Average Income of horsey families

[LWills]

I understand this is a personal question so not asking anyone to answer it if you don't want to. But out of interest, what is the average income of the pushy mums you sometimes see at pony club? Are they as well off as they sound? Nad also, many young BS/BE riders who have families that will fund their competing and buy them rides for the season? Does anyone have any idea how much income they're on? many of my friends are on middle-isn incomes (£60/70k pa) and could afford nice things like this but often put their money into more worthwhile things like a new family car or uni funds for the kids

So, what are your thoughts?

 

[D66]

Is popcorn allowed these days?

 

[LWills]

Haha! Think this might cause a bit of friction I know but just crossing my fingers and hoping for some helpful responses!

 

[kassieg]

I would rather not state my exact income but it is nowhere near 60k !!

I am 22 & run my own small yard of 3 horses, BE 1 of them pay for everything myself.

i still live with my parents & keep my mams horse instead kf paying rent whilst saving for a mortgage.

I have a 40 mile commute to work which costs me about 40 in petrol a week then my diesel for comps (i have 2 carw)

Its not easy but i am fantastic at budgeting & i wouldn't swap it for the world!!

I don't buy expensive clothes, paying 30 for a dress would make me feel ill as that is a new pair of boots etc luckily i like vintage clothing so its ok

 

[burtie]

Blimey, when did 60/70k become a middlish income (unless you are talking about a combined income of 2 adults!)

 

[Pigeon]

Blimey, when did 60/70k become a middlish income (unless you are talking about a combined income of 2 adults!)

Lol even combined that is double what we make!!

I couldn't afford the BE entry fees though, dressage is fairly inexpensive in comparison. But again, I would be kidding if I didn't acknowledge there is a fairly big link between cash and success. Even hobby riding isn't cheap.

For example Emily King's BE entry fees for last year would have been in the region of 10k. Making it big is expensive, but you don't necessarily need family backing if you can get paid rides and sponsorship.

 

[skint1]

Sounds like it's a question with no definitive answer. It's more likely a matter of priorities that decide how the money in a household is spent. Though the more money you have the less you have to do without to pursue your horsey dreams, you can still have a nice car, nice house, holidays, hair cuts, new clothes and your horse, the less you earn the more you're going to have to sacrifice. I guess.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Haha! Think this might cause a bit of friction I know but just crossing my fingers and hoping for some helpful responses!

Why would knowing people's income help? :confused3:

How odd....

 

[EventingMum]

I've heard of a family that remortgaged to buy their child a good BS pony.

 

[*hic*]

We justified the cost of a pony for my daughter as being less than the cost of a decent tv, including his tack and rugs and less than the cost of a sky package for keeping him in our orchard. We still have him 12 years on and only bought a decent tv at christmas last year. We still don't have sky. He competed at pc very successfully and was rarely unplaced. When we bought him our income was about that of an average single person.

 

[Matafleur]

I've heard of a family that remortgaged to buy their child a good BS pony.

And I think the Peters family publicly disclosed in H&H that they remortgaged to buy SL Lucci - I don't think they mentioned what the family income was. Although I have seen their lorry around and that won't have been cheap...

 

[Nightmare before Christmas]

I compete twice a week bs as well as many stay aways and I don't earn loads! Bought my horse myself (from years of producing to get to this point) and fund him myself. I do run my own business but really don't earn much at all. I live at home which helps

 

[minimex2]

I think its more about priorities on how you spend your money than what you actually earn.
We are not in the BE/BD/BJ league but sacrifice loads to pay for the ponies. Actually maybe sacrifice isnt the right word - as i actually prefer to spend my money on them than holidays/nice cars etc. But if one of my daughters were to get to that level as was passionate about it i would find the money to finance.

I know some kids who are at a high level and their mum couldnt "buy" so she managed to get them "rides" but they are fantastic riders.

Just want to add, we were at a local fun show, there was a group of girls on some very scraggy looking ponies. None of the girls got placed, had all 'the gear' but they were the nicest bunch of girls, who really had fun, appreciated the day out and were encouraging each other and their ponies, with lots of praise after. - A lot different from what ive seen at PC events!

 

[Old Bat]

We come from a very mixed branch and yes, many of them are as well off as they sound, but as many scrimp, save and reallocate to enable their children to ride.

Personally we re-allocate. We don't go on holiday, hardly ever go out for meals or buy new clothes, don't drink bar a bottle with Sunday roast, run knackered old cars but do have a decent small lorry, and don't spend the earth on rosette machines. Every pony has been budget, either ancient or quirky when Amy was younger or young and and an unknown quantity for the last two purchases.

You get all sorts but in our pc experience the happier kids tend to be those who have to make the best of what they've got and get their joy from loving and looking after their ponies rather than counting ribbons.

 

[sarcasm_queen]

Personally, our family income is far far more than 70k. We are very much in the minority though, most of the my friends who compete earn in the lower end and still manage to have a great time. It's just a case of budgeting and prioritising.

 

[conniegirl]

Our combined household income is around £45k, and I maintain 1 horse, a lovely horsebox and show at county level
We've not even started thinking about kids yet but if they happen they will have ponies.
I am from a privileged background so if it comes out in my accent so be it, I'm not ashamed that my parents worked extremely hard to give my siblings and I an idyllic childhood.

