When you mention sponsorships, is that clients paying for sponsorships of a class or division at the show?
Looking at bills from the last year, my cost per a week ranged from $2800 to $3600 per a week.
Some notes:
-Brought or cooked my own food
-No braiding
-I commuted daily if show grounds was within a 1.5 hour drive each way
-No airfare, rental, or hotel costs
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These numbers are astounding. Back when I was showing the AA shows both as a young woman and later in life about 10 years ago, it was doable for a poorly paid journalist (back then) or less poorly paid (but by no means rich) novelist to compete without much of a financial strain. Both back whens the shows were populated with people like myself – not the uber rich, though there were always a few here and there (Marie Reynolds ie). Who’s showing now on the AA circuit? Is it only the uber rich or are people taking out loans and/or breaking into savings or going into debt?
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After just finishing my second UDJC show… I can say it’s a much more refreshing experience on the wallet end lol.
Genuinely I’m going to start promoting these shows as much as I can locally. Talking to David was so insightful, and his passion is infectious. Much needed. To me—and maybe this is an unpopular opinion—a lot of the weekly A/AA shows seem… pointless unless you’re a pro or a junior. Like it’s all kind of meaningless while still being absurdly expensive
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I do everything myself (hauling, grooming, etc) and I’m at about $2500/week for an “away” show. Close enough we can make two trips - one with the travel trailer and one with the horse.
It’s a TON of work. I clean my horses stall several times a day and handwalking is time consuming (but necessary, of course).
Between show weeks (we usually go for two in a row) I found a rehab facility that is pennies compared to keeping my horse at the show AND she gets turn out and salt water spa…
Overall, it’s an arm and a leg. And not getting any better.
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The minimum that a competitor needs to pay to get their horse into the show ring is in the order of magnitude of a few to several hundred dollars (not thousands): office fees, drug fees, entry fees, nomination fees, etc.
The amount that people are paying over and above that minimum are costs that are dependent on the circumstances and vary widely: grooming stalls, tack stalls, grooming fees, lodging, food, transportation, shipping, braiding, etc. None of these costs are mandatory from USEF’s standpoint. A lot of trainers require these expenses if you want to show with them. So these costs aren’t exactly voluntary, but they are also not mandated by show management or USEF.
The fact is that it costs a lot of money to keep a horse safe, healthy and comfortable away from home for an entire week. It is a huge undertaking. Week-long shows are extremely expensive and always have been relative to inflation.
There used to be more one-day and two-day shows to choose from. There were so many Unrated, B and C shows that people could show every weekend all season if they wanted to, without having to take time off from work or spend much money. Horses could be shipped in for the day; no need for a stable away from home with all the accoutrements. A young jumper could be brought along through 1.20, before needing to transition to bigger shows.
Unfortunately, these shows mostly died out due to lack of participants. People gravitated towards the week-long shows instead. Trainers have made their business model revolve around going to week-long shows.
These days, weekend-only shows with a robust lineup of classes/heights are few and far between. Hits Festival of the horse is one example, offering jumpers up to 1.20. The few weekend-only shows that still exist (that have class offerings a least somewhat on par with a week-long show) will need participants in order to keep going.
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I mean. Yes and no. Bolding is mine. Lodging, transport, and shipping for horse are mandatory by USEF for many people in the sense that a small percentage of the horse population lives within “commuting” distance of a rated show (thank you mileage rule). It is not feasible to ship home or drive home when you are at the edge of the 250 mile range, so you stable the horse and get a hotel. Braiding is standard practice for rated shows and I don’t think people want to spend the money to get to the show to have even the slightest chance of not placing to their potential because their horse wasn’t braided or was braided poorly. The merits of owners braiding their own horses was discussed in the Not Braiding for Hunters thread recently. IMO, as someone who DIYs it all, no chance of this rider braiding their own horse. There is too much else that needs done at the show and I have to sleep and eat and shower at some point.
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Ah, but my figures were to have a horse on the show grounds, before entering any classes, or braiding, or trainer’s fees, or… And apparently (this is a HITS show, after all), there exists a $1500 “barn fee” for horses to stable together. Don’t actually know about that one, but I believe it. Ridiculous.
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The small rated shows have died out because USEF (and USHJA) has too many board members who are invested in the week-long shows. Trainers like them because they can bring their whole barn and double-charge the clients, and the horse show owners like them because once they get a date, they’ve got a captive audience. Something’s rotten, and it isn’t in Denmark.
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This thread is yet another reminder of why I don’t show rated. It’s over-rated.
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Paying for their barn name to be listed as a sponsor on the side of the arena. 
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I think there’s a lower percentage than you’d think of people who actually can “afford” the sport doing it. And by afford, I mean if their A/O hunter breaks tomorrow they can go add another to replace it (200k+) with as good and continue down the road of campaigning, 15k trainer bills/mo + horse show travel and show office bills. But if you look at the numbers in the higher amateur hunter divisions the numbers are significantly down, while the low adults are big (30+ at big shows). Those horses are also much less expensive. I personally think there’s A LOT of credit and credit cards being used though.
