IMHO, a HS counselor who doesn’t tell an aspiring horse pro to at least take a few business classes is incompetent.
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But the fact is you have one person guessing it takes 1k a month to take care of a horse (and it may, where they live) and you have randomly set board in every location in the country to 1k. Cost of care, cost of labor, and cost of mortgage all vary widely by location. Board prices below 1k are not just in “low population” areas. I have not decided that BOs should not expect a living income, that is you putting that on me because you do not understand my point.
I am telling you what the market will bear in my area. I am telling you for a fact, that if you raise board to 1k a month in my state you will effectively close 90% of boarding barns. People will no longer own horses except for the very wealthy. Period. My guess is you would effectively end horse ownership in most other states as well.
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The challenges of becoming a professional rider and the conflict it creates in horse businesses in the US could be a whole ‘nother thread!
Honestly, I think relocating to somewhere like Wellington, Ocala, Lexington is a better financial move than the other expensive option so many embrace: snow-birding! It doesn’t even make financial sense to have essentially two barns.
When I lived in middle Tennessee, it was almost impossible to work with a trainer over the winter because everyone and their brother headed to Florida for 3-4 months. It became almost an expectation that clients do the same.
What I always thought was extremely ironic was that Tennessee has okayish weather to keep training all winter. No, it’s not warm and balmy, but it’s not like some parts of the US where everything is frozen solid and snow-covered! Riding all winter was very doable. But heading to Florida was a necessity because we didn’t have a ton of shows. While we had a little bit of everything in the region, there is no way you could make a competitive name for yourself without serious travel.
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To be fair she did, us horse girls just didn’t listen 
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It doesn’t have to be 1K. It could be whatever number you want for your area, it just has to be what it costs to keep the horse PLUS enough to cover life/insurance/retirement, unless it is somehow subsidized by some other enterprise, or by an SO with a “normal” job, and I think those situations are becoming rarer and rarer each day.
If that number exceeds what the market can bear then yes, people will no longer own horses.
Sadly, we are saying the same thing. I’m just saying it like it could actually happen.
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Not only horse pros but vets, farriers or anyone that provides a service to the horse industry. I see more bad practices in the horse industry than good ones.
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It’s also become soooo hot that a lot of people simply don’t want to show in the summer anymore. Summer is miserable now a lot of places. Juniors kind of have to but a lot of adults, like me!, are happy to show a bit in the winter and spring and take the summer to do other things. Being based in the south facilitates that.
During Covid I know a lot of people who moved to the desert or back east to Aiken or Florida to work remotely and then stayed for 5 years - showing in the winter and staying home or travelling in the summer when their families are free. Or just working indoors in the AC. I think it kind of opened up an alternate seasonal lifestyle people had never considered before. Now that it’s soooo expensive and, not to be political, but now that a lot of the south has kind of gone downhill education and medical care wise- people are leaving and coming back home. I’m at the age where a lot of my friends kids are going to college and they are simply getting out of horses as a family for a while. Things feel very unsettled, it’s hard to sell real estate and buying feels overpriced so people are just saying -eh we’ll wait. I’m seeing more and more really nice horses for sale very cheaply. A lot of hunter trainers have set themselves up to be ultra-luxe service providers and have no fall back.
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I honestly think where the puck is headed in terms of “middle class horse boarding” is exclusively self-care or co-op style boarding.
The barn owner essentially becomes the landlord, maintaining the property off their “rental” (board) income but keeping their workload lighter than if they were actually investing hours into caring for the animals.
If a horse owner can’t afford a four figure board bill, they will unfortunately be limited to putting in the man hours themselves or otherwise negotiating a way to make it happen (co-op, pet-sitter, part lease, etc.).
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No one said they shouldn’t make a livable wage, however, it is my responsibility to choose a career path that supports how I want to live. It isn’t my employer’s responsibility to pay me random X because I made an unsustainable choice . Choices. This is where many trainers don’t have good business plans.
A barn around here recently relocated. Bought a new property and said- if you come with us it is $850 a month, up from $650- $700 for just board. Reasonable for this area. Then they all moved and barn said after month 1, now it’s $950. Now it’s up to $1050. Without training, lessons, shows etc. Bad planning on their part, not having a good cost estimate, and now boarders are leaving. The barn says all the things you mentioned, but they made a choice to relocate and spend much more money on a farm without sitting down and running the number, I am guessing. It isn’t the boarders responsibility to totally fund poor thought out choices, as it isn’t my employer’s to fund mine.
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I think this is very true.
