Any tips to 'make it work' financially

[palo1]

I wanted to add too that although I sometimes feel wistful about not being able to afford to event that did mean that I had to find lots of other things to do with horses; it enabled me to see young horses as a good project which has been fantastic in terms of being able to produce my own and also our children's ponies and horses (excellent money saver too in fact) I was able to see horses rather differently (rather than just as eventing prospects or not). I have been able to take time to sort out problems, learn a huge amount that is not related to competition and have explored some amazing places and wild camped with the horses (and children) and other things which being focussed on eventing would never really have allowed. I feel I have had a fair bargain really. I have no idea how much money exactly I would need to run an eventer for a couple of years (without 'extra' vet issues that is...!). I am quite interested to know how much it is costing people in real terms these days - I just know I couldn't afford enough entries to make it worth bothering with lol!!

 

[Michen]

Well for an event alone depending if unaff or aff and whether there’s late entry fees, day ticket passes etc it’s around £90-£135 for the entry. Usually around £40 in fuel to get there. Plus the various other bits. So £200 per event for low level grassroots and obviously it only gets more expensive!

In total before competing my horses cost me around £15,000 a year. Which when you work out what that is after tax is a little depressing.

I would choose my horse over the opportunity to event any day and completely agree with everything you’ve written. So many people suggested I buy something more ready to have fun on than Bear, to fill the gap Boggle left competing wise, I don’t find that remotely interesting tbh. What makes everything so special to me is that it’s all been done with me from the start (albiet I had pro involvement!). Buying a ready made horse “to event” wouldn’t cut it.

 

[PurBee]

One thing to seriously consider is investing.

You can do all kind of things to make money, but as the saying goes time=money, and us lot with horses find time in short supply mostly!

Yet, with wise investments - they can net you a return that will pay for a few years of evening fees, and you didnt have to alter your time life schedule - money you have already invested ‘works for you’ while you live your life.

If the subject is new to you, its worth seeking the advice of an investment specialist/financial advisor, as there are literally hundreds of thousands of invesment opportunities, and those who’s career is that sector, have the experience to know wise investments.

’money makes money’ - in the investment sphere thats true whether its 100quid or 100k. Just you’ll make quite a lot more investing 100k! But seriously, forget bank savings accounts with their paltry percentages that are a joke - if you have the ability to save something from a bit of excess income, ferry some of that into investments. Your future self will thank you.

 

[palo1]

Well for an event alone depending if unaff or aff and whether there’s late entry fees, day ticket passes etc it’s around £90-£135 for the entry. Usually around £40 in fuel to get there. Plus the various other bits. So £200 per event for low level grassroots and obviously it only gets more expensive!

In total before competing my horses cost me around £15,000 a year. Which when you work out what that is after tax is a little depressing.

I would choose my horse over the opportunity to event any day and completely agree with everything you’ve written. So many people suggested I buy something more ready to have fun on than Bear, to fill the gap Boggle left competing wise, I don’t find that remotely interesting tbh. What makes everything so special to me is that it’s all been done with me from the start (albiet I had pro involvement!). Buying a ready made horse “to event” wouldn’t cut it.

The costs you have outlined are making my laugh hysterically @Michen - your horses cost just slightly more than I actually earn...This makes me feel immensely proud of how much I 'get out' of my horses too; how the hell do I manage to keep 2 (we have 4 and sometimes 5 between us as a family but have our own land thankfully)?? Thank you for your costs though; that is really interesting.

 

[1523679]

Re.: income from investments.

Investment values can go down as well as up. High yield usually correlates to high risk.

I’ve been investing in stocks and other financial instruments for 20 years now and my husband is a trading risk analyst. We stillhaven’t made our fortunes - more like going-on-holiday money. And that’s Cornwall-holiday, not the Caribbean.

It can be fun, but unless you’ve got six-figure sums to play with I doubt it will pay for an eventing career.

 

[milliepops]

Yeah I had a chuckle too palo, I was on a wage of 17k pa when I was eventing ??? well now I know why I struggled ?

