Professional Event Fees ?

ihatework

ihatework

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Just wondering if anyone could help me with a bit of information.

I would like to know the weekly training/competition rate for having a horse with a top event rider (think 4* team member top!).

So what would you pay for all the livery/exercise/training/competition riding fees etc. assuming the rider had no other financial interest/incentive in the horse.

weekly fee to exclude - shoeing/vet/worming/physio/entry fees/insurance/transport

There is a reason behind this so evidence based/factual figures would be great - no need to name specific people unless their fees are already in the public domain
 
Before he moved I was told it was £1000-£1200 a month to have one with Leslie Law. That's £230-£277 a week roughly. (I was told this by someone who would know - but it was in passing conversation so could be inaccurate?).

Are you thinking of buying a smart horse?! ;)
 
For a variety of reasons I considered sending Mini TX's horse to a particular pro. Its defintiely 4*, but not team rider. Was quoted £150 a week for competition livery, plus would have to pay her entry fees and my share of the lorry diesel, plus I would need to purchase all tack, rugs that she needed.
 
Daily rate of £20 included livery and riding. All entries and extras on top, VAT too. If I remember correctly no competition riding fee, all prize money split 50/50. That was last year, a UK rider who fulfilled your criteria.
 
One female Olympic/4**** rider quoted me £120/week which I thought was very cheap- she is very, very good and I may take her up on it this summer!

An Australian male event rider quoted me £200/week- he has also been 4**** and ridden at the Olympics.
 
That's pretty cheap T_E !!! less than full livery on my bog standard livery yard!
I'd love to know who that is (out of nosey interest more than anything!).

I was guesstimating around the £200pw-£220pw for the purposes of my calculations (unfortunately S_C I'mnot purchasing a super dooper eventer, drat!).

Although I am semi-considering and researching syndicates at the moment.
 
SpottedCat said:
There was me thinking you were soooo desperate for 2012 tickets you'd resorted to this.... ;)
Click to expand...


Ha ha, no I've already got eventing dressage & showjumping tickets, and reckon a XC party, watching it on TV at home laden with Gin & Pimms is a pretty good second best to being there in person :)
 
I am going to the eventing sj too N! And was thinking the same re XC best watched from the comfort of my own home. Greenwich three days in a row would be a mission as well!
 
A friend has a couple of horses with a well know event team rider for £150 a week per horse. I was shocked how reasonable it was! Not sure if she gets a discount as she has more than 1 with said rider though
 
I have a friend who is a 4* rider & charges £175/wk. Extras are shoeing, vet, supplements, entry/start fees, % of diesel, xc course/gallop hire charges. Owner keeps all prize money & prizes.
 
One young 4* rider was £100 a week, another more high profile one was £140. Depends on horse quality... most riders do an advanced concession for advanced horses - If you bring two horses to the party, you can get really god deals....it varies from case to case....but what you may not realise is that my basic livery bill is under half of what the total bill is per month. PETROL - a fortune even with a rider who is economical with lorries and makes sure the lorry is full for most things... shoes, entries, start fees, physio (some pro's have them out 1/2 a month in the season). There is no real cost for rugs, bits and bobs etc
 
^^ That is a very good point.

I was amazed how cheap it was to have a pro with a horse here until I realised it wasn't "all in". (Although it IS a lot cheaper, relatively speaking. :) )

It pays to ask how that's going to work, too. One person I worked for (not here and not recently) divided all physio visits, shoeing etc. between all the owners (unless something REALLY special was needed, which was paid on top) BUT that included the three horses of his own his wife showed or any sale horses they owned. There were 60 horses in the barn but bills were certainly not divided by 60! Same with saddle pads, bandages etc - we bought as job lots and added the individual cut to the owners' bills (at inflated prices, of course - we used to cut bandages from a big piece of material so they would all match, which probably cost about 6 cents a bandage but I doubt that's what they paid). I knew someone else who carried that as far as things like joint injections for his own horses (or, sometimes, for top rides belonging to owners who refused either the treatment or to pay for the treatment . . sometimes without telling the owners!!). The thing is, none of this was particularly underhanded, it was just how those people worked, take it or leave it.
 
This is really interesting to me. I have 2 horses with a pro (but not well known or 4* rider) and I pay £160 a week, which I thought was quite reasonable considering full livery on my livery yard for "normal" horses is £165 a week and that's just 3 x a week riding by livery staff whereas comp livery is riding 6x a week by the pro. TarrSteps is correct though...in the season diesel, entry fees and things like physio push the comp bill well through the roof. I had no idea that "names" were not that much more or less in some cases. To be fair though my comp horses are rather "special" and I am not sure the "names" could be bothered to put up with their quirks.......
 
I wouldn't assume a horse is necessarily better off with a 'big' pro either, especially if it doesn't look like it will go all the way or the owner has limited funds. Between my own experiences and those of people I know, I know it's not uncommon for horses to be ridden exclusively by grooms, or not even ridden much at all. Of course many very good pros are value for money, my point is only that it's often more about the individual situation than the relative fame of the rider.
 
There's a big difference between 4* riders like the one TheoryX is talking about and established team regulars, and that tends to be reflected in the price. Also, remember the majority of big yards will have to charge you VAT and that bumps it up significantly, then echo the point about all the extras which add an UNBELIEVABLE amount :o Realistically, at the level you specify OP, you have to be budgetting for well in excess of £1,000 per month during the season. It also depends a lot on what level the horse is running at: far more expensive to run an Advanced horse than a lower level one - higher reg fees, higher entry fees esp for CICs/CCIs, usually overnight stabling for events (they are never round the corner ;) ) plus super-expensive dressage lessons from people like Ferdi/Carl and so on and so on :D
 
Thanks all.

Over the last month I've been doing a lot of research because I want to join a syndicate (I am not mega loaded!!! But have a bit of disposable income and have decided this is how I want to spend it).

I have chosen the rider I want to be involved with and am 100% happy with my choice. It's now a case of biding my time and finding the right horse/syndicate.
 
I had a horse with a pro, and was very pleased with the service that my horse and I recieved. True event fees did add up; but if I had been taking the horse myself to the event it would have cost nearly as much anyway, and I would probably have been eliminated anyway.

Pro schooled my horse (not sure if anyone else hacked the horse out, but not bothered about that), and improved his way of going.
 
I am at present looking at a Pro to ride my stallion. Following suggestions from both a post on here and personal recommendation I have choosen a rider who was supposed to be having her 1st ride on my boy today but sadly due to the weather we've had to postpone.

With regard to cost I am looking a £20 per day livery plus competing costs on top.
 
Oooh this is a very good thread! Helpful for me as I was thinking of sticking my horse with a pro event rider for a few months for some competing while I go travelling.
These prices are certainly within the realms of possibility, I for some reason thought it would be £500 odd a week plus entries ect!
 
Livery between £140-£200 pw
Diesel around £1 mile split between horses
Rider fee £25-£40 one day event
Rider fee 3 day anything upto£150-£250
Gallops
Lessons
Physio
Farrier
Then they may want half the prize money too
 
Christine48 - I have heard of a few riders charging for riding at comps and again for 3 days, neither of mine do and both are 4* riders. I have also heard of riders charging to write the bill out!!
 
The riders we've used ( 4* riders) charged rider fees, which I don't agree with entirely as we are already paying for them to be ridden. You are very lucky not having to pay a rider fee.
 
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