second. I’ve never had a $5K saddle. I’ve only even bought one saddle that wasn’t used, and it was a demo. I’ve only ever bought one horse - and she was under a thousand dollars. I was given another horse who has been the most awesome horse ever for me. If you ask him to be a hunter, he does - or a jumper, he does - heck, if you ask him to do that weird English riding where you jump into lakes and stuff - he’s done that too.

All of that because I like, trained him. With a lot of help along the way. He was free to his previous owner in utero, who started him, and let me start riding him and eventually gave him to me.

Also? I’m pretty sure that the majority of my riding clothes in those pictures were either used or on sale. I’ve done several AA shows in $36 boots I bought on ebay. Can you tell? Also, he’s done 3’6" and up to 4’+ at home or my trainer’s barn.

Advice? Go to school, get a job, see how far your money gets you, and thank your parents. Go be a barn rat and learn about riding. If you want to be competitive at higher than 2’, you should probably stop thinking about it as a “junior career” and try to figure out how you’re going to outRIDE people, not outBUY people.