My daughter competes in Jumper shows, typically once or twice a month. I realize that we should tip the groom (when there is one at the shows), but I am wondering if it is appropriate to tip our trainer, and if so, how much? When she first started to ride, she would show with a bunch of other kids and the head trainer and assistant trainer, and I always attended the shows with her. Now that she is older, she typically travels with the trainers, and a bunch of other kids from the farm. We pay trainer expenses (naturally), but I wonder if it is customary to do more. Additionally, a horse we are leasing until December is not registered. Our trainer told my daughter we could pay a $30 fee each show to ride an unregistered horse, or we could pay to register him. Is this customary? I would think the horse owner would cover the cost to register the horse. Thank you in advance for the help! Showing competitively is expensive, but we love our trainer and don’t want to leave her paying all the bills either!
If you are showing at USEF shows, the trainer should charge you once for $30 for a USHJA number for the horse - however, that is a lifetime fee and you should not be charged it repeatedly unless she is showing different horses. That fee goes up to $75 on December 1st so it may be prudent to register anyone she might show next year. If your daughter is a teenager and low maintenance, I don’t think a trainer tip is necessary or common.
Tipping the trainer for shows is not customary where I am. Grooms yes–trainer and assistant no (they just get nice bday and holiday presents).
Its not customary to tip your trainer. But I do typically offer to get coffee, lunch, or if we go out to dinner for an overnight show, I usually get the check for that.
Definitely tip your grooms. And for the registration its a USEF/USHJA. Typically the owner would get the horse a lifetime registration, but if the horse doesn’t have one already, there is also a yearly registration fee, that might be less then paying the non-member fee at shows (depending on how many shows you are going to attend).
No doubt you are paying the trainer and assistant handsomely for their service. Do you tip your daughters teachers? Do the Dance Moms tip Abbey Lee. I think it’s a nice thought but not necessary. Did you lease the horse through the trainer? If so no doubt they got a nice commission. If your daughter has had a fun year of showing then give the trainer a nice gift for their birthday, Christmas or perhaps a “thanks for a great show year” kind of gift.
I don’t tip the trainer - I already pay rail fee and daily expenses or per diem. Not entirely sure why it’s your problem to pay the horse recording fee, though I think you can do that yearly and it might be cheaper if you’re doing multiple shows.
When I leased a pony for my daughter to show, I paid all the required association fees as the pony did not already have lifetime recordings. If you are paying the owner a considerable amount to use the horse, I would ask that they cover those fees. I was paying expenses, so it wasn’t in the owner’s interest to cover an expense that didn’t benefit her.
Horses showing in jumper classes with prize money are required to have a USEF recording, not just an ID. It does cost about $30 per show or you can pay an annual fee if that’s a better deal.
I never tipped my trainers, but I bought very nice gifts. 
Why would the owner pay the annual registration fee? The owner isn’t showing it, you are.
No, you don’t generally tip trainers, except for a nice holiday gift at year end.
