Entry cost for a RC ODE...

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MagicMelon

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Am I the only one to find a £70 entry fee a lot for a minimus class at a RC ODE? Its being run round a BE course however obviously this low a level is not using any of the BE fences... thought Id give my mare a very gentle first run but £70 I find very steep, thats almost BE prices when they wont have nearly the same organisation etc.? Is this the norm?
 
Yes because all the extras are ridiculously expensive. As it is a RC they will be hiring the course which will be around £20-40 per horse that goes round, then paramedics will be about £1000, rosettes are a few hundred. Probably having to pay for 'extras' on the hire such as PA and radios, and dressage sheets. They also need to make some money.

I'm running an eventer trial in the autumn, my fixed costs are about £2k, I'm having to charge £25 members and £30 non members and hope I get 100 entries to make it worthwhile.
 
Covid has seen medical cover increase by 25% in many cases.
The days of £50 entries has flown away. We worked out that just feeding volunteers was around £350 for a ODE with cake, tea/coffee and decent packed lunch.
 
Our local RC and PC have stopping running ODEs due to the increased costs. Entry used to be £20 ish.
 
I don't understand why the height of the fences would have any impact on the entry fee?

If it's a BE course it will be built & maintained like a BE course, the costs don't change because the fences are a few cm lower (save a few quid on wood when building the fence initially).
 
AFB said:
I don't understand why the height of the fences would have any impact on the entry fee?

If it's a BE course it will be built & maintained like a BE course, the costs don't change because the fences are a few cm lower (save a few quid on wood when building the fence initially).
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Because this lower height usually has less fences and a shorter course than the bigger classes and obviously arent built as well as the BE ones. Im just pretty shocked when the last ODE I did cost £40 and now suddenly its been almost doubled when presumably their costs havent doubled?
 
I think £40 was a bargain. Last time I did one at that sort of fee they ran it all in an arena and you continued from SJ straight into arena XC - either 80+ over solids or 50-70 over rustic workers type fences. I'd say at £40 they'd be under charging and just probably hadn't realised.
Those workers fences have to be adjusted between classes though so while there might be fewer its possibly more labour intensive.
£70 is still a good bit less than BE though. I compete on a ticket so by the time you've factored that in I expect to spend about £120 on a BE, so it's only a bit more than half that.
 
BE costs for info, add on either the cost of full membership or about £25 for day pass membership and another £15 or so for a ticket
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So £87 plus your start fee is already over £100
 
I think people are confusing what it cost's to put on, and running it in a potential loss, and making a profit. When you sell anything, you have to budget for the costs of maintenance, costs of the product, but what happens if you do not get many entries, you still have the fixed costs to pay for. The sooner you have covered your expenses, the better, that is why sponsorship is so important for most venues. If you are hiring, what are the cancellation costs and do you have to pay for ground repairs, some venues have clauses that the ground has to be repaired, I know of at least one show where the bill was thousands of pounds after a very wet weekend.
 
I think BE entries are now far more expensive than you think, they are nowhere near £70.
Once you add in start fee and either day tickets or % of horse and rider memberships per run, you’ll be easily up over £100 for an entry.
 
I think unaffiliated have upped their game in the last few years. They used to be variable standards, trappy fences at lower levels you never knew what you were going to get. Now they are more on a par with BE. I expect the cost increase is to do with improved standards
 
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