I work in the tech world also. Unfortunately, you’ll get wooed by bigger salaries by start-ups, but I just turned down a VP role because I specifically needed a break from a “start-up” and even the bigger salary wasn’t as sexy as “time to be sane” is and working for a company that offers stability and encourages time with family and to decompress. So I went back to larger org world and it’s a breath of fresh air. Not to say that you’re in the stage of your career, but if you start to feel like you’re sick of the chaos and the lack of appreciation and rest for your time, I’d recommend finding your way back to corporate tech.
Equally as unfortunate, the A show horse world has just blown up in terms of cost. Like on a ridiculous scale. I think about what it looked like 10-15 years ago and now, and just the cost to keep up with the Joneses is soooo much more and quite frankly, the competition is ridiculously tough.
In addition, what used to be board and 4-5 lessons a month for me for maybe a whopping $1500 if I was on grooming board, now equates closer to twice that number because there are no longer a la carte lesson options. Everything is a program and training board costs as much if not more than your board, which is easily the cost of an apartment rental in a Middle COL town. With cost of hay and water and God knows what else rising, it’s understandable, but it still makes it very palatable for those not born into a trust fund, or who don’t have parents that are hedge fund managers or top lawyers, doctors, or founders of God knows what tech co.
I don’t have any sage advice because we had to essentially throw money at the problem to allow for things to work with my young green horse… and even now that’s not really coming to fruition the way we had envisioned it (because what in the horse world ever really goes as planned?), as the horse is moving forward and performing lovely, but I’ve been left to basically sit it out, which wasn’t the plan and makes me feel kind of useless and really puts a strain on the social aspect of the sport and the spirit of accomplishment. But that’s a different discussion for a different day.
What I’d recommend is shopping around a bit and ask tack stores locally for options. I don’t think you mentioned where you’re based, but if you give a general region, you’ll find plenty of people that are willing to offer suggestions on here.
In addition, if you’re working remotely, invest in a great pair of air pods or trekz aftershokz. I’ve managed to be able to do a ton of meetings and sit in on webinars off-camera in my car at the barn/show or I’m more accessible to my team if I can jump on a call driving to and from the barn or in between getting on and off.
HUNTERS. They are just HUNTERS. Hunter/jumper barns or programs are spoken of to differentiate between an Eventing or a Dressage barn/program. Here, most barns do both Hunters and Jumpers to some extent (along with Equitation); there are higher level programs/barns that specialize in one or the other–I’m not sure there are many hunters in the Madden’s program, for example, or many jumpers in Liza Boyd’s barn.
There is a stylistic change when switching between them as a focus, just as there would be a switch in switching from doing dressage as part of Eventing and deciding to switch to straight Dressage as a discipline. You ride differently on an XC course than you do in your showjumping round, too.
Still not sure you are getting it. Yes, hunter riding is different from jumper riding. It’s a different discipline. But it happens at the same barn. With the same professional. There are only a very few purely hunter or purely jumper barns. Your original poster has considered all the barns that do jumpers in her area, because they all also do hunters and she sees them at her hunter shows. They are the same people. They cost the same. If anything a purely jumper barn if it existed in her area would be more expensive, because in general there are few local/unrecognized shows that offer jumper classes and recognized/rated shows cost more.
LOL Thank you for the explanation. I only know what I have read and seen on this forum. I didn’t realise it was referring to both.
What also boggles may mind is how much horses cost over there.
My 16hh tb was 6 years old doing shoulder in, had been to a cross country course, is very conformational correct except for 2 hooves, is handsome and can take the weight behind to go up the dressage levels. $1,500.00.
While a lot of people have given suggestions about how to cut horse expenses, I suggest looking at your job as an option for more money/time. Employees actually have the upper hand at the moment in many industries. If your company is having that hard of a time hiring new staff, they’d find it hard to replace you as well. I suggest looking for other jobs that pay more and/or require fewer hours or asking for a raise at your current job.
@canterplease Another techie in the startup world. I was in the same boat and got on a better one–for significantly more money than what I had been asking for. AND I’m down to 45 hour work weeks. No one bats an eye when I saw “I’m OOO on Thursday and Friday for a horseshow, here’s who’s covering what, please don’t disturb me.”
