Curious where you’re showing these days? We all realize that WEF and DIHP are the gold standard, but other than that, I’d say that WEC is pretty nice in both spaces.
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We show at WEF, stable next door. Love it.
Right…and what’s your board? $8-10K per month? You’re paying Neiman Marcus level prices compared to anywhere else in the country. It should be nicer and more upscale simply based on the fact that you’re paying an average of $100k a year to board a horse. I didn’t even pay that in rent in Manhattan. Not to mention, it’s hot as hell down there anytime outside of Dec-Feb, so all that glitters isn’t always gold. You couldn’t pay me to go back there in September again.
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So you don’t actually stay at the WEF grounds? I’m sure there have been multiple interesting comments about the stabling there.
Lots of people don’t stay on the WEF grounds.
They will trail ride in for the day to show, or they might have stalls on the grounds where the horses just stay on show days, or what have you.
The facility is surrounded by farms in every direction where the horses can stay in a more relaxed environment and get turned out and enjoy some peace and quiet.
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Different strokes for different folks. I’ll chose Wellington over Ocala or another winter series any day (I’m here as we speak), and outside of extraneous costs (staff lodging, an off-site stall, etc.), the actual show costs are comparable to anywhere else in the country.
I had higher bills at Princeton and HITS Saugerties last year — and good luck finding a single healthy thing to eat on those show grounds or even a pleasant place to sit and work. WEF at least provides a “lifestyle” experience that justifies the cost and means I can occasionally drag my husband along for the ride without straight-up feeling bad about what I’m subjecting him to.
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This is what we do. Horses shuffle in and out of show stalls as needed, but most are living 3-4 days of normal life on the farm with turnout and a regular routine.
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I still don’t understand the Walmart comparison. People are ridiculous.
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Same.
As for what @Tha_Ridge said, I’m happy working from any of the large lounges in the indoors (guess you never found those? I’ve done plenty of conference calls up there, as well at on the concourse by the Italian place) and as for the food, I think there’s plenty of healthy options on and off campus. Also, good luck finding 4-5 heated or air-conditioned indoors for showing anywhere else! If that makes it Walmart, then I think I’d prefer that over sweltering in the heat and having horses bumped out of small shade tents for gaggles of teens and pony kids on phones.
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I don’t know the answer off the top of my head, but it would be interesting to know how many horses at WEF now actually live on the showgrounds for the whole time they are there. Which is how everybody used to do it at the start, before all the surrounding farms existed.
I feel like these days, it’s probably a relatively small percentage.
Plus it used to be a much shorter circuit in Wellington. I can remember when it was nine or ten weeks with (gasp!) an off week in the middle when there was no horse show at all. Imagine that.
Now there are people who set up shop at their farms there in the fall and don’t leave until April or May. And they could show basically every week if they really wanted to do that.
I guess when I was relating my experiences with local pumpkin roller shows that equates to Dollar General? Or Ollie’s? 
I for one am glad that there are showgrounds for all price points. I am also glad that while I haven’t (and probably will never) advance to the WEF level, at least I can enjoy a much much nicer experience than I ever did as a DIY 4Her. Although those experiences certainly build character - and we did have a lot of fun. But my aged self prefers a little more upscale show.
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