Goldenstar
Well-Known Member
Sadly this is true
Spiralling costs....
- Thread starter Ambers Echo
- Start date
Sadly this is true
JFTDWS
Well-Known Member
lol I did realise you were baffled, it made a good gazebo too
Come to Sandringham when the Attelage is on, they make the FEI carriage drivers look poor...
I was totally out of my depth... Which, to be fair, is a common state for me, even on a damp pavement...
Reacher
Well-Known Member
If you feel you need an air vest AE, there are loads of used point 2s cheap on eBay. (Which was irritating for me to realise as I bought mine new!) You send it for serving and then basically have a new air vest. (Not trying to get you to spend more money though!)
MagicMelon
Well-Known Member
Eventing especially is ridiculously expensive. I cant afford to do it anymore, the few times I do, I do on a ticket. £100 an event is pretty insane when you have to factor in all the other costs involved just to get there in the first place (keeping the horse/equipment/trailer/4x4 etc.). My OH would literally divorce me if I threw as much money at eventing as I used to (pre-mortgage and kids...). I try to do unaffiliated / RC ODE's instead but they're just not the same at all. They're so badly organised with dreadful courses I had to retire at the last one I did as the ground was truly horrific I gave up on the XC, Ive never had a XC fault on my horse so gutted. BE is so much nicer to compete at. I'll hold out for winning the lottery...
I had to retire at the last one I did as the ground was truly horrific I gave up on the XC, Ive never had a XC fault on my horse so gutted. BE is so much nicer to compete at. I'll hold out for winning the lottery...Shay
Well-Known Member
Eventing is probably the most expensive discipline in terms of entry fees and tack / kit you actually have to have. My daughter was in BS ponies for same years before BE and that is exceptionally expensive in terms of the must have hat, jacket, boots or glitter - never mind the must have bespoke box!
But to me air jackets ( and other safety kit) are not in the same league. This is the most dangerous horse sport after racing. Even if you have noi family or freinds at all to miss you - you owe it to your horse. Accidents happen. They are no-one's fault. But you have to get up the next morning and care for your horsae. An airjacket means you will (in most cases) be able to do that.
But to me air jackets ( and other safety kit) are not in the same league. This is the most dangerous horse sport after racing. Even if you have noi family or freinds at all to miss you - you owe it to your horse. Accidents happen. They are no-one's fault. But you have to get up the next morning and care for your horsae. An airjacket means you will (in most cases) be able to do that.
Elf On A Shelf
...
Take up showing shetlands inhand instead! You can pick a registered pony up for £20 at the sales in the autumn and you can fit quite a few in the trailer if you rearrange the partitions to go sideways! No shoes, no fancy tack or new clothes every year, no masses of make up - human or horse! And lots of good fun! Just so long as you get a black ...
rara007
Well-Known Member
I’d argue eventing is just as expensive as driving as a ‘full’ season has so many more events now they’re short format and we’re still on 3 day events with roads and tracks I’m not planning on adding up my costs though...
I’m not planning on adding up my costs though...
Leo Walker
Well-Known Member
I’d argue eventing is just as expensive as driving as a ‘full’ season has so many more events now they’re short format and we’re still on 3 day events with roads and tracks
You can event with just a pony though, you dont need a pony, 2 carriages, a carriage trailer and side stabling. But in terms of entry fees you are probably right!
honetpot
Well-Known Member
It makes me really glad I am non competitive, I have serious tack addicition though. Where I can I always buy the best quality second hand. When the kids used to do competitions it had to be within 25 miles.
Leo I looked at carriage driving, had the pony broken and then realised that if you wanted to go out anywhere it was serious money and a lot of prep. I went to a small show and met a chap who had driven his outfit there and he told me depending on his outfit, not how his horse went,he could be top of bottom of the line. I suppose it goes back to when people had 'staff' and carriage houses. I am more Steptoes yard.
Leo I looked at carriage driving, had the pony broken and then realised that if you wanted to go out anywhere it was serious money and a lot of prep. I went to a small show and met a chap who had driven his outfit there and he told me depending on his outfit, not how his horse went,he could be top of bottom of the line. I suppose it goes back to when people had 'staff' and carriage houses. I am more Steptoes yard.
Equi
Well-Known Member
I can do it for £0
Mainly by NOT doing it sorry not much help...
Enjoy every moment though!
Mainly by NOT doing it
sorry not much help...Enjoy every moment though!