 

[Michen]

The costs you have outlined are making my laugh hysterically @Michen - your horses cost just slightly more than I actually earn...This makes me feel immensely proud of how much I 'get out' of my horses too; how the hell do I manage to keep 2 (we have 4 and sometimes 5 between us as a family but have our own land thankfully)?? Thank you for your costs though; that is really interesting.

Bear in mind I have horses with very expensive vet bills ? I get lameness work ups every 3 months, hoof x rays, bloods drawn etc more than necessary. All outside the “norm”. And I’m including the probably 2.5/3k a year I spend on fuel to get to and from the yard in that

Monthly
£400 (slightly less) base livery
£100- £200 services
£200 fuel
£80 physio six weekly spread out
£30 extra spread out (saddler, dentist etc)
£100 feed, supplements
£150 “extra” vet bills based on this year
£50 stuff, rugs, fly spray, hoof potions blah blah blah
£150 insurance

Anyway, that’s what I worked it out when I last calculated it.

 

[Michen]

Ps Palo definitely need a glass of wine always hate actually working it out. But hey the joy when you spend months in hand walking them around rather than riding them makes it SO worthwhile ??

Love them really.

 

[palo1]

Bear in mind I have horses with very expensive vet bills ? I get lameness work ups every 3 months, hoof x rays, bloods drawn etc more than necessary. All outside the “norm”. And I’m including the 2.5k a year I spend on fuel to get to and from the yard in that

Monthly
£400 (slightly) base livery
£100- £200 services
£200 fuel
£80 physio six weekly spread out
£30 extra spread out (saddler, dentist etc)
£100 feed, supplements
£150 “extra” vet bills based on this year
£50 stuff, rugs, fly spray, hoof potions blah blah blah
£150 insurance

Anyway, that’s what I worked it out when I last calculated it.

Yes I can see those 'additional' cost @Michen and your horses are very well looked after and truly lucky in where they find themselves. Thankfully I can do it because I don't have a number of those costs - no livery (and only a small mortgage), no equestrian daily fuel costs, very few (if any) supplements and we only need to feed our lot pretty basic feed even when they are working hard (winter trail hunting 1 day a week occasionally 2 days). Thank goodness for pb Arab and Welsh good do-ers!! I have basic insurance, only front shoes when needed (at the moment only 1 horse in 4 has front shoes on ) Apart from one horse our rugs are inter-changeable as horses are similar sizes too. Usually 2 out of the 4 horses is roughed off in winter as well so no rugs needed. I am so old that I have tons and tons of general 'tack' and tend to buy quality stuff once in a blue moon. I do have twice yearly saddle fitter checks, vaccs and teeth done and I get the vet to do a free but general health check on vaccinating. We worm count and poo pick twice a day which really does make a difference. Our location makes equestrian services relatively cheap. We have access to virtually free bedding and pasture maintenance (OH basically does it all with any extras thanks to his connections). I have no or very basic insurance for those horses in work and 3rd party for me. I know that in the event of serious problems I will have to face potential heartache over that choice.

I have learnt to apply some basic massage/stretches/remedial work and have (again because of age) experience which I can lean on to tell me when something needs more input or simply rest. As I have no competition schedule rest is always possible and there is no 'return to work' hurry. I am not saying that competitors hustle their horses though btw. I manage to trail hunt with a small, unfashionable hunt for less than a tenner a week (it's an astonishing bargain) and obviously if there isn't fun money available we don't leave the yard! Trips out to hunting/fun rides/ competitions etc are usually less than an hour from home so cheap in fuel costs. The final factor is also that I don't tend to spend money on other things; not interested in fashion or socialising particularly, books are cheap and cultural trips are carefully scheduled.

I am also careful in the fittening and work our horses do in view of how expensive injuries etc can be. It can be done and loads of fun within my non-existant budget. It is really interesting to think about - sorry if this is a slight derailment of the original thread though.

 

[palo1]

Ps Palo definitely need a glass of wine always hate actually working it out. But hey the joy when you spend months in hand walking them around rather than riding them makes it SO worthwhile ??

Love them really.

