Part 1 - One for the Money
This is my first year on the larger dressage show circuit. In previous years, my daughter did local shows at the training and first level tests. Well, this year she moved up to the FEI Junior level and is trying to secure a position for the regional team for the North American Junior and Young Riding Championship (NAJYRC).
There are strict requirements on the number of national and international judges and their certification level for the test to be eligible for submission to qualify for the team so only a few shows are eligible. And show locations are by no means close by...and run over a number of days. (More on this in Part 2)
So it means traveling with rider, horse, coach, stuff, and more stuff, and even more stuff!! (More on that in Part 3)
The funny thing about all this is that an actual dressage test is only about 5 minutes long. And for a single show, my daughter rode 1 test a day across 3 days. That equated to about 15 minutes of "show time" or about $10,000+ per hour. Yes, that's right - roughly $3,000-$3,500 for the show. How can this be you ask. Well, let me tell you. First, there is the show registration that includes registration and show fees,and a stall for the horse and a stall for all the tack. That's right. A second stall just to hold all the stuff, and more stuff. And then there are two hotel rooms and meals for the family and coach. And since you have to be there a day before the tests for the "jog" (This is where the rider hand-trots the horse up and down a hard surface so an FEI official can assess the soundness of the horse. If there is any question, there is a vet present to do an inspection), you need to be there 1 to 2 days prior to the first test.
Example of a "Jog" at the 2010 World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Kentucky
After that, there are coaching fees on top travel expenses unless you're lucky enough that your coach cuts you a break (ours did thank goodness).
Finally, there is also a trailer fee to get the horse to the show. And luckily we had our own trailer or it would have been much more depending on the distance to the show (the international show we did would have been around $1800 just to trailer the horse both ways as well as additional $100 vet fees for a health assessment and $15 agricultural import/export fees).
Once you get there, some places are so large that you may even need to rent a golf cart. We needed to do that for the show at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. It was easily a 25-30 minute walk from the stable to the riding arena. So add another $400. (But, as you can see, it's one nice venue for the kids to show!! - Yes this is the same venue as in the video above where the 2010 World Equestrian Games were held.)
So lets tally it up:
~$1000 show fee and registration
~$500 horse stall and tack stall
~$500-800 for two hotel rooms (trust me - you don't want to cheap out on these. We tried and paid dearly for it. At one show, we had to stay in a dump that should have been condemned!!)
~$350 food costs
~$300-400 in gas (or $600-$1800 in horse shipping fees)
~$400 golf cart (four person)
~$200 miscellaneous costs (shavings for the stall, road tolls, snacks, etc.)
~$115 vet assessment and agricultural import fees (international show)
So I would estimate a range for the cost of a show to be anywhere from $3,000 to $3500 or more if you also have to pay to have someone trailer your horse.
It's called the "Sport of Kings" for a reason. All of this just reaffirms my status as a Dumb (...and broke) Dressage Dad!
Cheers,
DDD
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