DD Expensive Taste-Horseback Riding, Figure Skating & Ski

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We found a great lease for our daughter - $2k a month. It included 6 lessons a week. Eventually, we bought. I highly recommend when you buy, shop overseas - its cheaper. We took two trips with her trainer who had horses lined up when we got to Europe. Saved 10K on the same quality horse you'd find showing or auctioned in Wellington during the winter

I bet your trainer loves you

[Anonymous]

For those in the DC area, Potomac Horse Center, Woodland Stables, Meadowbrook Stables, or Rock Creek Stables are both great places to learn to ride and enjoy the sport without the crazy cost commitment of owning a horse. I know kids who have ridden at all four places - they are all well-run, professional lesson barns.

Yes, if you have $$$ and the kid shows talent, move up to one of the many show barns nearby. There are many good ones as well. But yes, the cost goes up quite steeply when you leave the lesson barns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We found a great lease for our daughter - $2k a month. It included 6 lessons a week. Eventually, we bought. I highly recommend when you buy, shop overseas - its cheaper. We took two trips with her trainer who had horses lined up when we got to Europe. Saved 10K on the same quality horse you'd find showing or auctioned in Wellington during the winter

I bet your trainer loves you

She's great, but we are her budget client. We aren't asking for $100k imports. DH thinks if dd sticks with it through hs and wants to be competitive that might be a grad gift. I'm all for it if she makes the junior Olympics one day, but I'm not holding my breath lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD rides and shows a bit. We partial-lease a horse. Our yearly cost is about $27,000. I think this is the bare minimum. The majority of the other girls at the barn own or full lease. We have told DD that we cannot afford more than this. She LOVES horses and has never complained and feels like she is part of the barn team and enjoys spending time there. In addition to the money, there is a lot of driving to the barn as well as shows, which are a full-day event in some faraway place.

Can I ask what barn?

[Anonymous]

OP,

If you're in a really expensive part of the country, one solution would be to move. I know that seems ridiculous, since we're talking about a child's hobbies, but if you feel constrained financially in a high COL, and want more fulfilling experiences, I don't think it's such a radical thought. Of course, your jobs might not be portable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I run a professional dressage barn and we compete seriously. I was third in the nation last year in my horse’s level with USDF. I have lived and breathed horses since I was 4.

If your daughter loves it, just do what you can. NYC is insanely expensive when it comes to equestrian sport. Board for a horse can easily run $3k-$5k a month, not counting lessons or training. It is obscene. There are few stall mucking opportunities because it is very professionalized. Some top barns require you have at least 2 horses and show. Not at all difficult to spend six figures a year minimum, not counting the price of the horses (easily mid-6 figures). You can’t compete with that; don’t try. There is a lot to be learned in a different kind of program.

I would keep doing your weekly lessons. try to find a barn with an IEA team, and set her up for going to a college with a well-supported IHSA team.

Another option is to try to find a small program and try to additional time. We have just a handful of juniors in my barn and a tiny lesson program. Mostly adult amateurs with competition horses, or horses the pro is competing. I can offer some “work for saddle time” that a bigger program just can’t accommodate. I consider it a “pay it forward” as I had such a position as a kid and it gave me the skills I have today, but it is hard to even find a kid willing to muck stalls to ride. They are so busy with other activities...just the way it is now. Plus, I can’t blame you for not wanting to spend all your time driving back and forth. That is fine. Don’t give yourself a hard time if that is impossible.

Best of luck to you and your daughter.

Where are you? VA? MD? I used to be a 3 day eventer about a thousand years ago, and am now looking to get back into dressage riding....but struggling to find a place. Can you help?

[New poster, not the dressage maven above] PP, are you on the COTH boards at all? There’s a large community of adult re-riders (including some once-and-future eventers like me), and I’ve found them to be great with sharing support and suggestions.

Thank you, I'll go look there!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I run a professional dressage barn and we compete seriously. I was third in the nation last year in my horse’s level with USDF. I have lived and breathed horses since I was 4.

If your daughter loves it, just do what you can. NYC is insanely expensive when it comes to equestrian sport. Board for a horse can easily run $3k-$5k a month, not counting lessons or training. It is obscene. There are few stall mucking opportunities because it is very professionalized. Some top barns require you have at least 2 horses and show. Not at all difficult to spend six figures a year minimum, not counting the price of the horses (easily mid-6 figures). You can’t compete with that; don’t try. There is a lot to be learned in a different kind of program.

I would keep doing your weekly lessons. try to find a barn with an IEA team, and set her up for going to a college with a well-supported IHSA team.

Another option is to try to find a small program and try to additional time. We have just a handful of juniors in my barn and a tiny lesson program. Mostly adult amateurs with competition horses, or horses the pro is competing. I can offer some “work for saddle time” that a bigger program just can’t accommodate. I consider it a “pay it forward” as I had such a position as a kid and it gave me the skills I have today, but it is hard to even find a kid willing to muck stalls to ride. They are so busy with other activities...just the way it is now. Plus, I can’t blame you for not wanting to spend all your time driving back and forth. That is fine. Don’t give yourself a hard time if that is impossible.

Best of luck to you and your daughter.

Where are you? VA? MD? I used to be a 3 day eventer about a thousand years ago, and am now looking to get back into dressage riding....but struggling to find a place. Can you help?