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And some boarders are subsidizing people’s hobby farm they converted into a “business” with no intention of a real business (again, business plans). It goes both ways.
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Can that barn operate with board being less than $1050 a month? Do the numbers work for anyone, or were they unjustifiably inflated? I can’t tell if people left because they were getting bilked, or if they left because they could not afford to board at that barn. If the latter, then the barn will inevitably close.
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Agree. And it goes both ways, a lot. Mediocre riders subsidizing mediocre trainers- but it they are all happy 
. I’m watching CMH waiting for barn/trainer mates to go and there is a lot of that 
I don’t know what the answer is for trainers and the middle class. I choose to keep mine at home for a million reasons. My trainer in Florida is doing very well, but he has a mix of in house clients (he doesn’t own the farm) and haul in/meet at shows that, as someone pointed out, are almost pure profit. I think the key to him doing well is: he doesn’t own the farm, he has a mix of clients, he and his wife have also chosen that unless it’s at a show, he doesn’t teach after 6 PM (and never has). I guess that’s his trade off to having a work life balance. He can sustain it because his clients are largely ammies who don’t work so it works, or clients who come in to a tuned horse to show (which he doesn’t prefer) and a few rides for himself.
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That’s most boarding barns in Holland and a decent percentage throughout Europe. They are doing ok, I think it will be fine.
And that’s the level we stand to lose. Will there always be some sort of DIY/Coop hobbyist option, for people that have an extra 20 hours in their week and don’t need sport horse amenities? Probably. Will there always be some sort of full-care, full-grooming, full-training option that suits the C-Suite execs busy schedule? Probably. Will there be anything left in the middle? Any happy medium for the rest of us that appreciate developing or riding sport horses, and occasionally competing them on a vibrant local or statewide show circuit?
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You can compete at vibrant shows at that level without 10-30% of your horse dollars supporting a full time fellow amateur level competitor. People do it all over the world.
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The truth is no trainer has ever gotten to the GPs by owning a boarding barn and teaching lessons 5 days a week on that income alone.
Pros become good pros because they had parents who could afford nice horses/trainers/lessons/shows for them to become good riders. Then they either 1. dropped off the planet when the money source left 2. married rich with someone who did not have horses as their income or 3. lucked into wealthy clients who wanted to see the pro on their horses.
There are thousands of pros who probably ride well enough to get to the top levels of the sport (I’d love to see them do it too) but don’t have their own source of income, or a wealthy client/sponsor and that source of income will NEVER be based off only owning a boarding barn.
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That’s my understanding, too. But the logistics in Europe are a lot different than North America. Mainly less “sprawl.”
And there will always be a number of riders with jobs and families who say, “that would not work for me.” I get it; it doesn’t work for a lot of people. But unfortunately the option may become pay premium prices for full service or find a way to make it work.
But I think when military bases have stables, they are generally co-op setups.
I saw a neat setup a few years ago where instead of building one large barn and paddocks/pastures, someone divided their property into numerous small (~1 ac?) paddocks, each with their own building with electricity and a hydrant. The building had a roughly 12x12 run-in that could be closed into a stall and had a small attached storage area for feed, hay, and tack. It was self-care boarding and you paid by the paddock. I think it was max 2 horses per paddock but I can’t remember the specifics other than you were responsible for your horse care and maintaining your space. There were shared riding facilities and trails. I don’t know how successful the place was, but if you’re going to offer self-care and have the luxury of space, I like that concept far more than everyone sharing one barn.
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They definitely do… in places where those showing opportunities exist. There’s a lot of places where they don’t, and a good chunk of the job market exists in those same places. We can’t all live in Europe unfortunately (said with genuine humor)!
This isn’t me saying that showing is the be-all-end-all of horses. This is me saying that the reality is as the ever elusive “middle class” disappears, the shows that cater to them have disappeared as well. I remember showing local “C” shows at the same venues they ran AA rated competitions - those shows still exist, but even accounting for inflation the costs have tripled. No longer is it a couple hundred dollars for 3 days.
Around here it’s low quality local stuff with questionable judging - fun for the littles and for those of us just trying to get a greenie off property - or it’s rated competition with several hours of hauling. Tough for the riders who want to jump bigger things or compete under better judging, but have to actually go to the job that supports the horse! The “middle ground” opportunities have petered out - victims of Covid times or otherwise no longer profitable.
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Hell, the workman’s comp & liability cost have gone up, regardless of whether you have filed a claim. If you file a claim the company often will not renew the policy when the term is up. This happened to a riding club I’m a member of.
Insurance cost and loss of land are two huge factors impacting the horse world.
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