Competing without own transport

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littlen

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Is it ever possible to compete seriously without transport of your own?

Does it ever cost less to buy your own box?

I will struggle as I can only drive a.3.5t buts they are like hens teeth and I cant afford to run a 4x4!! Is hiring ever a good option!?
 
It's a PITA, but it is possible. Make friends with local people with similar aims. Make yourself useful to them. Explain the situation, muck their lorry out for them, act like a groom, and be very generous with diesel money. We had to do a whole season without in 2010 and it was do-able, but it does mean you cut back on things you deem less necessary - lessons with people who are far away, schooling sessions etc. Hitching lifts, and on the odd occasion splashing out and hiring, is cheaper than buying a cheap truck that lets you down *believe me, bitter experience!*. When we were in a position to invest in a lorry again we went for the newest chassis we could afford in an attempt to avoid problems.
 
I tried and have given up. Bought my own transport two weeks ago. Was too frustrating trying to cadge lifts and I'd feel pressurised to jump classes I wouldn't normally etc so my lift share wasn't hanging around.

I bought a trailer and can borrow a 4x4. Only problem is that my car has just blown up so I can't afford entries/diesel as have to buy a new one :mad: :eek:
 
for the last 2 years I have relied on YO for transport and bless her she has been really very good to me but I couldn't just go where i wanted and some events I just couldn't get to full stop as it would clash with something she had.

I'm moving in just over a month to a yard where I know no one who would be able to legally share so am biting the bullet and buying myself something as the nearest hire place is about 30+ miles away so the cost for a day is easily £150+ (they have higher weekend rates) including deisel.

The lorry I am hunting for though is like hens teeth although subject to mechanics inspection tomorrow I have found one. I am taking a risk on an older than I would like chassis but it's the newest I can afford and actually techincally it was out of budget but I have talked the sellers down to my budget level as they are after a quick sale for a genuine reason.
 
I have had Big Pony for 2 years now and have only just bought my trailer (I am still saving for the 4x4). We aren't able to hire the self drive stuff as Big Pony is too big for everything locally.
We haven't competed "seriously" but we do have a shelf full of rosettes :D
The first year we jumped in with my coach wherever she went and managed to persuade her to take me on 1 special outing all of our own (our local county show) but then she moved off our yard and sold her wagon. Last year we only managed to cadge one lift (again for the County show) off friends and all other shows were hacked to. We are lucky though, I am within 4 miles of at least 5 venues. It has meant that we haven't specialised in a particular discipline: if we were free and there was something on we'd turn up and have ago!
 
It is hard, the year before last I buddied up with another friend with no transport and we hired a lorry from Rent Right at least once a month which made it a lot cheaper. However they put their prices up a lot last year and now don't do self hire. Luckily for me, she has bought a 4x4 and we beg to borrow trailers off people at the yard and occaisionally I get a lift with someone else. The main problem with that is that most of the people on my yard have the type of SUV that really shouldn't be towing and hence can only tow one.
Thankfully my boss has just bought an Equitrek Sonic, so I am now working really hard to earn credits so I can borrow it once the covering season is over (around May/June time). So I might have regular access atleast twice a month to transport from June until October which is a massive improvement.
 
It's a PITA and I failed miserably :( People just don't seem to like to offer lifts any more (and was always happy to pay petrol) and am only now old enough to hire the 3.5t but as the horse is bust and at £100+ a pop it's not a lot of use :(
 
I'm about to go down this route (unfortunately) but am doing my HGV license at have spoken to a friend who is happy for me to borrow her truck in return for financial contributions, so I am very lucky. It does worry me slightly, but needs must, and hopefully it will work out... :)
 
As others have said, it's a PITA and with a stubborn loader/difficult traveller its even more difficult!!

The key is to make yourself indispensible to anyone who might give you a lift. I bath & plait for the lady who gives me a lift, I will make a point to get to the yard early, drop the ramp and get the lorry ready and clean it out when we get back. She's told me numerous times how she likes taking me with her as she doesn't have to think about anything. It works because she stresses and worries a lot, I just go before her and get everything ready. But that comes from years of catching lifts! I'm very well versed in my role :)

Only problem I have is that she's an eventer & I'm a dressage rider!
 
Must say that I totally agree with the above. I am the dependable difficult horse holder, will also exercise/do chores for those who have a lorry/trailer in hope of a lift. Thankfully my current horse is an angel to load, my last two were not and it was a complete PITA.
 
I have never had my own transport so had to beg for lifts and hire!! I showjump and I did unaffiliated for two years as no one at my yard did BS so I had nobody to share with!! Then my best friend moved her horse back to the yard and we hired a lorry together so got to go out regularly but it wasnt cheap!! Unfortunately she lost her horse in Jan :( so I'm on my own again, but have just re-registered today as would rather go to fewer BS shows than more unaff ones!!!
It is hard but as long as you can justify the cost of hiring, membership, entry fees etc I think its worth it, I cant imagine not competing at all!!!
 
i think that i would really struggle to cope TBH.... i like to be able to go where i want, when i want and can be a bit antisocial :p:o
what i would say is that, speaking as someone who has taken transportless people with them...you really need to make yourself indispensible to them and not take the mickey about it....i used to take someone and she often didn't offer diesel money and then her horse ate the rubber lining on my trailer jockey door and she never offered to repay it! i would probably not take someone with me now as a result...which is a shame as sure it would be fun.....
good luck
 
I used to hire, so it used to cost me £160 to do 2 dressage tests if I couldn't share the hire (that was entries, 1 days hire and fuel).

