The $150 trainer fee is the only thing that could look high to me, but it all depends on what it included. If you hauled out Friday, schooled, and the trainer did the care of the horse Friday PM and Saturday and then prepped and coached Saturday, well, then that’s reasonable. If it was just for coaching on Saturday then it seems high…BUT, if I read it correctly that only two students went to the show, that could do it. Many trainers charge a higher fee when less students attend a show to offset the otherwise loss of income they’d experience from not doing lessons at home.
Training and care fees always seem high until you consider if from the POV of the trainer. A trainer charging just $50 for coaching at a show where two students attend earns just $100 for more than likely a half day’s work - if not a full day - and will also then miss out on any regular money making opportunities at home (lessons and training rides).
Requiring to stable overnight may seem like an unnecessary cost until you consider trying to get all the horses trailered to the show, settled in, schooled, and ready to show with beginner riders who are unfamiliar with the routine. If someone’s in an 8am class, it just gets to be too much, and the horses and riders are set up for success much better by staying over. Etc.
Now there’s certainly trainers who take advantage, and you should absolutely clarify what the $150 was for exactly.
ETA if the $150 includes coaching and the use of the horse for the show, that seems very reasonable to me.
Showing is expensive. It sucks. When I was 13, my parents paid for 1 lesson a week and 1/2 of a half-lease on a school horse and 1/2 of show costs. I paid for my second lesson each week and half of the lease and show costs. I earned money by watering plants and taking care of pets for neighbors who were traveling, walking dogs mid-day for neighbors who worked full time, and babysitting until I was old enough to have a real job. Though it felt unfair at the time compared to my friends who were being bought $10k horses and didn’t have to contribute at all, I would never change how my parents handled it. It made me aware of the privilege and personally responsible for my participation in a very expensive sport. I still ride while most of my childhood barn friends have long since quit.
because if that was the case you would have just cancelled not asked for advice.