That pony lawsuit...OMG you have to see those Heritage Invoices

[War_Admiral]

I agree w/ chunkymunky and TrakHack - there is a lot of stuff on there that is fair and reasonable. Heck, there are LBNT’s and even LNNT’s down here that charge $1200/mo. for full training in addition to whatever they charge for board. If you want full training & board at one of the top barns in the country, double that doesn’t really seem egregious.

There are weird things that poke out, though, like why spend that much money on the bridle and then cheap out on the girth? If it’s “all about the look”??

And I am still puzzling over 5 horses, 6 tack/feed stalls. So when Heritage takes 80 to some “A” show, as I believe is fairly routine, that means that EACH HORSE gets its own tack stall for a total of 160 stalls (without counting feed stalls)? I can certainly see one feed stall per every 5-6 horses, that makes sense, you couldn’t really do it any other way. Feed for 80 horses is not going to fit in one feed stall, or probably even in 4 feed stalls per aisle. But the separate tack/grooming stall for each horse kinda boggles my mind. I must be misreading that. Unless they treat 'em like it’s a 1930s livery stable and leave 'em tacked up in there all day!

[Justa_Bob]

Isn’t this in the realm of “if you have to ask the price you can’t afford it?”

The top 10% wealthiest Americans possess 80% of all financial assets. They aren’t worried about the invoices.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_United_States

But it is certainly entertaining to see how the very wealthy spend their pennies.

[Martha_Drum]

[QUOTE=chunky munky;7017410]
The bottom of the line Jimmy’s is about $700. If it is custom, it will be more for sure. May have involved a personal measurement and travel. Some people LOVE Jimmy’s tack and will pay anything for it. Just sayin’.[/QUOTE]

Perhaps because I’m up past my bedtime, I read this in the voice of that guy from Seinfeld, who flirted with Elaine at their gym, was named Jimmy, and always referred to himself in the third person :lol:

[Rel6]

Can anyone comment on whether Heritage is an outlier? I’m from Westchester and what I paid for not great training or facilities was still ridiculously high compared to some very good trainers at very nice barns in other area.

I’m curious of people that ride with other BNTs see this and think it is high at all. Is Heritage expensive even among other top barns (not necessarily the tippy top of BNTs) or is it average?

[chunky_munky]

A good farrier that knows your horse when you are showing consistantly is excedingly important. Many trainers will have a surcharge to ship them in to keep a consistant professional taking care of your horse. To make that the reason you want to get $100 cheaper than the norm when you are working at the top of the game is idiotic. Your hotel for one night is often twice that.

[War_Admiral]

I would be most curious, however, to know whether the average Heritage client is capable of assessing what a good shoeing job for their horse IS. (Breathe, chunky, I know YOU do! :lol:) 'Cos I’ve got to be honest: I tried the $450 guy around here… once… He was only about on a par with the $80 guy, and several notches down the scale from “best I ever worked with”, who charged, I believe, $200.

[chunky_munky]

@ Martha, likely you don’t know about Jimmy’s tack, as it is not commercial or sold at many tack shops. Its kind of the high end. Quality of leather and workmanship will last you about 50 years if you take care of it. So the cost is not significant when you add up the years it will serve you.

[TrakHack]

[QUOTE=Martha Drum;7017490]
Perhaps because I’m up past my bedtime, I read this in the voice of that guy from Seinfeld, who flirted with Elaine at their gym, was named Jimmy, and always referred to himself in the third person :lol:[/QUOTE]

Lol! I know exactly what you are talking about! Seriously laughing out loud here.

[War_Admiral]

Oh! As an aside, it suddenly occurs to me that these must be the invoices that were referenced from the podium last night at the Town Hall…

[Appsolute]

And again I will pipe in and mention… People get their feathers all ruffled when “the media” dares suggest that equestrian sports are elite.

And yes, we know you know all about high the dollar FL scene monkey

[InstigatorKate]

Oh, fascinating! Count me as one who didn’t find the charges all that crazily out of line for the elite of the sport.

Also, for the tack stalls, I don’t think they meant each horse had a tack stall. Rather, however many tack stalls the barn needed was divided by the number of horses to come up with a tack stall charge per horse. Owners were charged 6x that fee since they had 6 horses. At these shows, the tack stalls usually include drapes and rather elaborate decorations, which I would think is also all included in the rate.