I get people jobs. Please feel free to DM me if you’re feeling the burnout and are ready to make a move. There ARE startups out there with better, stabler, SANER work environments. Happy to point you in the right direction and help you suss out BS when interviewing around.
And there’s a COTH article up about a free Navajo pony winning all manner of things. He was free.
You do know we have cheap horses as well as pricey ones here? Branch out a little before the brush gets too broad.
Hunters and (Show) Jumpers are grouped together under a single governing body/rulebook. There is no such thing as a “Hunter Jumper”. Hunters and Show Jumpers are separate divisions*/classes of closely related disciplines. The Jumper part of Hunter/Jumper covers the Show Jumping competitions including equitation classes. Hunters have their own separate equitation classes. Show Jumping has been shortened to Jumpers - we typically don’t use the Show part f the name very much.
- in this context a division is a group of classes with specific entry criteria. Hunter divisions include an Under Saddle or Hack class (a group, flat class with no jumping).
And there’s your new thing for the day! 
Sorry, I should have finished reading the thread first!
Yup! I remember when DH’s salary hit six-figures, and younger me would have assumed at that point that we’d be able to afford anything our hearts desired (horsey or otherwise), but now we’re here, that’s not the case at all.
I mean, we’re comfortable (we don’t exclusively buy the no-name/generic brand products anymore ), but still have to be so mindful of how we spend our money. E.g., I hemmed and hawed over signing both my kids up for three weeks of summer camp because it’s so expensive (equivalent to six months of my mare’s basic board rate)!
I think there are lots of great suggestions in here already. My favourites thus far are finding someone to lease and negotiating yourself a raise (or changing jobs) so you can eliminate the freelance work. If it were me, I’d also drop the weekly training ride and reduce lessons - if possible - down to one every other week (or have your leaser take-over the expense on alternate weeks which would also help put your mind at rest re: installing bad habits over time without anyone around to see or correct them). Someone that leases may even be interested in showing, which is something else you can share the expense of.
It does sound like a very stressful existence though, so I do hope you’re able to find a better balance soon 
I get ya. I rode jumpers as a junior (also working student, also worked off most of my board and training)
Change of lifestyle. Stopped horses for a long time. Currently have horses again but no longer riding English. Cost for 2 or 3 days at an A show here was 500+. Last time I showed was 2016? Maybe even 2015. Sonoma horse park cost me 800 for the week (DIYed it) Husband has a low six figure job. We are in a lower cost of living area as well…
I think the hardest thing to realize in your situation is that it’s temporary. I was in a similar situation to you and always felt like I needed to get all my horseshowing in before I started a family. The way it worked out for me was the opposite… I was so busy working I didn’t even get to ride as much as I wanted, much less show. My 40s have been my best show years, and I’ve noticed it with a lot of my ammy friends as well. Is the freelance work something you can do for a show or a trainer? Trainers often have an ammy that organizes shows for clients for free day care & training. Just something to think about.
Yes the other 2 tb were given to us. My first horse, Pepper, in 1985 was $100.00 with a months trial. My friend I competed with was riding a pony she saved from the doggers for $45.00. He could jump higher than he was tall.
The most expensive was a warm blood who received over 50% in a medium dressage test and was trained up to half steps for $5,000 in around 1994. I learned more from her in 2 months than I did training and winning on my own horses for 9 years.
Stars for $1,500 I bought in about 2015. He has been my last purchase so far.
Hopefully Dodge will keep going for many a year. He is over 20yo now though. Pepper made it into his 30s still being ridden although he was half stockhorse.
Sim is approaching 20yo. Time goes so fast and I know they will not last forever. I will start opening my heart for a younger horse who needs us ìn the near or so future.
On this board I have read about horses that are selling for 5 and 6 figures. There was another thread about not being able to find cheap horses for school horses anymore, another one that the price of horses to jump 3 foot is extremely high. Those are the threads that boggle my mind.
I’m certain there is a class of wealthy people in your country as well, and you may never run in the same circles. It is unlikely that anyone competing in rated shows is riding a $1500 horse anywhere in the world. Of course the riders pinning in rated shows are riding (at least) 5 and 6 figure horses.
Back to this thread - a 6 figure salary doesn’t mean that much anymore, especially in urban areas and while holding student debt.
