This is probably a dumb question, but how do people afford to do this? I have two (not close) acquaintances that go to Wellington about every other year to train with a BNT for the winter season. So far they haven’t shown down there.One is wealthy and doesn’t work, so I understand how she can do it, but I think the other is of fairly ordinary circumstances. Do people quit their jobs up north and look for jobs down south? Save for two years? What do they do with their spouses? Just shut their homes up north for the winter season?
I assume you are talking about adults --the one adult I knew who did this for a few years was an anesthesiologist (MD). He would schedule himself to work M-Th --leaving his job at the hospital Thursday at noon, catch a flight in Chicago (he lived there) and fly down, arriving Thursday in time to ride with his trainer (horse was kept there). He then rode with the trainer on Fri-Sat-Sun, and flew back Sunday night in time for surgery on Monday AM. After he married, both he and his wife (also an MD) did this together. They did not have children. I asked him about his arrangement one time (my daughter showed in the same area with him, I just groomed). He said it was exhausting at times, but felt this was the only way he could improve. As I no longer attend shows with daughter, I don’t know if he is still doing this. His showing was done pretty much in the Chicago area and Midwest (Area VIII) --don’t think he showed in FLA but the horse may have with the trainer.
The only other person I knew who did this was a child --12 years old. Her parents (older couple, she was their only child) were convinced that she could and would make the Olympic Team, so bought an RV and mom and the girl parked on or near the property of (I think it was O’Conner’s). Dad came on weekends. Mom was able to continue her job remotely from the RV (a computer based job), and the dad was clearly a successful man who contributed.
Many in my hunt club pack up and move horses to FLA for the winter --pretty common in MI.
Most of the people I know who go for the full season are either pros who simply relocate their business to FL for the winter months, rich amateurs who don’t have jobs, or rich kids who are old enough to live with trainer or roommates or who have a parent who doesn’t work and can go away for the winter. In those cases it seems the moms go with the kid and the dad often flies out on weekends.
Some younger ammies (who don’t have kids yet) do it by working as grooms or stable hands down there for the season.
Other ammies save up their money so they can afford to send their horse for the season, then take a few long weekends of vacation time to get down there once a month to show or train.
A lot of small time trainers and riders from middle TN would winter in FL for weeks or months at a time. You know, people who give lessons and take on straightforward training horses/consignments, but aren’t competing at a high level.
I asked the same question repeatedly; especially of the not particularly wealthy small trainers who have farms full of horses, but don’t have “staff.” I’m really curious how they make it work.
One friend essentially quit her job and took my a working student/grooming gig that paid in training and board. She lived in a borrowed LQ trailer instead of paying for housing. I don’t know how she ate or paid bills.
You won’t like the answer. They’re richer than you.
Lots of women at my barn do it, most every year for about a month or two. A handful of them come from family money and/or have support of spouse, and the rest are very well educated and have very good well paying jobs.
They are a great group. Most of them are very well educated and have jobs that are flexible enough where they can at minimum take a week or two off and fly down after their horses that are down south for full training.
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There are ways to do Florida on a budget, but it means staying out of Wellington itself and going to surrounding areas and maybe making a few sacrifices in terms of amenities or limiting the amount of showing you do.
I know people who aren’t wealthy who have sent a horse to Wellington for full training, but it means making major sacrifices, saving a ton of money and maybe only going for a month, or doing one season and then staying home for a few before doing it again.
I always thought it was too humid and there were too many bugs in Florida.
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Whenever people manage to do things you could never imagine affording the answer is that they have way more money than you.
Way more.
Family money or dot.com windfall or investments or their job pays way way more than you guessed.
Usually a job that pays really well also keeps you on a pretty short leash.
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A couple at my barn don’t do the Florida thing but they go down to Aiken each season and spend 6-8 weeks with a professional at the tail of winter here (midwest) so their horses are competition ready & doing competitions before the truly nice weather is back up here. They’ll return around may in time for when the season up here really starts so they’re gone generally March through April. They can afford it because they run their own small animal vet clinic. At this point it seems successful enough that they have vets there other than themselves & are able to staff it adequately in their absence. They’ll also return on the weekends if something seems pressing up here.
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My daughter works 7 days a week for a few weeks before she goes to Ocala. She then uses her vacation time and comp time to spend a few weeks in Ocala. She stays with friends and has a lot of fun training in Ocala. I hear that Ocala is much cheaper than Wellington.
