Will You be Able to Afford to Compete?

MrsMozartletoe

MrsMozartletoe

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And will the centres be able to afford to keep going?

I ask because I have noticed there are fewer cars on the road. And, I have to say that even I'm starting to think about where we go, rather than just going.
 
Thought that we had got ourselves sorted to compete this year, not as often as we would have liked, but better than last year. Then up goes the fuel price, all my DD household bills have gone up, and not by small amounts:(, (household income is static while cost of living seems to shoot up)so that will have an impact on what we can do.

Hopefully will continue to get kids out to compete, oldest daughter had her chance a few years ago, now it should be youngest daughters turn, no doubt that will mean that I forgo my competing again.

The expense of traveling has also made us think twice about volunteering at BE, and do wonder if that will have an impact on the sport.


We are so lucky that we have our own 'in house trainer', really would struggle if we had to pay for lessons.

Noticed a few days ago that a show centre that we use is now running unaffiliated dressage next to its BD classes, is that because BD competitor numbers are down? It will encourage us to go to that centre unafff test is £10, BD which we would have run on a ticket is £13 and you get the same judge, and looks like you can do higher level tests unaff.

Sad to say, but more and more I find myself wondering if all the worry about money and horses is worth it, its getting tempting to give it all up.
 
Yes but that said did think long and hard about a particular entry last week and opted not to do it due to high cost of entry fees and that it would have been around £150 in diesel.

Similar another prestigious show which has over OTT entry fees compared to comparable shows I am only going to do one class on one day rather than two classes on separate days.

In showing because the county show entries close so early many people enter and then don't go if they have already qualified and it will be interesting to see if that practice keeps up. I am sure it will as there are plenty of people with plenty of money and the risk is that if you don't enter and haven't qualified then you can't go. Due not being able to ride for a while last year I missed a number of entered shows and then found myself with a horse that could have been ridden for me at shows that I had not entered because at the time the entries closed I had planned to have already done the other shows (if that makes sense!).
 
I know of people who've cut their competing down to once a month.

We're still going out regularly, mostly because one of mine is young and needs the show experience. Once she's got the hang of the whole show atmosphere and can relax in the ring, we will probably go out once a month to do dressage (and take all three that will do it so one set of diesel, one day's worth of time etc), and maybe once more for jumping - but that could well be clear rounds as they're cheap, local and fun and we're not really competitive jumping-wise (horse too scared of fillers lol!).

What we've really cut down on is distance - local places only really now.
 
At the moment I live at home so can dive into the house saving account if needed! (very naughty)! I use all my bonus but in to a competition account and I'm eventing off that, but I am thinking more about not travelling too far as the cost of diesel is prohibative so I'm refusing to travel more than 60ish miles for an event. But due to the cost I'm giving us this yr to crack the dressage or we will go back to bsja at least I can win money there!
 
I've never had to think about it before (been very lucky) but it's going to seriously affect me. I've already arranged for SJ trainer to come to me, something i've never worried about before (happily drove an hour both ways in lorry), will be doing as much at home as i can and picking outings carefully.
 
We will continue to compete (show jumping) however we will give more consideration to the venues/events we are to attend & the value we will get out of it. The entry costs have increased at many venues this year & with Diesel at £6.25p+ per gallon ( with my lorry it means 40p per mile just on fuel) we have to ensure we get value for the expenditure.

Household bills, food, electricity, gas, council tax etc has all increased........ salaries haven't, so money is tighter. Show jumping is what we do though, we don't have holidays, we don't go out drinking, we don't smoke. We shall continue because we love it & it's our way of life, somehow we'll manage. ;)
 
I couldn't compete without my mum. She does still pay for things, like running the 4x4, trailer and fuel. I just pay entry fees and the usual stuff (farrier etc.). I struggle to pay the entries as it is. I've decided I simply cannot afford to compete BE this year, which is gutting. If I do, it'll be on a ticket. Otherwise, my mum has just given me 6 month BSJA membership for my birthday! Im going to stick in the lower BSJA classes to try and insure I win some money back each time to help cover my entries. :(
 
I am actually better off as my mortgage has gone down by £250 a month. I have more money now in my bank than I did before the recession. The price of diesel for me has put the cost of a tank of fuel up by £10. I normally do 5 trips on a tank so an extra £2 a show - I'm really not going to notice that. I'm lucky that my lorry is only a 3.9L not 5.9L and only costs £90 to fill up.
 
I am thinking very carefully about how far I am prepared to drive. For example, Great Witchingham still had entries open earlier this week and I was considering entering daughter's young horse for an extra run, this time last year I would have done so without hesitation. Now I am sitting at my computer typing this and not there!

Interesting to note that the entries were still open so late - are entries down this year compared to last?
 
I think things have been slowing down alot over the past 2 years one of the main things is people dont have money for big items, maybe its because the re morgage and have a lump sum for "home improvements" is finished for most folk... so its just what your earning is your spending power so going to a show,clinic,camp is something you have to budget for
and leave something for a rainy day sooo there is a resistance to going on a wim and you cherry pick ... my tip to lesen the pain is fill a can every time you fill the car up then tip it in the lorry so when you go out it isnt quite so painfull not having to put load of diesel in as well as paying for the event etc .....
 
Optimist said:
Interesting to note that the entries were still open so late - are entries down this year compared to last?
Click to expand...

Not sure about Gt W, but have kept an eye on a few BE venues, Oasby had a massive ballot, Draycott didnt ballot and entries stayed open, Eland which usually ballots at this time of year hasnt and entries are still open.
 
BE says membership numbers are the same but I have not seen half as much panic about balloting this year. Aldon's sections looked down to me. Gatcombe balloted 91 all in the novice - not as many as normal?
 
nikkimariet said:
This is basically my dissertation. Hope loads more people reply - could do with the input!! :)
Click to expand...

