This is where I still think instead of having the amateur rules we should look at something like having green and novice divisions. I have listened to very good pros talking about wanting to help their student learn to do something as a lower level rider to help smooth and improve the image in the show ring - and admit that they didn’t learn it until they were showing Intermediare. Had they been competing at a time when 1) you were supposed to win at your level before progressing and 2) when scores below 70 weren’t acceptable, many pros would have never reached upper levels. We need to learn correct riding and improvement over time as we progress - and right now, shows discourage that. “You’re not good enough, you certainly can’t move up” attitude.
Cost - 1 day for a rated show put on by my local GMO (does not include gas to get there, or cost to transport if you don’t own your own truck/trailer)
You can save the non member fees by getting memberships - I think USEF is $50 / yr and USDF is 75 / yr
NO HAUL‐INS: All horses must be stalled, no horses in the campgrounds
STALL BEDDING: First bedding is provided. Additional bedding can be purchased at show office. Cost for additional bedding is $10 per bag; fill out requests at the Show Office. Bedding orders must be placed by 9 am to be received the same day. There will be a $30 Bedding Removal fee per stall for any bedding brought in and used in the stalls that is not purchased directly from Donida Farm.
STABLING: (See also Rule 19, Bedding) Permanent stalls and portable stalls, 10 x 10 with full doors, are available for the duration of the dressage competition for $45.00/night. Every effort will be made to honor all stabling requests. Earlier postmarks will receive priority. Bring your own wheelbarrows, water buckets, hoses, and feed. You may not reserve stabling before entry is received. Upon arrival, please check posted stabling chart at Welcome Barn, before pulling trailers all the way into unloading areas.
USDF qualifying fee: 10
Tests/per test 45
Stabling per day 45
bedding 10
office fee 25
drug fee 16
USEF show pass fee (if not current competing member - applies to coaches too!)
30
USDF non member 25
Total 206
So that is the cost for a non member of USEF / USDF to ride ONE test, for one day. The costs shift around a little if you are a competing member of USEF / USDF or if you are not paying the qualifying fee.
Now make that 2 tests over 2 days, and you’re blowing $400 or $500 a pop, per weekend, and I haven’t even paid for transport yet. Or decided if I want to stay near the show grounds, or abandon my horse there and sleep in my own bed. If I travel both ways each day, not to pay for overnight stabling, I"m still required to pay for day stabling, so there’s no cost savings, and I spend more on transportation. This show is about 45 minutes away from me.
I want to know when this stupid $10 per bag of shavings or $30 disposal fee became a thing?!? I saw this recently on one of our local show venue prize lists and my thought was that this was a nice way to guarantee I’d never show at your facility. If you buy in bulk, those shavings aren’t even costing you $5.00 per bag (probably much less even), and I’m sorry, but paying double the cost of the shavings for the “convenience” of you delivering it, isn’t worth it either. I have truck, it will cost me literally nothing to drive it across your grounds…
This was supposed to be my big year. Doing rated shows (in Canada). I am the quintessential AA. Top it off I live in a wasteland of anything so I have to drive into Canada about an hour, or anywhere in the states 4+ hours. By the time you add in my vet fees for crossing the border it’s about the same price BUT I don’t have to drive as far so Canada it is.
BUT dearest P had other plans. Got an SI injury we’re just rehabbing and to hopefully ward off this injury again I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of $ on a custom saddle. So we’ll maybe do two unrated shows this year. And IF I get the saddle paid off by next spring. we’ll do our big show year next year.
At the end of the day I don’t think the shows are ungodly expensive, but everything else is, and my pay has most definitely not kept up with inflation. I imagine that’s probably what it is for many middle class families, it’s not that the shows are horrible it’s the cost of life, that keeps chipping away at our expendable income.
If you clean your own stall at the end, do you get your $30 back and also the right to bring in your own bedding?
I couple of (unrated) shows near me down in Oregon have started asking for a stall cleaning deposit. It’s just $15. You get it back** if you clean out your stall at the end of the show. Most people leave their stall dirty and forfeit the $15. It sounds like Donida Farm has you buy shavings from them (that will amount to more than $30/3 bags if you bed properly and for longer than a weekend), or pay $30 if you bring your own. But you can’t clean your stall and get that money back?
I’ll bet this “clean out fee” (which obviously has been rolled into the stabling charge until now) will become yet another line item on entry forms. It makes the pack up and go home process a little bit more of a PITA to strip your stall for your deposit back (especially since you’ll need to do this with the horse in it), but at least the gung-ho DIYers have an option.