As I’ve mentioned above, there’s also a lot of people like myself who have seen the very dark side of the top professionals programs and what they are doing to the horses, and said “no thanks”. I do think horse shows have hit their max and the attrition is following (and lets see now what happens as a result of poor jobs numbers and stock market). Also, in my personal situation, my husband and I are both business people, and when we figured out we’d been stolen from, no matter how much money you have you don’t like that!
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This is what always kills me with these weeklong shows. I surely am not expected to pro-rate my board for the week my horse isn’t home, so I pay full board. However the days my horse isn’t showing I also pay for “day care” which is just mucking, feeding, and watering. He’s cared for just as he’s cared for at home. (This is not for any days showing, where yes, the grooming fee absolutely makes sense.)
If the horse gets out to be ridden I pay the same ride fee I do at home. So what does daycare at the show cover that my board at home also does not cover??? I’m paying for him to be cared for in a full care program, he just happens to be at a show not in his stall at home. Same with hay and feed - i understand it costs to buy at the show. But my horse isn’t eating at home for 6 days….and I don’t pay any less board. I pay for hay and grain splits, meanwhile the food my horse isn’t eating is at home. Make it make sense 
This is where the $2k+ show bills have made it impossible for many of us. On TOP of 2k+ a month board and training bills!
(eTA: to answer the question, a show costs me about $2000 in trainer fees, show costs, and office and class fees. I am a jumper so do 3-4 classes max a show. Ouch!!)
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The only way I afforded to do it for several years was to do most of it on my own. No grooms, learned to braid, did my own hauling, used all of my own equipment and tack. I even went trainerless for a few years- I knew how to groom and tack my own horse, when my classes were, how to warm up my own horse, get to the ring and do my course. It was honestly liberating and rather enjoyable.
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Yep! Saddlebreds are pretty darn affordable. I’ve laughed at the ASB crew for years for thinking they are sooo expensive. Devon highlighted it pretty well. Look at me! I’m in a $500 road pony stake! Big time here! Wait, that’s being followed by a $10K h/j class. Never mind.
Devon
Horse expenses - $1350 (300 mile haul)*
Lodging ~$500 ish
But I am at a smaller barn. I didn’t have any grooms’ tips at Devon b/c we groomed for each other. There’s no in sense in me paying a barn mate $50 for a class when she’d be paying me $50 for helping with her class in the same session. Smaller shows, there generally is a kid who gets a tip.
*includes USEF membership; I usually don’t do USEF shows
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Can I tell you when I first went to a “real” show barn as a junior my dad had this exact same argument? The part that baffled him was that despite all of these fees, the trainer still never seemed to have any money (which was discovered when we tried to buy a martingale at Beval on the barn account and saw there were years of unpaid bills there - like truly a massive amount).
I do think the “day care” fee is worth something because there is inherently more mucking and more times to hay at a show. I know that the barn argument on this is that their monthly board bill assumes the horses will be showing X weeks per month and away, and that is what they base their costs on. To be clear, I don’t think that 98% of trainers are making much more than minimum wage for the hours they work unless they are selling a fair number of horses. It feels like it used to be a sport for those doing reasonably well in life, and now it is for those doing exceptionally well in life.
To all the comments saying it is less if you do XYZ yourself - this is very true. The cost of getting a truck and trailer isn’t low, though, and my job that pays these bills sometimes doesn’t allow me to be at the show the entire time my horse would be. The weekend C show or “local A” is indeed greatly missed.
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We have unrated weekend shows with stabling available all spring/summer long near me at PG equestrian center, which is also where Capital Challenge and WIHS are. The shows seem to be very popular and are quite affordable. There are only a few classes above 2’6” and they often don’t fill. As far as I can tell, barns and riders who want to jump higher are opting for rated shows instead. But then also locally there is Twilight Jumpers that I think is very popular and has a 1.25m mini prix and one amateur class at 1.05m. Ship in only.
A stall for the weekend show is $90. A stall for the week for Maryland Horse and Pony at the same facility is $300. Fri-Sun makes the unrated show stall $30/day and Monday-Sunday for $300 is $42/day. So more, but not crazy more.
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There is a trainer who charges a flat rate each month. It includes basic board, tack up and grooming at home, lessons, and training rides. It also includes day care, coaching, pro rides, lessons. Splits are separate. If show is local he buys the minimum amount of bedding to avoid the clean out fee and brings shavings. Hay and grain come from home. Because he gets it that you are already paying for all of this. It win for clients but big win for trainer because at the beginning of the month he already knows his income. He has a lot of clients because, at the end of the day no one likes to be nickeled and dimmed to death. You get enough of that from the shows.
If I were a young pro I would absolutely do this model.
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That’s been common in the dressage world forever. A lot of their clients are true full training though with all lessons and riding and grooming included, so nothing is a la carte ever. Most offer a groom for shows but many clients do their own. It’s only 2 classes and you have times so pretty easy.
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My bill yesterday:
Ambulance fee: $65.00
Association fees: $47.00
Jumper/Hunter/Equitation Nomination fee: $115.00
Credit card fee (because you HAVE to enter online and HAVE to use a credit card for the deposit): $20.13 (I pay the balance with an old-fashioned check.)
Office fee: $135.00
Manure disposal fee: $35.00
Stall: $575.00
That’s $992.13. No shavings, no splits, no classes.
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