Equi
Well-Known Member
This is why my driving beasts are under 35" and i can fit the cart in the trailer with them hahah!
rara007
Well-Known Member
You don’t ‘need’ those extra bits any more than an eventer ‘needs’ a 5 figure horse and two 4 figure saddles though. This is my 10 or 11th year at national level with toe dips into FEI and internationals but this is the first year I’ve had two carriages (always ‘just’ had my trusty 3 phase named Bruce before- he’s 14 years old and had a new paint job but structurally he’s sound). For a few years the pony went by trailer and friends towed the carriage up which I was thankful for but was a pest, but when I got my lorry license the carriage and pony got in with room to spare in a ‘normal’ 3 horse 7.5 tonne with a shell for a living. For about 5 years I had no side stabling either, electric fencing is pretty universally acceptable now and no one has ever been snooty about our actual tents.
There’s some showing shetlands coming out of some very swanky horse boxes! It’s funny how the ratios of spending vary by discipline and even then how that varies by nation. There were (foreign) international competitors at an FEI driving event who’d travelled in a works van and a trailer but their horses were £££, yet some 6 figure lorries (driving and showing come to mind) pop out ‘cheap’ horses and ponies.
Bit of a tangent sorry! I don’t recommend anything FEI or ‘qualifiers’ showing for burning money on bits of paper that do very little.
There’s some showing shetlands coming out of some very swanky horse boxes! It’s funny how the ratios of spending vary by discipline and even then how that varies by nation. There were (foreign) international competitors at an FEI driving event who’d travelled in a works van and a trailer but their horses were £££, yet some 6 figure lorries (driving and showing come to mind) pop out ‘cheap’ horses and ponies.
Bit of a tangent sorry! I don’t recommend anything FEI or ‘qualifiers’ showing for burning money on bits of paper that do very little.
Ambers Echo
Still wittering on
Glad I'm not the only one burning through cash! The really scary bit..... both girls want to event too!
Royalpavilion
New User
People often confuse Want and Need when it comes to horses. We often don’t need all these products that are available. But as owners we can get carried away!
Leo Walker
Well-Known Member
But you do need at least one expensive carriage and you do need transport for the horse and for the carriage, and you do need someway of stabling them overnight as I'm yet to see a driving event with temporary stabling. I could take mine out eventing a couple of times a month and do it in a hired horsebox for the day, I cant do that with driving.
The person who won the pony pairs and overall indoor championship has refused to do outdoor events as he doesnt have the right carriage and cant afford to upgrade. I saw another big name selling up the other day as he cant afford it anymore.
I'm off on a tangent now, but costs for driving are more expensive than riding and prohibitively so. I lose track of the amount of people I speak to who would like to drive but cant afford or justify it. I'm helping a friend at the minute and shes been slowly putting her harness together and has just saved up and bought a basic entry level carriage. And health issues aside I'd already realised that I cant afford to compete apart from the odd time a friend with a 7.5 ton takes pity on me and gives me a lift. That wouldnt be the case is I did any other discipline.
TGM
Well-Known Member
My daughter events and yes it is expensive, but you can still keep costs lower - we don't have a massive budget. For example, her horse only has one stud in each hind. This is not for cost reasons but because this gives grip without affecting the natural movement of the feet too much. So rather than buying a whole stud kit for seventy quid, we have two different types of studs plus travel studs for under £20 (and that is for supastuds which are more expensive). And a stud tap/spanner is less than a fiver. No front studs means no need for a stud girth. Horse recently needed a new set of boots - found a good deal on event boots for £60 for all four. We've never spend much money on fancy bits - all of ours were under £20 I think, and there is always secondhand via ebay or FB marketplace if you need something specific. We have simple tack, no martingales for example, and no fancy top name breastplates, just an elasticated breastgirth. Youngster recently needed a new saddle, but found a saddler who had some secondhand ones and I should be able to sell the original saddle (which was also bought secondhand) to pretty much cover the cost.
So keep it simple, think do I really need all this? Can I get it secondhand or shop around to find a good deal online?
You can also keep costs down by not going too far up the levels! Older horse is now Grade 2, and daughter nearly had a heart attack when she realised he is more expensive to register, and entry cost soar as well when you start doing FEI stuff!
So keep it simple, think do I really need all this? Can I get it secondhand or shop around to find a good deal online?
You can also keep costs down by not going too far up the levels! Older horse is now Grade 2, and daughter nearly had a heart attack when she realised he is more expensive to register, and entry cost soar as well when you start doing FEI stuff!
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ycbm
Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
Long distance riders 'stable' with a corral of battery powered electric fence by the lorry/trailer. Cheap as chips.
Ambers Echo
Still wittering on
Thanks, that's all very helpful. I studded all round for Chatsworth on YO's advice as the ground was awful but I will try just studding the backs and see how she gets on.
Good advice re shopping around. I do try but I find it hard to find exactly what I want on ebay. And I put off buying things till I absolutely have to have them so I run out of time to shop around! I need to think and plan ahead a bit better.