ETA: ** Of course, the refunded deposit promised has not yet been credited back to me… just had to send an e-mail. Sigh.
There is no clause for the show around here that started doing this that you can get your money back. And they have the highest stall fees in the area. The farm isn’t brand new, the stalls aren’t fancy (just sheddrow stalls). To those of us that are trying to show on a budget, it’s just another way to make sure we don’t show at the recognized shows anymore.
It’s so funny how much all of this varies by region, because just this weekend I was remembering when I was first showing dressage in the 90s and the muck deposit was common at every show. Now the shows here don’t seem to do that anymore–there’s just a flat stabling fee and you don’t have to muck your stall at the end of the show. There are only a couple of shows that require you to use their bedding too, thank goodness.
What is the evidence that dressage shows are being killed? Not having any empirical evidence, it seemed like that the numbers of participants declined during the recession but now seems stable.
Around here clean out fees must have been rolled into stalls…many places stabling is $115-$145/weekend, not including shavings (which run $8-10 bag depending on when ordered and which may or may not allow outside bedding). I also talked with someone who was being paid to strip the stalls out afterwards as per the venue’s agreement…I would have MUCH rather had a muck deposit I got back after stripping my own stall!
I also know that other individuals renting stalls for a different show (but exact same venue) paid significantly less than I did for a dressage show–the only differences was the show and they stripped the stalls themselves.
I totally understand the need for a grounds fee. But by the time you account for gas paying a day parking fee for two days isn’t hardly any cheaper than stabling. I can’t believe that every person who trailers in is so inconsiderate as to damage things, leave trash, manure, etc. that it warrants a fee for everyone for each day–most of the trailers I am in proximity too are very conscientious about leaving their area neat…and I have gone to horse trials where my division spanned more than one day and I was just charged one grounds fee…I can’t imagine dressage people are that much more inconsiderate/bad parkers/etc. than eventers.
I try and sleep on a cot in my trailer so I’m not having to pay a hotel room on top of the show, bring my own food, etc…but that’s nearly impossible in the summer in North Carolina. My salary hasn’t risen with the cost of inflation, and neither has that of many other people I know. And I know the operating costs of the shows themselves have gone up too, I’m not trying to blame them, it’s just a fact. Fortunately some of the shows near me do try to do competitors dinners and hospitality stuff which is definitely appreciated, but it’s not all of them and it does affect where I choose to go knowing I won’t have to pay for a meal or two!
There is more to Region 9 than just Texas.
Texas is doing well, but shows in other areas (LA, MS) are shrinking.
Everywhere around here requires you to purchase and use their bedding. I think it’s as much to do with disposal as anything else. And some places do require that you buy a certain amount of bedding or just sell you a bedded stall. I can only imagine that was because there were horses with no bedding…
I think most of us regular middle-aged ladies who don’t have aspirations to greatness and just show local recognized shows are a lot poorer than we used to be. And a lot older. We are starting to face the inevitable problems of ageing and impending retirement and the financial implications of that. We’ve been the stalwarts of showing for many years, and we are ageing out.
There’s a whole missing generation of new, non super-rich, riders thanks to the recession and it’s fallout.
I know for me, my current horse is my last hurrah as far as a competitive, potentially upper level, dressage horse that I’m prepared to dump money into goes (and he’s rehabbing a potential career ending injury so I’m out for the season.) After this one, I’ll still own a horse but I’ll probably noodle around the lower levels and trail ride more.
I help plan and put on dressage shows for my local GMO. My club puts on one rated dressage show every year (well, technically it’s two shows, one each day of the weekend), and it’s our major fundraiser for the year. Our attendance has been steadily declining over the last three years. I believe it’s a combination of increased availability of rated shows in our area, a thriving schooling show circuit, and the always-hot weather.
It’s expensive for the club to host this show. In 2016, the show’s total cost was $25,565. Here’s a brief breakdown of some of the major show expenses:
- $6,135 for venue rental (including the competition arena, warm-up arena, and stabling
- $5,880 for hiring, transporting, feeding, and housing two judges, a TD, and other show staff (like an EMT, night watch person, etc.)
- $3,566 in fees paid to USEF/USDF so the show will be recognized/scores counted toward various championships and programs
- $2,085 for ribbons and awards
- $963 for competitors' parties on Friday and Saturday night
This year’s show did not make a profit; since entries were low, the club lost about $7,000.
