Fun XC Rides! How Much Do You Pay? (Countrywide Please!)

[Maesfen]

As the title says, I'm just trying to get some idea of what other people pay or charge for their cross country fun rides oh and also the rough distance too please.
Our Hunt Supporters run 3 rides each autumn and we have been charging £12 for adults, £5 for under 14s for the last few years. A lot of people have said we're too cheap for what they get, others are surprised we charge less for children. So far, nobody has complained at the price. I'd be very interested to know what others charge if you can please.
On our own ride,( Area 3) it has virtually no road work other than crossing very minor lanes, lots of jumping; both hunt jumps, hedges and we also organise 3 or 4 different lots at different heights so we cater for the novices/lead reins as well as more adventurous riders. We have St Johns and Raynet on site plus caterers with brilliant bacon butties and this year we remembered a loo too! They're usually over 10 to 12 miles (although an endurance guru swore one was at least 15!) over lovely countryside which normally, unless hunting you'd have no chance to go over. Last weekend in spite of late notice due to FMD, we had 370 riders so we've managed to give a sizeable donation to both the local church and the Comfort Fund run by the doctor surgery (we always do something for a local charity) as well as a good chunk to Hunt funds.

Thoughts please!

 

[kick_On]

around us they vary from £15.00 upwards and badders is much much more........ but that's a 'sponsored ride'

 

[Sarah_Jane]

Around us they are usually 10-15 but don't sound quite as nice as yours.

 

[Ottinmeg]

i think they are around the 12 to 15 mark in my area

 

[Twinkle Twinkle]

We usually pay 15 pound.

 

[Maesfen]

Thanks. I take it by 'sponsored' you mean riders raise their own sponsor money and it all goes to the charity Badminton select? Do they still have to pay to enter and can you just pay a start fee instead of raising sponsorship too? Sorry, too many questions!

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Entry normally around £10-£15, but then always have to get a minimum sponsorship which takes it to £30-£35. Think Windsor Sponsored Ride is about £70 once you add in the sponsorship you have to get.

 

[Maesfen]

[ QUOTE ]
Around us they are usually 10-15 but don't sound quite as nice as yours.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't believe that, you have some lovely country down your way!

We're just lucky that around here it's mainly dairy farming, very little corn near here, so it's nearly all grassland!

 

[Jade2007]

usually about £25 i'd say and the jumps are only about 2'6 usually!!

 

[slivertonics]

£10 is the going rate around south wales

 

[SpruceRI]

I hate asking people for sponsorship money so don't do sponsored rides. Do the odd pleasure ride and pay about £15 I think for 10-15 miles.

 

[Weezy]

Around £20

 

[JoBo]

We pay anything between £15 and £25.

 

[Patches]

As you know, I do some with Sport Endurance. They average between £12 and £16 per ride, but I'm not a member so pay a few pounds more than members.

Somerford is (or was last time I went) £14 to go around and Cheshire View is £10.

None of them have much in the way of facilities...ie refreshments. With Sport Endurance you get a rosette to say you've completed the ride and there's always a photographer.

 

[the watcher]

I have been involved in organising BHS fun rides, they cost in the region of £20 per person with some discount for registering before the day and for BHS members, paramedics, food wagons and photographer are all present.

 

[Sali]

We'll usually pay up to £20, and are up to 20miles. All of which have a lovely variety of jumps from 1ft+ as far as jumping whopping big hedges

 

[Marnie]

It varies, we pay £10 for our local bridleways association ones as members, and up to £20 for some of the others. Foe one or two we have to pay a minimum sponsorship on top of the entry fee, so they can work out to be around £30.

 

[chestnut cob]

I used to pay £12 I think for the Sansaw Park that the North Shrops do (do they still do it?) and that was a year to 18 months ago.

Down here I paid around £25 for the Vine & Craven's ride at Highclere, and that's pretty standard (I live in Newbury so it's SE prices).

 

[Maesfen]

Well our rides are run by our Hunt Supporters but everyone is welcome. One of the nicest things is seeing people that very rarely have the chance of either getting out of a school or getting off the roads and how much they enjoy themselves. I'm already being asked the dates for next year which is a good sign! (not written in stone yet though). We do rosettes too; actually ran out this time so have the details and once the new lot arrive, they will be sent out; actually had one either American/Canadian lady and it was her very first English ride; she was made up with the variety we have here so I must send her rosette on to her, she's desperate for it to show her friends back home! We had people from as far away as Wigan, Welshpool and Conway; all of them nearly fifty miles away - and they are regulars!

I'm very grateful to everyone who's replied to this; the variety of charges is amazing. I don't think we'd get anyone if we charged £25 though, thank goodness we aren't down south (no offence meant!); we were actually worried when we put it up to £12 a couple of years ago; it had been £10 for about 6 years but folk didn't seem to mind; we just feel sorry for families which is why we kept children down to £5.

 

[Maesfen]

Are you talking about the F & D rides?(by your location) They have a lot during the summer too don't they? Wish we could have more but we are governed by farmers with their stock out or silaging/harvesting programmes as we have very few bridlepaths we can use - and why should people pay to ride on those when they are normally free eh?

 

[Maesfen]

Hi S! Yes, Sansaw was meant to be on this year again but got cancelled because of FMD; a great shame cos it's always a big chunk of their income. I think the South Shropshire's was £15 this time, though stand to be corrected.
I can't see people up this way be willing to pay £25 can you, at least not for a good few years (by which time I won't be taking the money so not getting any flack!

)

 

[Ravenwood]

I've only done one sponsored ride organised by the Dulverton West Foxhounds at the end of the season, with my daughter. I think it was 15 miles across moorland (no jumps) and minimum sponsor was £10. Although luckily we raised a great deal more by asking the shoots for sponsorship. I am pretty sure the money was split between Devon air ambulance and the hunt. Good luck it sounds like fun.

 

[LizzieJ]

£10 - 15. The ones round here have no roadwork either and we have 3 BE event courses around so often one of them gets included. Some give you a bit of food and a drink half way round too.

 

[CastleMouse]

One of my local hunt packs has a charity ride every Paddy's day... it's about 10 miles long, there's plenty of jumping, and there's a bit of roadwork. They charge €50 (£35) for an adult, and €25 (£17) for under 18's.

 

[Maesfen]

That's what I call a bargain! Some of ours goes over an eventing training yard so we're able to use a few of their baby fences, they also have an excellent line of hedges by them too!

 

[kick_On]

Tis all one fee, with minuim sponsership amount to raise (so if your do not into raise dosh, you just pay the minuim), prizes for folk who raise the most You can enter on day aswell but there's an extra charge. They change charity every year aswell and monies raise are split between charity and hunt