Personally I'd far rather children have ponies than the parents have new family cars, if the old banger is safe why pay tens of thousands for a new one when the money could be better spent on ponies which will improve your child as a person, keep them fit and active and out of trouble

 

[R.F.S]

our income is approx £45k, we do everything in moderation, my hubby isn't prepared to give up nice clothes, cars and holidays, and im not prepared to give up horses or competing. Therefore we have a set allowance for each thing each month on top of our 'normal' bills, the set allowance is not by any means a massive amount but it allows us to have/do the things we enjoy, if that money is spent then thats it til the next month, by doing it this way we manage a holiday a year plus i can compete once or twice a month. Unfortunatly my daughter doesn't like horses/ enjoy riding at the moment (i don't know how i produced such a child) LOL however she has hobbies that she enjoys doing to though, i much suspect that if she likes horses again our priorites and buget will have to change again. I have heard of people remortgaging their houses for their kids ponies/ wagons etc, i guess it would depend on the circumstances / level of riding my daughter was at in order to justify it as i certainly wouldn't do it for my own riding career. I do think that the more money you have the more you spend, when i was at uni 18 months ago we managed on 1/2 the money we have now but i still competed once a month but made greater sacrifices elsewhere and didn't own our own house like we do now.TBH i think no matter how much you have/ don't have you can make the best of what you do have and be content with that, i find that makes a person happier

 

[JustMeThen]

I would rather not state my exact income but it is nowhere near 60k !!

I am 22 & run my own small yard of 3 horses, BE 1 of them pay for everything myself.

i still live with my parents & keep my mams horse instead kf paying rent whilst saving for a mortgage.

I have a 40 mile commute to work which costs me about 40 in petrol a week then my diesel for comps (i have 2 carw)

Its not easy but i am fantastic at budgeting & i wouldn't swap it for the world!!

I don't buy expensive clothes, paying 30 for a dress would make me feel ill as that is a new pair of boots etc luckily i like vintage clothing so its ok

Sorry to be nosey but do you mean 40 miles each way, and it only costs you 40 quid?

 

[kassieg]

Sorry to be nosey but do you mean 40 miles each way, and it only costs you 40 quid?

no sorry round trip, i do about 200 miles per week inc going to the yard etc on 40

 

[JustMeThen]

no sorry round trip, i do about 200 miles per week inc going to the yard etc on 40

I was going to say, I want whatever car you've got

 

[conniegirl]

I was going to say, I want whatever car you've got

My car does about 400 miles on £40 of fuel mostly town driving! though it takes me 3 weeks to rack up 400 miles not 1 week!

 

[JustMeThen]

My car does about 400 miles on £40 of fuel mostly town driving! though it takes me 3 weeks to rack up 400 miles not 1 week!

Wow, I do 250 miles a week and it costs me £55 to £60! My car is knackered though... what sort do you drive?

 

[khalswitz]

In my experience at pony club, there are three types of families: the professional horsy family, who don't earn much but have the horses/knowledge/contacts/sponsors and so the kids do well out of that; the minted family, who can afford to buy whatever the child needs pony-wise and accessory-wise; and the ones who earn an average income (which is no where near 70k... the average UK income is 26k!) who budget, prioritise and don't have the best of everything but get by perfectly well with the horses.

I'm not ruling out being able to do horses without even an average income (I do it!) but it is much more stressful and competing is very much a luxury in that cirumstance. Certainly not one I've seen much in our PC.

 

[conniegirl]

Wow, I do 250 miles a week and it costs me £55 to £60! My car is knackered though... what sort do you drive?

a 2013 Toyota Aygo.

 

[Jericho]

My husband earns well in excess of £70k, I am a stay at home Mum. In theory I could and would love to use his money to buy the big horsebox and expensive ponies but the money is there for all the family so if he wants to go and buy an expensive car (he has absolutely no interest in horses at all!) then he can. Likewise I think family holidays and other sports and interests are important so time and money is spent on them as well. Its about priorities. I have horsey friends and all their children do is ride and dont have any other hobbies and all their money and time goes on the pony - if thats what they want thats fine but I think there needs to be a balance for the sake of the family.

I actually am not sure if I would want my duaghter to get to the high levels anyway as I think competing horses is actually a very very expensive hobby and am not sure I could justify that kind of money (or time) on a hobby. Would be different however if we did it for a living.

 

[Firewell]

I wasn't going to bother reading this thread and then I did and it's reminded me of something!
I live in an expensive part of CA where people spend $$$$$ on horses. We had a family visit the trainer at my yard with a view to placing their daughter and their daughters new horse in training and livery with this trainer.
Anyway they were being quite 'loud' about their situation (I was grooming my horse and I could hear everything). They were saying how they were moving here from another part of the country and they were also looking for a house and their budget for a house was X. X was a really low number (for this area) and they were saying how they couldn't find a house in their budget.
I was listening thinking WTF?? I knew the livery costs at the yard and a pretty good idea of how insane the training fees were and I was surprised that a family would spend more on their daughters horse and riding career than their home. The home for the rest of the family.
The daughter was only 12 and her discipline was show hunters which is showing so subjective and people spend obscene amounts of money on it. It's not an Olympic sport or anything.
I dunno I just thought that is something I would never do, sacrifice my familys situation for a hobby one child could get bored of once they turn a teenager. What about the ladies husband or other children?

 

[shadeofshyness]

many of my friends are on middle-isn incomes (£60/70k pa)

Is that for a couple combined (so each person is on £30k)? That would be a lot as combined income but is HUGE if just for one person! Definitely not middle in anyone's book.

 

[SallyBatty]

Is that for a couple combined (so each person is on £30k)? That would be a lot as combined income but is HUGE if just for one person! Definitely not middle in anyone's book.

Quite agree.

 

[MileAMinute]

But out of interest, what is the average income of the pushy mums you sometimes see at pony club?

What a bizarre question. Do the non-pushy mums not matter?

 

[FfionWinnie]

What a bizarre question. Do the non-pushy mums not matter?

Ha ha I am a poverty stricken pushy mum but we do have a brand new trailer and lots of ponies. We don't do anything else tho. In the future maybe I will want to redistribute my meagre income but for now we are happy messing with ponies.