Defo affecting me! I mainly unaffiliate and used to do the occasional BD/ BS class. I will only be doing BS if I get a free ticket and wont BD as round here its the same judges and venues unaffiliated but lower entry fees.

I managed one affiliated event last year and I intended on buying day tickets or even a half season this year but as diesel to events is costing so much I dont think that I will do any affilated events at all. I will also choose carefully which comps I do and try to stay as local as possible....No sign of the 1p fuel decrease round our parts!
 
Yes I will be doing more this year as a new RC has opened up so we now have two within hacking distance.

Both riding clubs have large numbers of entries in all the class but they are both within hacking distance from a lot of yards and both run from yards so they have liveries entering as well.
 
I am lucky in that I have some very good local venues which mean I can keep competition costs down. I plan to keep going out as much as last year.

But, I do have a spreadsheet that manages outgoings, and if competing costs more, I plan where I will cut down elsewhere to keep everything balanced.

I am also very lucky in that I have a very good job, and my little truck is very efficient in fuel!
 
yes.
have downgraded from 7.5ton to 3.5ton so less diesel and service costs, iv just had a pay rise and when Nik gets a job we'll be able to (within reason) do what we like with the boys.

am in lucky position of having no mortgage as OH owns our house outright without one, and pappy T still pays for some stuff.
 
it has definitely curbed what i do. admittedly am planning to BE this year but that is it- not doing anything else and have cut down on lessons massively. i have taken on a second job in order to fund this... :rolleyes:
 
definately affected me. There have been a few occasions over the past couple of months where I have had to say sorry, cant afford to go competing this time. Im doing BS at the moment and although things are tight that wont change, i think it offers considerable value for money compared to unaff. I would love to BE this year but sadly due to cash its not going to happen - might do two at the end of a season on a ticket.
 
I spend more time training now then competing. Previous years I would say 60% of outings were training and 40% were competing. This year I aim to compete less but train more. 80% training and 20% competing.

If I'm going out to compete I atleast want a chance of getting in the money which is why I have upped the training sessions. We also try to go to places close by which is quite easy for us as we have a lot of good venues nearby.
 
Yes - but with caution about where and how often.

Sadly the lorry I borrow is up for sale so I will have to hire to go out. :(

I only have Dom competing at affiliated dressage at the moment but I am just taking over the 'running costs' of my friend's youngster. It was that or she was going to be sold (she's my mare's only surviving baby so wasn't really a choice! And now I'll have to change my name to Four!! ;) )

She will start to go out on experience trips soon with the aim of entering 4yo dressage classes later in the year. Once that starts she & Dom will have to take it in turns. So money will be tighter still.

It's going to be a tough year ahead....

Oh, and I can't pick up on Perfect11's idea - lorries round here regularly have their fuel tanks drilled and drained so we leave them as empty as possible. :mad:
 
Definitely - just filled the Disco up, £80 for 220 miles of towing (have a "normal" car for every day). That was just three outings to a local (40 miles each way) competition centre. For BE I'm looking at 80-100 miles each way at about 35p per mile so is very prohibitive and I'm thinking long and hard about the number of outings and the ditances involved. Not just for competing but every day stuff too. If fuel doesn't go down a lot of people won't cope quite simply.
 
we are a serious sj yard, and we have cut back really quite alot. i turned half the yard out for 3 months over the winter cutting back on bills and will prob only go every other weeek to shows this summer.
boo!
 
I had to cut out going to regular comps after OH left me and my little boy,i had technically 4 horses at the time,a house etc to pay on my own and he gave me no maintenance,he still doesn't pay me so things have been a bit tough. I had one horse on the market but gave up after too many timewasters,putting him out on loan now,have another 2 out on loan,one will go on the market end of april. Hoping that will leave a managable 2,my original mare that i'm hoping to put in foal (only if my top horse sells,worth a fair bit,hoping to change car and have a foal fund!) and my young anglo arab to compete rc everything on. Starting to sort bits and pieces out so i can go for a rc group lesson once a week and do a rc comp at least once a fortnight. Have a lovely new house but it's v expensive to rent and the council tax is a lot for what it is so the bills and rent take most of it. I'm coping ok and am v careful with spending these days,i used to have a fair bit of money with OH,oh times have changed! It costs £100 to fill my Shogun up every week,i must admit i am careful with where i take it as it's pretty juicy on the motorway. I do work longer hours these days and take on a lot more work than i used to,before i had a choice and now i don't,apart from that not much has changed drastically.
 
I plan to go out 3 times a month instead of 4 times. Will probably do less classes than I used to do too. But first I have to get lorry plated :(
 
Well, one major advantage of being based in a comp yard means fuel doesn't have to be an issue. However, i used to ONLY do BS so travelled to where the BS shows were. Now i will 'slum it' more and jump unaff if there's a show on at home instead. Might even consider some dressage at some point just to be able to compete at something.

Have a youngster who i hope will jump BS in the future though so might have to start travelling again soon.

The 4x4 does about 16mpg when towing so it's v.expensive to go anywhere nowadays though...and i can't see the price of fuel going down anytime soon. In fact, the only way honestly is up further :-(
 
I would say I'm out doing more now than ever have before. But I'm limiting what I do, I compete locally so never travel much more than 15 miles away from yard.

I also limit what I spend, so each month I budget £80 for lessons, £80 for entries and £50 for diesel.

Luckily I have a decent job, two loans are coming to an end and I'm hoping to change cars soon to something cheaper so this will save me about £300 quid a month.

I can't remember the last time I treated myself to any clothes, hair cut or nights out though, so also cutting back there.
 
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