Hey! I relocated from the DMV over a decade ago to Chicagoland. There were some smaller programs in the area when I left...it is hard with COVID as no spectators, so ordinarily while K would recommend to go watch the warmup ring at the spring shows and see who you like, that doesn’t work so COTH is probably your next best resource. I know a lot of DC area horse friends on it and they will give good advice.

Thanks, I'll look there. I haven't ridden in this area since the mid-80s when I was a working student for a then-Olympic 3-day eventer. Ha. So it's been a minute. I also have absolutely no desire to go back to eventing, as I'm fairly certain that I don't bounce like I used to.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why all three? Pick one if that’s what your budget allows.

This. It does your child no favor to think money is no object.

By picking one she is also more likely to excel at it.

Put on your big girl pants, and learn to say No to Larla.

[Anonymous]

This is a teachable moment to talk about budgets.

Perhaps show her the costs involved in each activity, and let her have a say in the mix that she wants (within the budgetary parameters you set). She will still be receiving more than most...

[Anonymous]

OP - the horse hobby can look very different depending on your commitment and level of investment. My daughter's best friend is a competitive hunter jumper that is nationally ranked in her class. Her family spent over 100K on the horse (horse was bought in Europe, I think Spain). The girl's mom mentioned that they spend close to 100K per year in board, lessons, travel, clothes, trainers, vet, etc. For example, they had to ship the horse to France to compete which cost several thousand dollars. The girl lives to ride and has multiple scholarship offers to ride for D1 schools.

Contrast that to my comfortable, but not wealthy, friend whose daughter rode at the local barn. She competed at the local level, worked at the barn to get "credit" toward lessons, my friend rented 25% of a horse at first then 50%, then 100% as the girl progressed. Competition clothes were bought used (forgot the website, but there's one dedicated to that). She went to Texas for college where she participated on the club level equestrian team which she enjoyed very much. She is now a young adult that leases 25% of a horse to ride for enjoyment and volunteers at a therapeutic riding organization.

So, there's a range of investment for horseback riding. In both cases the girls were happy and invested at the level that was comfortable for the family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We found a great lease for our daughter - $2k a month. It included 6 lessons a week. Eventually, we bought. I highly recommend when you buy, shop overseas - its cheaper. We took two trips with her trainer who had horses lined up when we got to Europe. Saved 10K on the same quality horse you'd find showing or auctioned in Wellington during the winter

Really? I'd have thought that European horses would be more expensive. What do you think causes this price differential?

Dressage person here. It simply costs less to bring a horse from foal to competition, costs less to compete young horses, and there is a much deeper pool of sport horses and qualified trainers in Europe. Distances are minimized as Europe is small, and at many training places you can easily sit on a dozen horses in a day. In the Us you can fly all over and see a horse or 2 at a time, unless you want to go to Wellington, Ocala or Thermal and pay max prices. It costs 8-10k to fly the horse over, so at the end of the day it often isn’t that much cheaper, it is just way, way more convenient.

I will say you need to take someone with you who knows what they are doing. Lots of great riders in Europe who can make a half-broke lunatic of a horse seem easy and amateur-friendly I know a LOT of people who imported and got a completely different animal than the horse they thought they bought, training level and horse temperament-wise. I myself tend to buy weanling a (or breed my own). We have excellent bloodlines in the US and some great breeders. My trainer and I can do the rest.

[Anonymous]

OP, you've done your job. You've exposed her to these things. Now, all that matters is what works for your family, your family's budget. Budget of money, and time.

She can finance all of these hobbies, when she is an adult with her own well paying job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We found a great lease for our daughter - $2k a month. It included 6 lessons a week. Eventually, we bought. I highly recommend when you buy, shop overseas - its cheaper. We took two trips with her trainer who had horses lined up when we got to Europe. Saved 10K on the same quality horse you'd find showing or auctioned in Wellington during the winter

Wow! Thank goodness you chimed in with some budget tips!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We found a great lease for our daughter - $2k a month. It included 6 lessons a week. Eventually, we bought. I highly recommend when you buy, shop overseas - its cheaper. We took two trips with her trainer who had horses lined up when we got to Europe. Saved 10K on the same quality horse you'd find showing or auctioned in Wellington during the winter

Really? I'd have thought that European horses would be more expensive. What do you think causes this price differential?

Dressage person here. It simply costs less to bring a horse from foal to competition, costs less to compete young horses, and there is a much deeper pool of sport horses and qualified trainers in Europe. Distances are minimized as Europe is small, and at many training places you can easily sit on a dozen horses in a day. In the Us you can fly all over and see a horse or 2 at a time, unless you want to go to Wellington, Ocala or Thermal and pay max prices. It costs 8-10k to fly the horse over, so at the end of the day it often isn’t that much cheaper, it is just way, way more convenient.

I will say you need to take someone with you who knows what they are doing. Lots of great riders in Europe who can make a half-broke lunatic of a horse seem easy and amateur-friendly I know a LOT of people who imported and got a completely different animal than the horse they thought they bought, training level and horse temperament-wise. I myself tend to buy weanling a (or breed my own). We have excellent bloodlines in the US and some great breeders. My trainer and I can do the rest.

Thats so true about the European riders! The are just amazing. And the barns in Germany...omg cleaner than my house

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP,

If you're in a really expensive part of the country, one solution would be to move. I know that seems ridiculous, since we're talking about a child's hobbies, but if you feel constrained financially in a high COL, and want more fulfilling experiences, I don't think it's such a radical thought. Of course, your jobs might not be portable.

Now I've read everything. Move for a child's hobby. SMDH