Hahahahaha!! Yes hand walking 3 x daily, usually in January is a complete bargain. You are essentially quids in doing that work in June

 

[Michen]

Yes I can see those 'additional' cost @Michen and your horses are very well looked after and truly lucky in where they find themselves. Thankfully I can do it because I don't have a number of those costs - no livery (and only a small mortgage), no equestrian daily fuel costs, very few (if any) supplements and we only need to feed our lot pretty basic feed even when they are working hard (winter trail hunting 1 day a week occasionally 2 days). Thank goodness for pb Arab and Welsh good do-ers!! I have basic insurance, only front shoes when needed (at the moment only 1 horse in 4 has front shoes on ) Apart from one horse our rugs are inter-changeable as horses are similar sizes too. Usually 2 out of the 4 horses is roughed off in winter as well so no rugs needed. I am so old that I have tons and tons of general 'tack' and tend to buy quality stuff once in a blue moon. I do have twice yearly saddle fitter checks, vaccs and teeth done and I get the vet to do a free but general health check on vaccinating. We worm count and poo pick twice a day which really does make a difference. Our location makes equestrian services relatively cheap. We have access to virtually free bedding and pasture maintenance (OH basically does it all with any extras thanks to his connections). I have no or very basic insurance for those horses in work and 3rd party for me. I know that in the event of serious problems I will have to face potential heartache over that choice.

I have learnt to apply some basic massage/stretches/remedial work and have (again because of age) experience which I can lean on to tell me when something needs more input or simply rest. As I have no competition schedule rest is always possible and there is no 'return to work' hurry. I am not saying that competitors hustle their horses though btw. I manage to trail hunt with a small, unfashionable hunt for less than a tenner a week (it's an astonishing bargain) and obviously if there isn't fun money available we don't leave the yard! Trips out to hunting/fun rides/ competitions etc are usually less than an hour from home so cheap in fuel costs. The final factor is also that I don't tend to spend money on other things; not interested in fashion or socialising particularly, books are cheap and cultural trips are carefully scheduled.

I am also careful in the fittening and work our horses do in view of how expensive injuries etc can be. It can be done and loads of fun within my non-existant budget. It is really interesting to think about - sorry if this is a slight derailment of the original thread though.

It absolutely can. And I could easily halve my bill if I wanted to. My costs are just what I choose. I really didn’t need x rays of Boggles feet and they don’t really need physio so often etc etc.

I too am very mindful of how I work, Fitten and exercise my horses. It certainly shouldn’t equal the amount of money they seem to cost me but then most people probably wouldn’t have even found anything wrong with either of my horses- so I could be down a load of vet bills!

I just choose to waste my money on them essentially, the perks of not having a sprog I guess. I’m sure that would change drastically if I did and Bog would be just as well!

 

[tristar]

all sounds so depressing!


what you need is a sponsor, i did not really need one, but have had two, one for 25 years, the other for the last 9 years,and another who ran a youngster on for three years, all offered as they liked the horses, and wanted to take part and be involved

 

[Michen]

Hahahahaha!! Yes hand walking 3 x daily, usually in January is a complete bargain. You are essentially quids in doing that work in June

absolutely luckiest gal ever ??

 

[palo1]

all sounds so depressing!


what you need is a sponsor, i did not really need one, but have had two, one for 25 years, the other for the last 9 years,and another who ran a youngster on for three years, all offered as they liked the horses, and wanted to take part and be involved

For the OP I think you are right; sponsorship, even small time sponsors for specific elements would help a lot.

 

[GG13]

If you’ve got horsey friends who also like to get out competing/training I would see if can share lessons/xc clinics etc, and if it would work logistically, share transport to events.
Might not save huge amounts but sharing facility hire/fuel costs will all add up.

Depending if you have the time and desire, you could also see if there’s anyone near you who would exchange training for yard work. I did this in my gap year and it made a huge difference in terms of progressing without spending a fortune on lessons.

