IDK, if it comes to that, COTH is a waste of time and mental energy. But yet, here you are.
OK I’m ancient, but I started with OTTB’s which I carefully reeducated. I had agood asic CC saddle not custom made, a good dressage saddle, County Competitor. . I started with a tag-along, graduated to a
GN with dressing room ( good for sleeping, along with truck supercab )
Started at Novice, Moved to Training, and the Prelim. Talented horse, so we went Intermediate. Did spend money for monthly work with great trainers’, whos sometimes were at events, usually always at upper levels.
All on a shoestring. So I think many are overthinking ,this is the event world, not the show world.
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Yeah, expressing my opinion that getting bent over some new groundrules in a pandemic is pretty darned silly.
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@aregard not as silly as having a strong opinion about a rule that doesn’t affect you at all, while you sit behind the keyboard instead of in the saddle.
I think things are just $$$$ now, mostly. Have you seen the price of horses lately? Wowza, across the board.
I perused the 2020 omnibus for entry info for my area. All but one HT are now 3+ day affairs (and the 2 day is a day-long drive one way, for me). Entry + stabling fees average a cool $400, not including office/drug/misc. Only one venue is close enough that I could stay at my home, so for all the others that are 4+ hours away I’d be in for a minimum of 2 nights at a motel, more likely 3, probably around $100/night on the low end, so we’re up to $600-700 before I even fuel up or feed myself. 
I’ve slept in the back seat of my truck to save money, brought all my own food, but there’s no way around the +/- $600 in entry, stabling, fuel cost even if you do everything else on a shoestring.
Frankly, I can’t rationalize setting $600-1k on fire just for a (maybe) fun long weekend anymore. Perhaps that’s why I haven’t been to a recognized event since…2012?
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And certainly not as silly as making up stuff about other posters about which you know absolutely nothing!
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Heinz, your post does a good job of showing that depending on where you live, the ability to do shoe string might simply not be there.
You make some very good points.
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You’ve stated in several places your feelings on showing and shut downs during Covid so it’s not something someone is making up.
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Those of us who are showing, are following the guidelines given to us. Do I think it’s the stupidest think I’ve ever seen to threaten to send someone showing under USEF rules home for not wearing a mask in their stall alone while on the SAME GROUNDS another show has zero people in a mask? YES. Do I think it’s incredibly stupid to force someone course walking ALONE to wear a mask? YES.
Yet we still follow those rules It is OK to hope for more sensible rules. I shouldn’t have to drive around in a golf cart on XC policing maskless solo course walkers otherwise the show gets shut down. Do I do it? Yes. Even though it’s a stupid part of the rule. Because I want to show and this is how we do it.
It doesn’t mean we’re out there running around naked and maskless. You can hope for a more sensible solution while also following the rules, I’m not sure why this is hard to grasp.
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@aregard I know nothing about you except your posts here. In a quick review of what turns up on your history, it is clear you post predominantly on Off Topic and Current Events. Like 100 to 1. your horse related posts indicate you haven’t shown or likely ridden in a long time.
That took me 3 minutes and zero mental energy to “discover.” My conclusion was based purely on your very public posts.
I liked this topic better when it was about being priced out of the sport. (Recognizing my own participation in the derailment).
To that end, I will say based on a recent tour of area lesson barns, eventing seems much more affordable than the h/j world, but still pretty dang expensive.
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We bought our first horse this year (a middle of the range OTTB), and I probably spent another price of the said horse just assembling all the tack (most of it from ebay, nothing custom and my 2 saddles were each total steals with a combined price still in 3 figs). Then another price of the said horse on all the (failed and successful) vettings and some miscellaneous vet work because of suspected injury.
Me and hubby work extremely good jobs by all standards. Dual income no kids. We feel the sting without the shows. I admit I like my things nicely - I live in a high COL area, board at a nice barn, have nice tack (mostly used and from ebay), and I have regular rides with an extremely affordable coach. I feel like I’m getting my money’s worth but I still get a minor sticker shock at each month’s end. I don’t really feel priced out of the sport per se, but I think the recognised show costs are just not worth it. I’m not an eventer, I’d do H/J shows. For me the week long format is a major hassle - I need to take time off (from my well paid job that pays the bills) and then pay 4 figs to maybe get a ribbon? Just so not worth it. We might try to do some low commitment, local schooling shows later this or more likely next year.
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Lots of local shows have fun series and year end awards. For now, that’s what I do. I’m not always thrilled with the level of competition at the local stuff, and have wanted to go to a recognized to prove my mettle against some strong horse/rider combos.
That wont be happening for a couple years though, with my new house. Also, new horse needs miles, and that’s just time and gas getting to the trails.
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Also recognizing my own participation, I’ll change course.
I am a lower level rider, so I stick to local level shows. I find that they run almost exactly the same as USEF shows, giving you the same experience for less money.
I own a saddle that cost me $1500 NEW which came with an expert saddle fitter. As the budget version of a bigger brand I found the leather quality suitable and luckily the base tree shape fit just fine, plus the fitter was able to adjust the tree and flocking to fit my horses. Everything else I buy used.