Got an old 3.5t last year and love it - have to go on my own as coblet takes up too much room and weight, as is only a small box but hey ho!

When I used to get lifts I used to pay the other persons entry and all the fuel as well as my own entry- that way they had an incentive to ask me! ;) it was half the price of hiring even with paying for them (e.g. £50 for 2 test for 2 people, £20 fuel instead of £160 to hire!).
 
Just a tip for anyone wanting a lift.

With me its not about the money or the help, although either is nice. I am happy to help people out.

BUT I dont want to go at 6am when my first class is in the afternoon or even worse finish my classes at 2pm and still be hanging around for someone at 7pm.

If you manage to get a lift find out what classes the driver is doing and enter things at around the same time.

As I get older I am less inclined to spend 6am to 9pm and then have the horses to do when I get back.
 
I think perhaps if you can base yourself on a yard which is within hacking distance of a couple of venues it is perfectly do-able.

There are two riding clubs within hacking distance of the yard and so most months I can do something some months I can do two things, but I do have an all rounder who does dressage, show jumping and showing.

If I want to go to a big affiliated show then I hire a lorry yes it is expensive but I worked out it is cheaper than cost of buying a lorry. It would cost say £1000 to keep a lorry on the road so I would need to go out at least 7 times a year to make it worth it and that is without the cost of buying the lorry. So say cheap lorry would be £5000 so that would be another say 40 outings at least not including fuel.

If you get a trailer it would be much cheaper though.

I do think unless you are based on a competition centre if you wish to do affiliated on a regular basis then you probably do need your own transport.

I would not dream of asking someone for a lift, after all if they have worked hard to be able to afford their lorry then why should they give me a lift.
 
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trendybraincell said:
As others have said, it's a PITA and with a stubborn loader/difficult traveller its even more difficult!!

The key is to make yourself indispensible to anyone who might give you a lift. I bath & plait for the lady who gives me a lift, I will make a point to get to the yard early, drop the ramp and get the lorry ready and clean it out when we get back.
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I have given lifts to people in the past and can say that that is a PITA! Usually the access is awkward and they're never ready, and the person I'm thinking of in particular seems to 'forget' her diesel money too, on occasion.

The last straw was her pony biting mine and causing an albeit very small wound that took forever to heal!
 
Basically NO! If by competing you mean going out once a month then yeah, but if you want to be out every week competing and training then it will cost you an arm and a leg in hiring lorries. I used to do this and to put into context how much money i spent , when i left the area the horse transporter i used had to get a second job !! Would of been much cheaper to buy my own box. Thankfully in the end my friend lent me her 3.5t and i just gave her a little bit of money each time i used it (like £20) which saved me a fortune. When i was using the horse transporter it was costing me over £100 a week and it was a bit of a nightmare as to get the box booked i had to plan all shows almost 2 months in advance. Getting lifts of people seems like a great idea and people might have the best intentions but most of the time you get let down from my experiences.
 
Find a friend who doesnt use their box as often as they should. I'm very lucky that my YOs horsebox sits empty all year round, so rather than it going unused we pay insurance etc and i get to use it! It still works out expensive but probably cheaper than buying our own for the time being. Only downside is its a 7.5 so at only 20 I cant drive it so parents have to.
 
I think if you want to go out once a month then it does work out beneficial to hire something as opposed to buying, the boat i am currently in, although would love to beable to get out and about a bit more. But anymore than that you can still hire but it will cost you an arm and a leg and you would be better off buying something. I have never been at the right yards where lots of people go out competing or have transport just sitting around. It is tough and it depends how often you are wanting to get out, but where there is a will there is a way.. good luck :)
 
We found hiring the best way as found it really frustrating when friends kept letting us down and wanting to go to different events to us.

We now use Wentworth Horseboxes which if you book six days (can be separate) you get one free. May sound an expensive way, but if you calculate buying a box or having a juicy car capable of pulling a trailer it isnt as expensive over a year as you may think.

Wentworth have been really flexible and very friendly service for us.
 
To be honest, Without your own transport i don't think you can get very far competition wise unless you have a very willing friend to drive you places!
Im very lucky in that on my yard there is a lovely woman with a box who is willing to give me lifts to allsorts of places or just drive me there myself for a small fee, and i also have a few good friends who have given me lifts to and from events just for petrol money. However, i don't compete at a high level at all, just low level local shows and i hack to events whenever i can. You have to be willing to compromise on where you go and what classes you enter as at the end of the day its their box, and im sure it would be a lot less hassle for them to take themselves and not take you, so you have to take that into consideration, which means if you are wanting to pick and choose your shows for qualifiers or specific classes it is very hard indeed.
 
Difficult. I've had my horse 4 years and still no transport, or a vehicle which can tow so can't even hire a horsebox (don't really get lorries in SA!). Have to hitch lifts with people going already, or hire and ask a friend to tow in return for something. As a result, we don't get out very often and can only go if YO is too (bbut she's picky about grounds, jumps different classes to me and has lots of clients needing lifts). Going to DR is impossible!
 
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