What are we paying to show for a week these days?

[wanderlust]

Because the vast majority of them have no background in business management, and a lot of them carry multiple of their own personal horses.

[Inimitable]

Same. I am as DIY as you can get in order to be able to afford the handful of rated shows I do each year. If I’m lucky, I have a coach to pay a daily rate and meet at the ring. But I’m often on my own, bribing friends to set jumps for me or just snagging warm-up jumps where I can. I am a lone wolf by nature, so it works for me. But it is exhausting when I take all three horses.

[Hunterammy2020]

This!! And they try to live like the wealthy clients they have! A lot of money mismanagement imho.

[awaywego]

@foursocks

In the past (and probably in the future as my new-ish horse and I get more of a partnership developed), I’ve met a H/J trainer at shows and did exactly the same- they get my stalls tacked on to the end of their section, but I do all my own horse care and just meet the trainer at the ring. And, when it was just me and a single horse I often showed without a trainer- I had a friend to set jumps, hold my horse as needed, and keep me company, but I was at a point with my guy where I could be 100% DIY and still be competitive.

Gosh you are so lucky to find a trainer who will work with you like that. I am totally self sufficient at a show - I ship myself and frequently do day trip shows on my own - it’s all the trainer fees (day fees, splits, etc) that prevent me from doing more shows.

[Amberley]

When you see someone who cannot pay the feed bill but has $5k worth of fillers in their face.

[equest]

Unless there are more than 2 horses involved, I am wondering about the trainer’s fees here. I recently had a couple of local trainers quote me their current in-house fees, bc I was in a situation where I might need to move barns. Even the priciest barns in my area weren’t this expensive

[equest]

Agree with FourSocks. If you look hard, you may be able to find a good trainer who will charge you less if you are self-sufficient. You still should expect to pay the hotel/per diem splits, but I suggest you ask around to see if any can allow you to do your own care especially if the trainer knows you and your work ethic. I also do this with a trainer that I meet at shows, hauling my own horse and handling everything else except for training/schooling.

[equest]

Yes, when you compare HJ to eventing, the event riders are so much more DIY and it’s so much easier on the budget. Too bad I am a chicken about CC! Fortunately, there are a few “old school” HJ trainers who are still around my neck of the woods, and who are more independent and do not run full service barns.

[Demerara_Stables]

@Willesdon

If the clients pay for absolutely everything - horses, grooms, transportation, stables, entries, sponsorship, trainer accommodation and food - then how come professionals are all so “broke”?

Jk jk

[deweydee]

@hillary_again

BTW, other disciplines like reining are also complaining about the cost of horses to show (not the show costs, but the horses themselves).

I’m not in the reining, but western performance stuff. I just spent $800 for a one day haul in show where the horse was in two classes. It was a rated show, although I guess maybe like a B if I tried to compare to the H/J world. Some of that was a hauling fee, but the majority is just the price of the classes themselves. I feel bad, because I like to support those putting the smaller shows on, but I don’t know if I’ll attend again. I can go to a true weekend show where the costs are averaged out over four classes and it makes more sense for me to haul myself. At least I didn’t have to pay splits and I never pay grooming fees. Thankfully she won enough to cover the cost of one class, but then that was split with the trainer

[foursocks]

I would also add that even when I got back into riding and bought my first horse as an adult, I knew I couldn’t afford the sort of quality hunters I had as a kid. Mine were all green when we got them and then my trainers and I made them up and sold them. But even that model was going to price me out when I got back into it, so I turned to jumpers. It’s just cheaper all around, from buying to showing.

One other thing that I have noticed is much worse in the last several years is that riders are HELPLESS without their trainers. I know this has been discussed ad nauseum, but I think it ties in with rising show costs when people depend so heavily on their trainers. When I am waiting at the gate for someone to finish schooling (which of course takes forever because they have to be told how to WTC and then made to jump 20957 warm up fences), and then they come to the ring and do not know their course it makes me see red.

If a rider can’t even warm up on the flat without their trainer telling them what to do, much less learn their course, it seems to follow that they might also accept whatever fees they are told to cough up. If I came up to the ring after warming up and told my trainer I didn’t know the course she would leave me there and go home!

[hillary_again]

@deweydee: “…won enough to cover the cost of one class…”. When I was a kid, you could win enough in hj to cover the costs of the class at some shows, like the state fairs. I don’t think that happens in hj anymore. Thanks for sharing your experiences in western performance! What does that include - reined cow horse? something else?

[HJdaydream]

I agree the numbers said upthread are spot on. I’ll weigh in since I just finished showing 2 weeks in Kentucky. Below are averages for what I normally see.

Show fees (include stalls, Amateur hunter division entry, and a couple warm-up classes, office fees etc): $1200.
Trainer fees (day care/ training/ pro rides/food/lodging etc): $1500
Hauling (for about 4 hrs away): $700
Braiding (2 days): $260
Hotel (2 nights): $250
Groom: $200-300

$4210 for an average week. This is why I rarely add it all up .

[deweydee]

Yeah, I’d bucket in cutting, reined cow, reining, maybe roping.
And any money back is better than no money back!

[pnwstomp]

It depends on the show and the number of weeks we are there, but I decided to track actual costs this year and my per week totals ranged from $3700 (local) to $5000 (thermal). This is for a 1 meter adult amateur jumper who jumps no more than 4 classes a week.

[paw]

@equest

Unless there are more than 2 horses involved, I am wondering about the trainer’s fees here. I recently had a couple of local trainers quote me their current in-house fees, bc I was in a situation where I might need to move barns. Even the priciest barns in my area weren’t this expensive

It may depend on your area. Here in SoCal, any A show barn is going to have $1000+ in trainer fees per horse at shows, on top of what you’re paying at home.

[paw]

@foursocks

One other thing that I have noticed is much worse in the last several years is that riders are HELPLESS without their trainers. I know this has been discussed ad nauseum, but I think it ties in with rising show costs when people depend so heavily on their trainers. When I am waiting at the gate for someone to finish schooling (which of course takes forever because they have to be told how to WTC and then made to jump 20957 warm up fences), and then they come to the ring and do not know their course it makes me see red.

Not knowing the course can be one thing (might depend on how many divisions the rider is showing in). But the “learned helplessness” is aided and abetted by the trainer - god forbin that you should go in and do a round that wasn’t supervised! Or such was my experience.

[drop_shot]

I love a good spreadsheet, so I have been tracking all of my costs that go into showing (show bill, hauling, hotel, food, gas, etc) for the past few years. All in all, a week long show for me costs an average of 3.5k. For reference, I show in the midwest (OH, KY, IL).

[mrsgrieves]

I mean, you’re also paying $125 a day for training, at least I am. I WANT my trainer there. I’m paying for it, I expect to get the service I’m paying for. Not my fault that the show is running 4 rings, and should maybe only be running 2, which is creating conflicts. That’s a management issue, not a me issue.

[trubandloki]

@foursocks

If a rider can’t even warm up on the flat without their trainer telling them what to do, much less learn their course, it seems to follow that they might also accept whatever fees they are told to cough up. If I came up to the ring after warming up and told my trainer I didn’t know the course she would leave me there and go home!

Clearly this is not so for all people, but for some people the things you are complaining about are more a matter of show nerves and being overwhelmed by those show nerves.