When I graduated from college in 1991 in a stagnant job market, some people got jobs starting at over $30K but most of us did not, and some of us made <$20K. Back then, a 6 figure salary was a lot of money. We’re hiring kids out of BS programs at $55K or more, and those who have advanced degrees and working in our NYC area are easily making $75-80 with little experience - and I work in quasi-government. All of our directors and managers in both our offices make close to, or more than 6 figures. I wouldn’t consider any of them wealthy, and would be astonished if they could afford $2200/month for a horse without getting a second job.
So…options - it is a job seeker’s market so the potential to move and get an increase is there. As well as making a move and finding a remote job, which would still be an “increase” even if you only made a lateral move but gave up commute. But, to be honest, I would definitely reevaluate your goals. You don’t want to look back on this time in your life and wish you had started socking money away into retirement, or saving for a house. Rent and horses are just money out, with little equity to speak of (in theory, the horse could have value, but it’s a high risk investment to say the least.)
It sounds like a good portion of this comes down to the job. Since we don’t know the ins and outs of your skill set and industry, you have to ask how feasible it is to find a different job or ask for a raise, more reasonable hours, and possibly an opportunity to work remote for a day. It sounds from your description of the company that they might consider paying you more, but will want you to work hard or harder for more money, and since it’s often a crisis management all-hands-on-deck situation, remote work is not necessarily a possibility.
I think you need to partially reevaluate the job both in terms of the money and also in terms of where it’s taking you career-wise. Is this a company that will pay you well for 5 years, chew you up and spit you out, and then fizzle out, leaving you to scramble for another job? Or does it offer the possibility of advancement? Even though it’s exhausting, do you like the work? If you take a less tiring job, possibly a remote one, will that lead you to the next stage in your career you desire?
Looking at the responses, I think you’re getting very different POVs based on age. When I was in my 20s and 30s, I was very much live for the moment. I didn’t own a horse, but I am a writer, so as long as I was writing, paying my bills, and putting away the minimum for retirement, and lease or take lessons on horses, then I was happy.
I’m in my forties now,. So I’m much more inclined to think about extra income going to buying a house, fixing up a house, even putting money into additional certifications in your field that could translate into a higher income and more money to put into a horse later on. Health and energy isn’t infinite, either. It sounds like your life is so full right now, it’s hard to plan or think about other possibilities from how you’re doing things.
I agree a leaser sounds like a good idea, although I will say as someone who has leased frequently, when someone was leasing their horse purely for economic reasons, it didn’t end well. There was always a sense of anger and resentment and mistrust, I felt in the arrangement, versus when I was leasing, say, an older second horse the owner didn’t have time to ride or the owner was away at college. (In other words, they felt that their horse was getting something out of the arrangement and it wasn’t that they had to “let someone ride their horse” to afford it.)
OP - I feel your pain, I really do. 6-Figures just doesn’t mean what it used to. Now that’s what you need just to be middle of the middle class.
FWIW, while I don’t think you need to give up horses right now if you don’t want to as some others have suggested, I will say that horses will always be there. I too was a “pro” in my 20s in that I groomed, managed, rode, etc all up and down the East Coast before getting burned out at 26.
I stopped riding except for the occasional flat here and there until 2018. That was a good 10 year break for me. I now have my own mare at a nice barn with one training ride and 2 lessons a week. All-in I would estimate I’m at $1300 a month (though I am a DINK). Shows are still going to be a struggle, but the rest of my debt is gone, and I’ve found that I enjoy going to clinics / taking lessons with other people / learning rather than showing as the end goal.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that horses will ALWAYS be there. If you have to take a break to get everything else organized and stay sane, don’t worry that you’ll forget everything or won’t ever be able to ride again. Taking a break has also given me the perspective to know that I can have a happy, complete life without horses should I have to give it up again in the future.
I lived this but was not confined by an SO. overtime I chose a career that gave me more time and still enough to afford horses. I miss living in NYC and having everything at my fingertips, but horses are more important to me ultimately.
I had some advantages such as a family farm and family business that needed a new leader. So I was able to transition with a support network (ie i didnt just move to middle of nowhere without a network)
It’s very hard to do horses in the urban / high COL areas unless you make a lot of money. Like multiple six figures min.
taxes in areas with more going on also have a significant impact… When I left NYC to relocate to PA, I got an 8% “raise” by paying lower local taxes.
