tasel
Well-Known Member
I absolutely *hate* some of the "articles" that pop out by so-called "journalists" who put the equestrian sport down because of "elitism". Since I also follow German news... I don't quite see the same kind of coverage over there. Instead, the coverage makes me believe that Michael Jung is a hero of mythical proportions.
Sometimes, I wonder whether these "journalists" have the capacity to think out of the box or whether they've ever travelled to other countries, and seen how life is like outside this island. Why is it that the UK is so obsessed with its "classes"? Can anyone please enlighten me about this?
And yes, riding is an expensive sport as many of these "journalists" imply - but a LOT more expensive in this country than others. Not one of these articles mentions this. Nobody ever asks why a riding lesson here can cost up to 3x as much (if not more) as in Germany (using this as an example as I lived there for a decade). Maybe in Germany, riding clubs get help from the state, but another factor is:
Cost of land/real estate is nowhere near as much as here. And we all know that land and horses go hand in hand. A riding school is a business in the end, and if your overhead costs are high, you will need to charge higher prices, too. By comparison, in Germany, real estate prices haven't really risen (a house can cost almost as much as it did 20 years ago if adjusted for inflation) - some say it has declined. Real estate is not seen as an "investment" like stocks that go up and down in price. Buy-to-let landlords (only a small portion of Germans, i.e. 25% or so, own their own home) keep the properties for the income it generates, but not necessarily due to hopes of increasing value.
A lot of people in the UK (and I'm sure even the "journalists") seem to view increasing house prices as a good thing. Truth is, it makes everything more expensive, cancelling out that gain in price.
Then, there are the insurance premiums that have been going up due to the risk of people suing riding schools for whatever reason. It's as though people themselves can't be entrusted with taking care of themselves anymore! When has the UK turned into a nanny-state?
Reporting articles the way those "journalists" did is completely futile. As you can see, with a little bit of research... or investigative journalism (and it didn't take me long to come up with the above), you can actually find out some of the WHY's rather than deliver an article that's basically just you complaining that you didn't have it as good as Zara Phillips!!!
That said... Zara Phillips did great!!!
Sometimes, I wonder whether these "journalists" have the capacity to think out of the box or whether they've ever travelled to other countries, and seen how life is like outside this island. Why is it that the UK is so obsessed with its "classes"? Can anyone please enlighten me about this?
And yes, riding is an expensive sport as many of these "journalists" imply - but a LOT more expensive in this country than others. Not one of these articles mentions this. Nobody ever asks why a riding lesson here can cost up to 3x as much (if not more) as in Germany (using this as an example as I lived there for a decade). Maybe in Germany, riding clubs get help from the state, but another factor is:
Cost of land/real estate is nowhere near as much as here. And we all know that land and horses go hand in hand. A riding school is a business in the end, and if your overhead costs are high, you will need to charge higher prices, too. By comparison, in Germany, real estate prices haven't really risen (a house can cost almost as much as it did 20 years ago if adjusted for inflation) - some say it has declined. Real estate is not seen as an "investment" like stocks that go up and down in price. Buy-to-let landlords (only a small portion of Germans, i.e. 25% or so, own their own home) keep the properties for the income it generates, but not necessarily due to hopes of increasing value.
A lot of people in the UK (and I'm sure even the "journalists") seem to view increasing house prices as a good thing. Truth is, it makes everything more expensive, cancelling out that gain in price.
Then, there are the insurance premiums that have been going up due to the risk of people suing riding schools for whatever reason. It's as though people themselves can't be entrusted with taking care of themselves anymore! When has the UK turned into a nanny-state?
Reporting articles the way those "journalists" did is completely futile. As you can see, with a little bit of research... or investigative journalism (and it didn't take me long to come up with the above), you can actually find out some of the WHY's rather than deliver an article that's basically just you complaining that you didn't have it as good as Zara Phillips!!!
That said... Zara Phillips did great!!!
I'd only have been able to afford to ride once every 3 weeks. 
Everyone has more disposable income these days!
