Oh Absolutely, it’s training board that adds up to around 3k, plus showing and daycare for anywhere from 8-15 days (usually arrive on a Monday/Tuesday, and often trainer will stay til Monday if show runs late on Sunday and not enough time to pack up, so every week is another $1000 or so in daycare, plus you are billed for show rides, coaching, and lessons at shows. None of that is included. You are also billed for splits for shows, so tack/grooming stalls, hay, shavings, and grooms and trainer travel costs.
Full board includes rides and training AT HOME. Key words are AT HOME. As many others have highlighted, it’s been a struggle to have a “home trainer” teach when pro is away and it’s resulted in either pro being stretched thin when shows are local and trying to do double-duty, or having a guest trainer come in to teach, which doesn’t always happen since they have other obligations, as well.
Seriously, in my next life, I’m targeting a few specialized equine careers. 30 mins of chiro for $300 sounds like a clutch gig, IMO. You could essentially work 4 hours a day (2 hours in the AM, LUNCH, and 2 hours in the PM) and make $2400/day. That’s over 10k per week if you only work 5 days!!! I need to look into the schooling, but it’s a great gig if you can get it!
I used to work at Flintridge. This describes that exact situation. You’re not tied to any trainer there, and can leave whenever you please. There are a ton of amazing trainers within an hour to go lesson with.
Similarly, but also very different, I have my horse at home and lesson with my trainer regularly. I am incredibly fortunate that my trainer also doesn’t mind when I need to show with someone else due to conflicting show schedules with my work/kiddo/husband’s work.
I used to do hunters until the ridiculous cost of showing pushed me to dressage where the norm is stay at home and train, attend select shows.
My old trainer runs a rather boutique business at this point. He goes to Florida every year. You are welcome to show the whole circuit or you can pick a month and pay board, a la carte training and lessons.
Number of shows? Last year they did WEC. Two shows then week off , rinse and repeat. Maybe 10 shows?
After returning from Florida they have just started the 4th show. May add in 2 or 3 more.
Riders are competitive at the premier shows and qualify easily for Devon and indoors. Horses are made although he is more than happy to make one up for you if that is your desire.
He is home most of the year and available for lessons and training at home.
What some won’t like? No full care board except at the shows. When you ride or take a lesson you get your own horse ready and put it away when you are done. Personally, that was a perk for me. Even with a full time job and 1 hour trip to the barn.
It’s a good program, competitive and horse friendly. There are horses in his program who are still competing well into their teens.
I don’t give a rat’s patootie about how good a trainer is when their “program” is based upon 22 plus shows a year. I never showed my horses more than 10-12 a year. TBH, if you need that many shows to qualify and/or be more competitive you may want to reassess the trainer’s “skills”.
I am not trying to be harsh but this is a prime example of some of the ways we abuse our horses in the name of competition.
This is what I do. But I live just north of Ocala and there are a whole lot of options to do this with.
That would be a perfect arrangement. I always liked to make all decisions concerning my horse. My personality wouldn’t appreciate a full-time training program with all care and show decisions dictated to me. I trailered out to my trainer and showed on my own, with my best friend, also a horsewoman, for a groom and warm-up coach. But I wasn’t going GP, so that’s probably why it worked. 
It’s good to hear it’s still an option for some people.
I’ve always driven small cars. Current one is a Hyundai Accent. My DH was always threatening to buy me a truck and trailer, but I always had very reliable short-distance haulers who would take us to clinics, shows and vet hospital (
) when necessary.
So I have my own small farm with six equines, two of whom are currently ridden. My hubby and I do all the work. We also both have jobs. We are not independently wealthy. No kids. I bring along my own prospects and trailer to lessons and shows with my '07 truck. Will I be qualifying for indoors any time soon? Probably not. Do I have a ton of fun bringing along my horses and showing, bopping around on trails, doing the occasional hunter pace or two and getting the most out of lessons and clinics? Absolutely. Do I want to ever hit the AA circuit full time? No. Will I want to do a few bigger shows a year eventually? Yes. Not everyone has to be in a full time circuit program to enjoy riding and showing and improving.
OP,
Do any other boarders share your feelings? Would Trainer be more likely to listen if 3-4 clients wanted to do less showing? Trainer might be able to lose one client, but might bulk at losing multiple.