If you can go to all freelance perhaps you have flexibility with hours, you could keep the horse further away and do more of your own riding to lower expenses. But I’m not sure how much that helps if you then have to pay a different tax because you are a 1099, healthcare etc
I’m late to the discussion, but…honestly I think that if you encounter other people in your area showing at your level while making your income, they most likely either a) have their riding supported at least partially by other family members or b) are playing with fire in terms of not paying down debt, running up credit cards, etc.
I’m in the Washington DC area. When I graduated law school in 2000, I was making $100K my first year, and while I had student debt, it was reasonable (unlike today’s graduates).
I felt like I was doing ridiculously well. Until I’d go to the barn. Where I felt poor.
Sadly, it’s just an expensive sport. And yes, there are ways to make it work, but the options that you have to make it work depend on your geographic location.
We don’t have rated shows like you do that go for weeks on end and yes my horses compete against those bought for much more. Even with $100.00 Pepper, who won a One Day Event by 66 points and the father of one of our agistees marvelling that there were others in the class that cost over $5,000 at the time.
As others have said you can save an awful lot by looking at what you spend. Really look. You can probably cut down on a lot of stuff and really not miss it. To add to what others have said with taking there own lunch:- My haircut I cut the fringe myself and the hairdresser I found cuts the rest twice a year for so cheap.
Some people will not step foot in an Op shop for clothes. I have done this my whole life. We lived in a rich suburb and the clothes donated were high quality. On going there Mum’s comment was she could not believe how well dressed the people shopping there were.
This suburb has the cheapest op shop anywhere. Let’s just say I have too many clothes! And a lot of them were brand new with the tags even though $2.50.
I don’t spend money on what a lot of people do. I do not drink tea, coffee or alcohol. I do not have pay TV. I do not buy cigarettes. I do not have cats or dogs. Those alone are a saving of tens of thousands of dollars per year.
So the horse’s get the best of everything.
I have a pretty latest phone bought second hand and with bring your own I pay $16.00 a month and I use mobile internet on it for work. Plus for the first time in my life I bought 2 x tablets while I was there. I love them, and they are used simply to play on. I have a wifi router at home.
The farm machinery we have quite a few new things now, to start with everything was 2nd hand, like a new 85hp tractor, a new side delivery rake, a new round baler and a new 2 angle horse float.
As well as the new sheds to keep them from the weather, which hubby has made and he made the dressage arena as well.
You never take out a bad debt. Eg you don’t take out a loan for a car, furniture or a holiday. Anything that you can not sell for more than the loan if the worst comes to the worst.
An examples of a good debt is property, you hope.
We were lucky, bought 2.5 acres and sold within a year and got what we paid for 100 acres further away, however the same commute for hubby.
I am also lucky that hubby is a mechanic. He found my car and my ute I pull the horse float with, 2nd hand, and maintains them.
The biggest saving as I said was waiting and working and not owning horses until we could buy a place to have them. So we have never paid for agistment or training. So the cost of that has been spent on the horse’s keep and our education. Even with them I have found the best carboot sale, that is held twice a year. I spend hundreds and save thousands.
Most of what the horses have are from there. I get mega bargains every time - like the old style county dressage saddle that was unused, mounted and $60.00 and the lovely winter rug combo that keeps Stars so warm for $25.00.
Oh and the horses are needed to round up the cattle, so the horses are now tax deductible.
Another thing to look at and I don’t know if our countries are the same, but with tax you can be better off working 3 days a week than 5 days a week, so as others have said it might be better to change jobs.
Oh and talking of tax, the tax we pay, we get our tax back with the farm, however you would have to talk to an accountant to see if that is the same.
Just something to consider will you be happy only doing one or two A shows a year?
The reason I ask this is I don’t know what your goals are with your horse? Do you want to qualify for indoors, win a local year end ribbon, or just do a handful of shows?
Your board is 2k have you done the math for a weeks show for trailering/day fee/hotel/showbill/misc yet? Just a regular A show might end up costing 1.5 to 2k. Just something to think about.
Showing has gotten so out of reach even for the middle class to do it on a regular basis.
