Thank you! So not only does TPH not understand basic journalistic principles, she doesn’t have the courage to stand behind her exaggerations and clickbait.
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Oh. So not only was the disclaimer added, but the author went from plural to singular. Huh.
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That is my recollection as well.
Now that I’ve read the thread to the end I realize this comment is unneeded. But I’ll leave it here so people don’t wonder about what might have been.
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I browsed some of her other blog posts. In general the level of advice is at newbie level. There are indeed many guest writers with bylines, tending towards the self serving or promotional. I don’t know what you get if you subscribe. I’m clearly not the target audience.
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It sort of seems like anyone can write an article, on most any topic ,and with very little editorial oversight–they’ll publish it. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s the impression I get.
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Just like to point out a problem with that article’s assumption that selling a show date that was running at under 200 horses per show; will be 800 horses per show under new management. .
Um no; in reality it doesn’t necessarily work like that.
For example; those horse show facilities may have limited space and cannot necessarily accommodate 4 x the number of horses. Maybe 2x is their Max. Which explains why certain venues are sold out with X number of horses. Also why shows might move physical locations to accommodate a larger show.
***Yes; a friend (for many years) runs some USEF sanctioned H/J shows at a couple of show venue locations. Oh; and the friend is not a big company, either. Just trying to eek out a living and maybe have a nice retirement. By nice, meaning those shows dates are their 401k.
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So you could retire, never intend to show again, and lease out your show dates forever? This does seem wrong.
It also does not seem like the best/safest way to plan for retirement to me. But I sure hope it works for the friend of Moneypitt.
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My impression is that the Friend of @Moneypitt was currently running the shows and saving any money made for retirement.
Oh! I can see how it can be read that way too.
I read it that they were running shows now and leasing the show dates was their plan for retirement.
It was added later. I had specifically looked to see how had written this when it was published. TPH should be checking the facts before they are publishing nonsense.
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I imagine my ‘friend’ may have been looking for someone to ‘buy them out’ for a while now? Being they are of retirement age. They tend to cater to a grass roots philosophy; (not AA four star type shows); so my guess is they have not found the ‘right party’. They are big proponent of trying to be the starter, step up USEF sanctioned H/J type show venues.
I think buying show dates maybe more common than leasing? At least; that’s my impression. Conversely, I know some sanctioned shows are no longer running.
- I have not discussed actual retirement plans with my friend. So, I’m writing basing what I know of from the last couple of decades. I also know not every show they managed even made a profit. So…
Nailed it!
I think it’s so funny when people complain about the cost of shows. If you don’t like the cost go elsewhere!
I agree that there are going to be fixed costs to run a show, and those are unavoidable.
However, there are also situations that could allow opportunistic profiteering using something that is essentially a public resource, that is dates sanctioned by a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving its members.
If a show manager is allowed to hang onto show dates for life, and sell or rent those times to other show managers indefinitely, that doesn’t sound right. Maybe they should be given x number of years they can do this before they need to return the dates to the organization to be reassigned.
On the other hand, perhaps the rental fees are trivial and do not add much to the total cost of showing.
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Spoken like someone who must live in a horse-centric area.
There are 7? 8? rated shows a year within a 5 hour radius in my area. Not a lot of options for plenty of people who can’t just up and go to another show.
And why SHOULDN’T we look for ways to make the sport more accessible? People are constantly bemoaning how the sport is shrinking…because people can’t afford to play.
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Even with over 30 USEF sanctioned AA-B rated H/J shows annually within about a 200 mile radius from here; it’s still a very expensive hobby. Was there a time; it wasn’t so expensive? Even pre USEF ( yes I’m old) AHSA it was cha ching $$$ to me.
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I guess I’ll age myself Moneypitt, but yes it use to be cheaper. Back in the 90s I remember stalls being under $100 with a bag of shavings, and not having to pay a mortgage payment to show. I get prices increase over time, but if I’m showing at the same facility for the past 20 some years and nothing has really changed with said facility why am I paying triple the price for the same stall?
Like it or not your average middle class rider is getting priced out of A shows. And until something changes the number of people attending shows and being members of usef will continue to drop. 
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Yes, but the Mileage Rule was exactly the phenomenon that helped make shows in to monopolies.
So you can think it’s “funny” that people complain, but remember that 1. They can’t go elsewhere; and 2. This wasn’t funny so much as it was an intentional business plan.
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I know it seems like yesterday but inflation alone would double the cost of that stall from 1990 and triple it from around 1980.
The costs have gone up more than that of course, some of which may be unnecessary, but at least in my area, real estate costs in that time have gone up much more, well more than a factor of 10.
Prices have definitely gone up faster than typical wages. Amenities and show bills and horse prices seem to be chasing the wages of the very top earners, rather than the median, even the median horse-owning type person.
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For many, if you really don’t want to pay over $500 in shipping costs and $200-500 a weekend in hotels, there’s one or two options a few times a year within a driving distance to show. There isn’t really an option for a lot of us to “go elsewhere.”
I personally do not want to pay $1000 just in lodging for myself and my horse for one show before I even pay my trainer, care, and entry fees. I don’t personally think there’s anything wrong with not wanting to shell out $3k a weekend for a hobby!
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