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In Kentucky it was the old school normal way of life, when I was growing up we had friends who owned a plantation in Cuba (before the revolution) where they always went for the winters even Kentucky Military Institute used to pack up their train cars and head to their winter campus … old money just left the cold behind
down here in Texas the “old money” packs up in late spring headed to their Maine summer retreats
How does anyone do any of it?
I used to work 3 jobs just to keep my horse and get training and whatnot.
Then more recently I was a WS to work off board/training.
But even then, it was a tightrope, because the sport of Dressage and really any equestrian sport has become SO expensive.
You have to have the right saddle, it has to be custom to you and horsey, and you have to get it fit every so often… the horse gets chiro and massage… you really need this bit that is so $$$ you have to make payments on it or can lease it! [you have GOT to be kidding me!]
The sport is becoming VERY exclusive. I’m not sure that’s a good thing.
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They are a heck of a lot wealthier then the rest of us. The only people I know that have been able to do this are independently wealthy - they have parents or a spouse who don’t blink an eye at this kind of money. AND - the very wealthy find ways to write off all expenses (including trips to Wellington, and believe me, new suggested tax plan will not hurt the very wealthy), so they get a tax benefit from the cost.
For the regular middle-class, this is a once in a lifetime (if ever) event, that you save and save for.
Money may not buy happiness, but it buys everything else!
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I did it for 3 winters while I was in college…went down as a working student, so that covered most of the big bills (room and horse board/training). I took online courses while I was there.
Since being in the working world, I haven’t been able to find a way to do it…though I do teach at the university, and you can bet when I get a chance to apply for a sabbatical, it will be during the winter months so I can head to FL to train (and do my research!). But you can only do that every few years, so it’s limited.
When I was there, a few of the others that rode with my trainer had jobs that could be done remotely…or they had enough money they didn’t need to work. Or they were also people with horse related jobs (vets, farriers, saddle fitters) who could relocate their business to FL for those months.
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It depends on what sandbox you want to play in. If you have team aspirations and / or a goal of competing in CDIs then yes, you need an international quality horse, full time training and the freedom and money to travel and compete. That’s going to be the same at the top levels of any sport.
If you just want to ride and improve at whatever pace you can, and perhaps be competing at local and regional shows, anyone can achieve that with hard work and some good luck.
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It really depends on your job. If you’re an equine professional, you can find work down in FL to make it sustainable (training, teaching, or galloping racehorses, for example). My husband and I first started coming to Ocala to sell our hay; we raised quality hay in Kentucky, and hauled in to FL to sell. Marketing our product in FL was better financially than selling it locally, AND it allowed me the chance to move my small stable down to Ocala for the winter.
I know other adult amateurs (NOT with Olympic goals, who just want to be able to ride in nice weather and enjoy the huge array of training opportunities) who have flexible jobs that allow them to relocate for months at a time. Software developers working from home, flight attendants who can catch a plane from anywhere, writers/journalists, etc. It won’t work for your average 9-5 office job employee, but there are careers out there that allow the finances and flexibility for some riders to head south. It helps if you aren’t going to Wellington ($$$) and if you do some thorough planning to find an affordable place to stay. My husband and I ended up buying our own small farm, building horse facilities from scratch, but we’ve made it a nice investment that will repay us as a retirement home and/or future rental income. There are a number of small, private facilities around Ocala that can be leased or purchased on a reasonable budget, if you don’t need something fancy.
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Yes there’s obviously a difference in going down there as a horse professional, even just as a working student, and going down as a true amateur paying full freight.
If you go down as a horse professional you are to some extent able to profit off the extreme wealth (the more wealth the more opportunities for you!).
If you go down as a true amateur you need to compete with the extreme wealth or else you need to make extreme sacrifices to do this get once in a lifetime thing.
Also when OP says Florida I was assuming proximate to the BNTs and winter schooling circuit. I’m sure if you were just after a warm retreat there would be lots of backyard farmettes all over Florida the southwest and California. I know of retired Canadians who go horse camping and trsil riding in Arizona every winter. Not the same thing at all. 
Go to the Hunter forum ------ Often the whole family goes down to their house in Wellington. Kids get tutored, husband comes down Fri - Sun and/or works from there.
It costs $40,000 - $50,000/horse for the 12 weeks of WEF. Some families have 8 - 10 horses down there.
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As the song says…It’s all about the money, money…
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then there are people who can do their job electronically and from any location in the world. If you can reside simply, you can do work all day then play horses in the evening just like everyone else. It could be in Wellington, California or the south of Spain
Indeed there is now a service where you pay a flat rate per year and the service books living quarters and office work space in areas around the world, 2 months at each location.
that would be an adventure.