[chunky_munky]

Re: shoeing, that is a normal rate in Palm Beach. I lived there for a pretty long time. I know of what i speak. But I do know many that fly in their farrier to keep consistant care. That would be added into the shoeing cost. If I was showing today at that level, I would probably ship in my own guy at any expense to assure continuity and care of my horse. In this case, your full care trainer does it for you. And believe me, many of these folks have a lot more going on than just their show horses to keep track of.

[War_Admiral]

[QUOTE=InstigatorKate;7017526]

Also, for the tack stalls, I don’t think they meant each horse had a tack stall. Rather, however many tack stalls the barn needed was divided by the number of horses to come up with a tack stall charge per horse. Owners were charged 6x that fee since they had 6 horses. [/QUOTE]

That’s how I would expect it to be done, but the dollar amounts don’t add up.

One other thing I did notice though is boy, shipping sure is cheap. I always wondered if there were places that horse owners in BNT barns made out better than us hoi polloi and that would certainly seem to be one. I paid almost 3 times as much for one of the hauls listed. :o

[TBRedHead]

I’ve def joked about when we move I will have to ship in my farrier, I’ve used him for over a decade for all my horses, I don’t know what to do if he retires!

Ok, did anyone else notice how often they had adequan and legend injections?!

[Kalele]

The board + full training is definitely within range…I know trainers/barn that charge $1200 training + board at barns not nearly to the caliber of the trainers there or the farm itself.

At first I thought WOW @ the shoeing (5/1 invoice), but my large pony’s not great feet were a good $200 to shoe in the early 90’s, so with price inflation that’s not that surprising. If you notice the other horse(Milo) is only just over $200. The first horse may have needed special shoes/treatment.

[Kryswyn]

[QUOTE=Kalele;7017546]

At first I thought WOW @ the shoeing (5/1 invoice), but my large pony’s not great feet were a good $200 to shoe in the early 90’s, so with price inflation that’s not that surprising. If you notice the other horse(Milo) is only just over $200. The first horse may have needed special shoes/treatment.[/QUOTE]

Yes, he had laminitis they were trying to hide…

[supershorty628]

Do keep in mind that the “tack stalls” may include the setup stalls in front, assume that takes up 2, then the numbers make more sense.

And have to agree with other people, for this area in Westchester, those prices are pretty normal.

[Chall]

[QUOTE=Rel6;7017491]
Can anyone comment on whether Heritage is an outlier? I’m from Westchester and what I paid for not great training or facilities was still ridiculously high compared to some very good trainers at very nice barns in other area.

I’m curious of people that ride with other BNTs see this and think it is high at all. Is Heritage expensive even among other top barns (not necessarily the tippy top of BNTs) or is it average?[/QUOTE]
Have you checked out Westchester barns lately? This is normal,non- BNT normal.

[Mayaty02]

other than the massive amounts of money this woman as paying for her several horses, it really didn’t look like Heritage was gouging her. I’d expect them to be the most expensive in the country frankly, given their location and level of visibility. Although if I had that many horses with them, I may appreciate a “bulk” discount LOL, I assume Heritage doesn’t have to offer anything like that since I’m sure they have a waiting list to get in the door.

The only thing that struck me particularly odd, other than the super expensive bridles, was the amount they were paying for depo and legend. $80 per shot for Legend and $100 per depo per horse? At some point you have to recommend that they buy the big bottle if they are using it that much and it will be cheaper for them… but I guess at that level, saving $20 per shot isn’t really an issue! ha ha

I still can’t get over $30K to go to pony finals. Dang that’s an expensive horse show.

[Hunter_JumperMom]

Wow, sadly many of the charges are pretty normal for the area, but… Tack seems excessive, if this owner has had ponies, why keep buying new tack, shoeing seems normal, shipping normal, nightwatch at hamptons, ouch!! Horse show meds??? They seem real high, especially when ponies were already given adequan, legend, gastroguard, depo, etc. monthly supplies, my thought is okay somewhat high, but then why being billed for polos, boots, and FANS!! That should be part of supplies.