At least going up the levels too fast is not a realistic concern for me
rara007
Well-Known Member
As do some drivers
Over the years I’ve used both electric and sheep hurdles but in the end the electric fencing is so much lighter that’s what I used more of. The indoor pairs champion does compete at FEI level outdoors, they work hard and he’s a talented driver but don’t believe everything you hear. I don’t have much BE within 75 miles so hiring boxes would get expensive and the average BE eventer is out of my budget for something at novice level. Swings and roundabouts! I too got my stuff in pieces over several months, still have things on my ‘to buy’ list to get everything as I want it and there’s no getting around that it’s expensive, but I really doubt it’s more expensive than equivalent levels in eventing- depending on how you do it! You can get pretty far with an unshod cheap pony that’s not fed hard feed and a 3 phase carriage.JFTDWS
Well-Known Member
Ashfields have temporary stabling with which I'm well acquainted And corralling is always an option - all the stay away sports I've done involve corralling. You need transport for an eventer too - so it's only the carriage which is an "extra" to transport. I'm terrified by the amount of money on show at driving competitions, but I feel the same at most ridden competitions too. The only thing that stops me driving is that I want to ride more, and I definitely can't afford to do both!
The world is full of people who have nicer rigs than me, or who can buy "better" horses, enter more competitions, buy smarter tack... But it's also full of people who don't have the huge privileges I have - fabulous (if not expensive or well bred / trained) horses in my life, an (old, expensive to run, but suitable) tow car, and a trailer. There are people out there living the dream, but I'm probably living someone else's dream* - and no matter how much I complain about money pit horses, I wouldn't have it any other way
AE - you rode a good round at Chatsworth this weekend - and by good, I mean, nobody died, you weren't eliminated, you only had 4 jumping faults. That's bloody epic and there's plenty of folk who would kill for that alone. If you have to have a quiet month to make up for that, or skip something else in life, I think many of us would consider that a worthwhile trade!
*It's a bit of a weird dream, but people get their kicks in all kinds of ways
And corralling is always an option - all the stay away sports I've done involve corralling. You need transport for an eventer too - so it's only the carriage which is an "extra" to transport. I'm terrified by the amount of money on show at driving competitions, but I feel the same at most ridden competitions too. The only thing that stops me driving is that I want to ride more, and I definitely can't afford to do both!The world is full of people who have nicer rigs than me, or who can buy "better" horses, enter more competitions, buy smarter tack... But it's also full of people who don't have the huge privileges I have - fabulous (if not expensive or well bred / trained) horses in my life, an (old, expensive to run, but suitable) tow car, and a trailer. There are people out there living the dream, but I'm probably living someone else's dream* - and no matter how much I complain about money pit horses, I wouldn't have it any other way
AE - you rode a good round at Chatsworth this weekend - and by good, I mean, nobody died, you weren't eliminated, you only had 4 jumping faults. That's bloody epic and there's plenty of folk who would kill for that alone. If you have to have a quiet month to make up for that, or skip something else in life, I think many of us would consider that a worthwhile trade!
*It's a bit of a weird dream, but people get their kicks in all kinds of ways
Ambers Echo
Still wittering on
JFTD-WS absolutely. I really am living the dream at the moment. I feel incredibly lucky. And I can always sell a kidney....
JFTDWS
Well-Known Member
Hormonal Filly
Well-Known Member
Call me scabby but buy second hand.. I'm sure you could of found a stud girth second hand? And the bit.. was that new or second hand?
I use to buy all new, decent stuff, costing a fortune.. then realized what is the point? It doesn't look new within a few months.
You can get some really nice stuff S\H these days, just have a good look around. I bought a lovely Professional Choice girth off a member on here for £40, they're about £65 new and this one is immaculate. A few weeks ago I needed some new reins.. £25 for the ones I wanted. I had a look online and someone had a set for sale on Facebook market place (excellent place to find horsey stuff I must say) for £5! They arrived for £7 inc. delivery and are a decent make (can't remember exactly but thick good quality) and brand new, online they're £30 when I did a eBay search. I only buy rugs S/H as well now.. mine destroy them within months. I find I can pick up a good S/H Falpro one or Horseware one for half the price of a new one. Had a bargain one year, lightly used Horseware Ireland medium turnout with detachable neck for £20! It was practically brand new when it arrived, lets just say that died a ripped death within a few months.
Don't just buy any old thing but sometimes you can get a good bargain!
Alibear
Well-Known Member
This thread strikes a chord, especially as I recently got the equivalent of a 'lose a turn and return to start' card. You can bet that when I do restart none of the current stuff will fit and you can't really reuse lessons and training. Why do we do it, I'm not sure the amount of fun and good times equals all the expense, frustration and bad times.
ester
Not slacking multitasking
Yeah it definitely does, best times of my life with that pony who yes is probably far too small to pass anything on in future.
who yes is probably far too small to pass anything on in future.JFTDWS
Well-Known Member
Yeah it definitely does, best times of my life with that pony
You never know - my poor mare borrows all sorts of junk from her little-big brothers!