 

[MagicMelon]

I also struggle with eventing costs, but Im in Scotland and to be honest theres hardly any BE events up here anymore anyway, I dont have the time (with 3 young kids) to drive over 4 hours each way to events anymore. The only time I was fine paying for eventing was when I started working after uni and still lived at home! No mortgage and bills makes a massive difference! Sadly those days ended though. I just tend to choose 2 or 3 BE events of the year that I really want to go to and do those. Theres no way I could afford to do one pretty much every weekend like people I know do. We dont have many RC/unaff ODE's up here either really, but you could try to do more of those instead? They're usually about half the price and some run round BE courses? I turned more to BS to be honest, usually because I actually won some money back which helped with the funds. It's a shame its so expensive as it does price out a lot of people I really miss eventing more like I used to

To be honest, I think unless you're at a decent level or have a big following on social media then you'll struggle to get a sponsor to pay for things - I gained 3 sponsors when I was eventing at novice/1* level and generally it was also merchandise they provided for free, only twice did one sponsor pay my entries, extremely kind of them of course and to provide items for free, but nowadays you really have to be actively promoting them on social media IMO and you have to decide if its worth it just for some freebies.

 

[GinaGeo]

I’m heading into grown up life and I’m struggling to make the sums work.

I think I’m going to have two sell the talented young horse and keep the older two as they doesn’t need the expensive outings and training sessions to keep them
tuned up.

I could make it work at Uni when working and also when I first graduated and lived at home. But buying a house is putting paid to all that ?

 

[Orangehorse]

Well, it was hard even 40 years ago. Don't laugh but when I was eventing an entry fee was £5.00 but I think my wages were £9.00, although that did increase quite soon. One of the reasons I was working for the firm is that we got discount off feed and any horse things they sold.

I had an evening job cooking in a restaurant, but that didn't go down well with the boyfriend at the time as I was either doing horse stuff or working to pay for horse!

Also there were enough events within 1 day, so I rarely had to spend a night away.

Another friend said she had to think about whether she could afford a new bra. Another used to work in a garage in the evenings to make extra money.

But for us amateurs with our Novice horses, we just did it for a while and then looked back on good times, but unless you are making horses your career/have a wealthy backer or come up with a money making idea, it is hard, no doubt.

But just remember that Ian Stark started out working as a Civil Servant, in fact he might even have been still working there at his first Badminton.

 

[BronsonNutter]

I'm banking on finding a rich husband.

It's not happened yet.

 

[j1ffy]

I'm banking on finding a rich husband.

It's not happened yet.

I wouldn’t recommend that - getting divorced is the most expensive thing I’ve done! ?

 

[Red-1]

I didn't event until I was into my 30's. In ym 20's I had an injury (not horse related) that made me give up riding altogether for 5 years. It did give me time to establish a career, get married, get on the housing ladder though.

Once I started with horses at home again, I just did training at home and went and entered! I was working with horses by then though, plus had trained for the BHSII, including unpaid work on pro yards, so had a good knowledge base. We were slow and safe, no falls or eliminations, but only one placing.

Back in 1998/1999 I added up everything I spent to event one horse (had two at home, but one was a Sh!tland) and it was around 12K. That did include all insurances, lorry maintenance, lessons, travel, membership fees, yard maintenance etc as well as the actual running costs, plus the cost of the companion. I just ran it through a CPI calculator, it comes to around £20,000!!!

Happily, my husband is very pro me riding, he helped out, as did mum.

I haven't vented since 2014, when Jay Man became a retired soul, not for the want, I just can't seem to find the right horse as I am now old and creaky. I just do unaffiliated now. Unfortunately, because I got into the habit of regular vet/physio/dentist/saddlers etc... little semi retired cob Rigsby has the lot! Deep bed, cranio treatments, nice lorry....

My advice is to do it for at least one season if you can. I never regret it. My highlight was Burgie 2005, fantastic party in the ballroom doing Scottish dancing, fantastic dressage arenas, fantastic cameras for the XC etc... Memories. Me, horse, wind in my hair. The small of wild garlic in the woods at Hexham. The hills and views at Skipton. The water at Allerton. The bounce steps off a podium at Aske. The huuuuge leap at Storeton (the same one as YCBM's avatar). I can actually remember jumping each and every one. Memories. Precious.