This thread is helpful to read, as I am very interested in what makes a show appealing/not appealing to competitors!
I think part of the problem is the judging, and not just inconsistency. As an amateur without a big budget and who has to trailer to every lesson, I am trying hard. If my body doesn’t look that supple in the trot, you can bet I already know that. I don’t need snarky comments from the judge. In my opinion, there is no excuse for some of the judges comments I have seen on my tests and those I have read online. I welcome constructive criticism but not nasty and mean. I can keep progressing in my lessons without your snarkiness, thanks. I don’t need to spend money to have someone say mean spirited things. I
When I show, I am looking for helpful eyes to confirm or expand on what my instructor is telling me or even a fresh perspective not bitc****ness.
I didn’t mean to imply with my cost break down post that there were not expenses to cover, or that the cost was unreasonable for the service.
Just that I want to be darn sure, that if I’m going for ‘All Breed Awards’ on my fairly rare in Dressage off breed horse, that after I have paid for the membership with the breed registry, the USEF, the USDF, and maybe my local GMO that I have very good odds of coming in at 60% or better before I show up for my Training level test.
If I am not sure of that, well, I have a few schooling show series within 5 - 30 minutes of my barn that I can go to, at much less cost, and not have to pay for a stall if I want to work out of my trailer.
Here’s a schooling show example: "
- Entry Fees per test: [B]$30 Non-members, $20 members [/B] [B]NO ONLINE ENTRIES/PAYMENT THIS YEAR[/B]
- Entries are accepted in order of receipt. ENTER EARLY! Classes usually fill before the deadline.
- A $5 admin fee is charged for entries accepted after the closing date.
- A separate entry form is required for each horse & rider combination.
- Parking Lot opens at 7am. Show office opens at 7:30am day of show
So, for one class:
Parking: 10
1 class: 30 (non member)
stall: 25
total: $65.
I can buy an individual membership to this club for $30 / yr. If I have me and a couple kids, I could buy a family membership for $45, which would save me $10 per class. I’d only need to sign up for 3 classes all year, to get my membership fees worth.
Interesting topic. I am an organizer for a rated show, 3 days, 2 shows. It’s our GMO’S annual show, a fundraiser for our club. It’s expensive to run a rated show. It’s expensive to compete at a rated show. However, our GMO makes money, this year about 7k for a 2 ring show. Much of that money comes from sponsorship and advertising. We have an amazing awards program at our show. Almost all from donated product from sponsors. Even some cash awards. Competitors love it. It is a big draw to our show. However, it takes a boatload of work to get product donations and cash donations. Overall we get about 10k in donations of product, and 5k in cash. I have been doing sponsorship for our show for years, developed relationships with sponsors and advertisers, and thank them profusely and they know how much they are appreciated. It’s hard work, but it works.
We have a pro doing the entries, we rent a venue with good footing, and have great volunteers who are appreciated and treat our competitors like gold. They come back year after year.
I am also a competitor at many shows and nothing compares to what we do at our show. It works because we make it work, lots of great folks who are dedicated to the show, and our priority is the competitors happiness…period.
I really like being an organizer, especially when people are happy, happy, happy.
I really loved reading your post!! We have a local rated show in Germany where I come from and it works the same way. In Germany rated shows are not organized by commercial show venues but by riding clubs. And they talk to all the local businesses as well (many of them are involved in riding anyhow) for sponsorships and advertising.
all the cash awards are usually sponsored by somebody.
But I would think cash awards are not possible in the US because then you your loosing your AA status…
I haven’t seen the $30 disposal fee yet, thankfully. I know when I was a working student, we would pack up the four horse with tack, trunks, and hay (plus all the drapes and crap for the tack stall). No way we were fitting bedding for 4 horses for 3-4 days in there as well. If 5 people went, we could use my trailer with my horse and the second stall would be full of bedding and hay. So some of that is just good old capitalism, they know you can’t fit all the supplies if you travel with multiple horses.
Ah yeah, I stabled next to a lady who did that years ago. Shedrow stabling on dirt floors…she said the dirt was plenty of cushion, ugh.
Interesting thought. The few cash awards are for one of the High Point awards that we give as we run out of product to give. An example is we give High Point Awards in 17 categories. Each we put a value on about $250. So is giving awards, product or cash compromising a AA status? AA are only one of the categories we give awards to, also Open, Junior, Para. We also have competitor bags stuffed with product.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Amateurs can accept prize money in dressage competition. It’s specifically called out as a permitted activity in 1306, 3e.