Let’s talk horses. There are several trainers that specialize in the generic bred mid sized Hony or horse. Do they have flying changes and will they score a 18 in dressage? No. But you’ll have fun.
Let’s talk clinics. I generally take the price of a clinic and compare it to how many lessons I can get with my local trainer. If I like the clinician, do they come to my area or do I have to drive to Florida?
Regarding going south, man I hate those people, especially since it is a frozen wasteland here and my horses are fat and feral, but with a good program I’m just as fit and ready for the first show as they are.
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I may be unique here in that I realized I was priced out of eventing way back in 1977. The knowledge that to be truly competitive meant that I would have to invest in a dressage saddle looked like it was insurmountable to me (dressage saddles were always more expensive than the mid-range jumping saddles.) But the final blow to me was when the powers that be all of a sudden dictated that people had to wear WHITE breeches. All I could think was when would be the next time that the powers that be decide on another rather expensive piece of tack or riding clothes that would totally break my budget?
I owned a horse and pasture boarded at a really decent stable. I had painfully accumulated tack for jumping. Both me and my husband worked but not in high paying jobs, plus my first son was still an infant. Our first car was an old used VW Bug and my husband did most of the maintenance and repairs himself. There was NO WAY that I could realistically afford all the extra required tack and clothes to compete in the events.
Of course I did not know I had MS back then. This was the one time in which me being a lot poorer that all the other riders paid off, I did not get into eventing and literally crash into a cross-country fence because of my poor balance and timing. I just would not have been able to afford all those extra veterinary and rehab bills.
Being priced out of eventing ended up well for me. Of course I was not able to afford showing either but that did not bother me much, but I REALLY wanted to do the real thing, 3-Day Eventing!
People have been priced out of eventing for a LOOONG time (unless a person was born into a truly wealthy family or had a super high paying job with lots of time off to ride.)
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This thread does what so many good threads here on COTH do - it shows how different things are in different places. How ‘shoe string’ showing is a real option in some places and not others.
I admit I am more of a volunteer and follow along to groom for friends type eventer (I enjoy cross country schooling, I enjoy stadium jumping, I enjoy dressage - I just don’t think I can do all three on the same day with how nervous I get, even at my itty bitty fence height).
I don’t think we have the local type shows here that make the showing experience cheaper. The events we do have are either one day or two days (not three), so I guess that saves some money for those who have to travel to get there.
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Absolutely. In my area we’re ridiculously spoiled for options. Schooling hunter shows with sufficient entries to actually hold the 3’ divisions. Schooling jumpers with great footing & professional course designers with options from X-rails to 3’9" or even 4’. One of the best H/J shows in the country is a 20 minute drive & we can treat it like a local with higher entry fees. At least two CCI**** (and soon one CCI*****) competitions within a 45 minute drive. Lots of non-USEF horse trials where you can be assured you won’t encounter something weird & unsafe on the X-country because they’re run by folks that also run USEF-sanctioned trials. And most recently, dressage up to GP once a year!
The only disadvantages: 1) my bar of “at what point am I effectively priced out of using judge feedback as a tool for improvement” is basically as soon as I set foot in a 2’ division at a schooling Hunter show here 2) everything horse-related is $$$$$$ here. Board, vet, farriers, training, etc.
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It’s not hard to grasp and nobody said you weren’t.
The part she’s making up is whether I’m sitting at a computer and not riding so it has nothing to do with me. It happens to have something to do with me.
There seems to be a need in some postings to take a line of commentary to some fixed point.
If person X disagrees, it’s because they don’t understand. (not necessarily true)
For some reason, masks seem to bring out real ire in people.
The armchair quarterbacking of people who are still trying to arrange events for the pleasure of the contestants is pretty discouraging, IMHO. We are all aware, aren’t we, that volunteers staff 90% of the jobs at an event, yes? Do we want to be discouraging?
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And I’m pointing out that what one posts on is a fairly limited sample from which to draw conclusions. I do still ride, but I don’t compete anymore.
However, I volunteer a whole lot, and I have considerable fellow feeling for the poor folks who are trying to make these events go while being roundly criticized.
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@aregard, my criticism has only been toward USEF, not show organizers or volunteers. They are doing the best they can, and we are very grateful they are making it work and offering us the ability to continue developing our horses. Thanks for your volunteer work.
As for being priced out, Eventing is in a tough spot especially as frangible technology becomes more available. For safety reasons it makes absolute sense to require it for Training and up, but both the technology and the cost of a support team to swiftly repair the course as needed is substantial.
I find rated dressage shows to be much more affordable than Eventing or Jumpers, and I like that Horse of the Year awards don’t require you to show the pants off your horse to qualify. 4 shows a year is feasible for me, twice a month is not.
It is also easy enough to qualify for Regionals, though at least in my Zone, showing at Regionals is VERY expensive.
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Who has criticized the volunteers on this thread? I AM a volunteer. Fordtraktor seems to be talking about the USEF. Not organizers or volunteers.
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