You’re not wrong. I thought about it, as well. As I considered whether or not spending $5-6k for a mortgage for a horse property would make more sense than what I was currently doing, as there’s no equity in boarding out.
Sadly, it’s not and it’s not just the cost, it’s getting people to come to you (ie vet and farrier), having the ability to move said animals from place to place, and then paying a premium bc you are not part of the full boarding plan of professional.
It’s wildly expensive and it’s shocking given the interest rates spike. We’ve been sitting on money that we set aside waiting to buy another property and sadly, our low six figure down payment doesn’t seem like it’s going to get us anything close to what we could have bought in 2019 or 2020. I had imagined that the market would cool off and with inflation so ridiculously high, that foreclosures would start to pop up and that the real estate market would drop. Nope. Nope to all of it. Strange world we’re living in currently.
Ohh it was attempted by a few and resulted in a mushroom cloud type reaction. Things are not good and I’m really torn about what to do.
Thank you to everyone that has weighed in on their opinions. I guess I had assumed that everyone was doing 20-24 shows a year that were showing actively on A circuit. It’s been a minute since I’ve been in this space and getting back into it, I was sort of going with the flow. That being said, the more I talk this through and the more things start to unravel, I’m starting to really want to stick to my gut and insist that we’re on a 16-18 show schedule next year regardless of the “expectation” and that if that’s not going to work in their world, then let’s work together to find me a place that it will. To be clear, I do not want to leave, but I also don’t want to be miserable worrying that I’m being the anchor that’s holding them back or the cheapo in the barn. If that’s the plan moving forward and others are comfortable in it, then I respect that it’s no longer for me but that it’s their business plan and they haven’t budged from it.
In this post and others, you actually sound like a great client— super professional; able (and willing) to understand the pro’s motivations/constraints; and collaborative in the sense of being open-minded and willing to meet in the middle somewhere.
You ultimately may not be the client their accountant says they want (and, presumably that they can get. Perhaps your area is awash in people who can show 22 weeks a year). But boy-howdy, you’d be an easy client to do business with. And I think a professional who actually has to do some customer service (as all horses trainers do), wouldn’t mind having a client or two like you. Y’all might not be the biggest pay check, but you are the Very Meritorious Smallest PITA.
The fact that your trainer reacted like that seems to be a red flag to me, even if you like the actual coaching. You don’t want to show that much, it’s almost certainly not something your horse needs to stay fresh (if anything, your horse would probably show better by showing on a more reasonable schedule), and you’re basically paying a lot of money to go to shows you don’t want to make your trainer happy. That just doesn’t sound like fun to me.
Mushroom Cloud is a red flag. Get out now. You are dealing with someone who is over controlling and likely has you psyched into being overly dependent on them and believing in their Koolaid brand. Mushroom Cloud is very different from a rationale explanation of what’s required. It points to a lot of personality disorder lurking under the surface
They have a business plan, and you no longer fit in it. It’s fine to not want to leave, but they clearly don’t really care. It’s not personal - everything about this industry is tightening, and those who are living off the higher-end clients are having to make a choice.
Move on. There are plenty of trainers that have something to share but who aren’t on the circuit all the time.
I think at this barn you will always feel like a drag when in reality, you sound like an ideal client for most show barns, I think you should easily be able to find a program that fits your needs and makes you feel like a valued customer. Feeling liked and appreciated rather than resented is a big deal. Don’t downplay your needs (and your horses) just to keep a trainer/program happy. If they cared about you the way you care about them, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
I left a barn I absolutely loved years ago when we could not come to an agreement about my young horse. I was really sad about it at the time, but boy do things have a way of working out for the better. In my case, I ended up taking about a a year in a very low-key barn, and kept an eye out for a good program while we were there. We ended up moving to my current barn and I have never looked back,
Keep us updated!
I don’t know where OP is but my old trainer would welcome her with open arms and elevate her to preferred client status due to her attitude.
I was thinking this, too! My trainer would DIE for a client like you, OP 
No braiding helps too. Just too bad I can’t remember a jumper course! Maybe I will get there…
As someone who moved barns recently, I found it interesting that the high end barns are the ones with vacancies. By high end, I mean board is $1200 +, and you must be in the show program.
The facilities that have a HJ trainer onsite, offer showing but don’t have a strict show minimum, and have a base board of less than $1000 are completely full. There is a market for the latter. But in our area of Florida, the development pressures and increased costs have pushed many such barns out of business.
