How much does a USDF rated show cost?

This year, I'm trying to be a responsible adult and pretend to budget for shows. Ok, just kidding, I don't really want to know how much money I spend on this sport, but I thought I'd do the math once just to point out to hubby that it's less expensive than driving halfway across the country for a jousting competition. Priorities.

I've signed up for a USDF rated show in March, with Taran. It's in Houston, about a 2.5 hour drive from me.

Per-day costs

• Classes: $40/each, I show 2 per day (USDF allows up to 3). Add $10 for GAIC qualifier and $8 for SWDC qualifier, so add an extra $18 per day (highest test at each level is the qualifier, and I always sign up because I WILL go to the championships if I qualify, dammit). So total of $98 for two tests for one day.
• Show office fee: $35/day (can be up to $50/day, depending on the show)
• USDF drug fee: $16/day
• Total for the weekend: $298, would be $36 less if I didn't do the qualifiers.

I do not pay any non-member fees, but those are $30/day for USEF and $25/day for USDF, for EACH rider/owner/trainer who is not a member. So while having those memberships isn't cheap, it's worth it because of the non-member fees.

Weekend costs

• Stall fee: $120/weekend, plus $12/bag for shavings (I get 4 extras because Paddy likes a fluffy stall for his beauty rest, so another $48, and no you cannot bring your own)
• RV hookups: $50/night (x2 nights). It's not as expensive as a hotel room, but it's also not cheap. However, I do love having the ability to get food and take a nap right at the show. 
• Total for the weekend: $268, would be less if I didn't get extra shavings or have RV hookups.

Others

• Hauling: I have my own rig but let's face it, owning a rig is not cheap. I calculate that it costs me a minimum $1.00 per loaded mile every time I haul with it. If you're thinking that's a lot, it costs about $75 to fill it (38 gallons of diesel, and diesel is a whopping $1.79 right now), $80 each for 2 oil changes per year, roughly $500 in trailer maintenance per year (bearings, lights, and new tires every 4 years or so), and I just paid $2000 in repairs on my truck. So $1.00/mile is pretty reasonable if you consider the real costs of owning a rig. The show is about 300 miles round trip. So that's $300 to haul. Obviously in-town shows are cheaper for hauling, but they're still a good 30 miles from home, so the cost isn't negligible. If you want to cheat on this cost and just figure out fuel costs, it's probably $75, since I can make it there and back on 1 tank. 
• Food: We usually bring most of our own food, but go out on Saturday night for dinner. So including groceries and one dinner out, about $100 for the weekend for 2 people. It seems expensive but do you know how much brie cheese and cider I can put away in a weekend???
• Total for the weekend: $400, would be MUCH less if I didn't do the $1/mile math or eat out. But I like food and I'm trying to be realistic about the costs of owning a rig.

Expenses you might have but I don't:

• Training: I've only had my trainer at one show this year, and our schedules didn't really work out for her to help me warm up. So no training fees, although they'd be $75/day if I did.
• Tack stalls: There are some shows where I would love to have one of these, but I'm cheap. They're about $110/weekend.

Bottom line:

USDF rated shows aren't cheap. Even if you JUST include classes and stall fees (like for an in-town show), it's $466 (tack on an extra $80 if you choose to do the 3 rides per day that USDF allows). Add in the RV hookups, hauling, and food, and you're up to... gulp...

$966

Dear hubby, I hope you're not reading this. :D

60 seconds of awesome (aka Paddy trotted!)

Yesterday, my vet cleared Paddy to trot under saddle. We've been a bit conservative with his rehab because he's been struggling with a proper landing on his RF (remnants from that damn thrush), but he finally seems to be making progress.

So yesterday, after a long walk warmup, we trotted. He felt great, although somewhat put out that I actually expected him to do something OTHER than walking.

Because you can never have enough Haffie ears.

Vacation's over, buddy!

A day at WEF - 2016 Global Dressage Festival

Last weekend, hubby and I took a long weekend in Florida. My big request was to go to the Friday Night Freestyle at WEF - I've never been to Wellington, and there were something like forty-three Grand Prix riders, including Laura Graves and Michael Klimke. Plus, I have this secret desire to go ride in the National (USDF) classes at WEF one day, and I wanted to scope out the facilities.

Suboptimal weather for WEF

Alas, the weather didn't cooperate. We landed in Miami to grey skies and rain. I started snapping pics as soon as we drove past the Wellington city limits -  there is literally not a blade of grass out of place there. Unfortunately, all the fanciest places are in gated communities, so we could only see the entrances.

Plebians like us are not allowed.

Despite all the fanciness, there's apparently a problem with zombies in Wellington. 

The dressage area of WEF was beyond gorgeous. The arenas were meticulously maintained and had Paddy's favorite waxed sand/felt footing. In addition to the FEI show ring, there was the FEI warmup arena, three covered warmup arenas, and three arenas for the National classes. 

PSG ride in the FEI arena.

National arenas

THREE covered warmup arenas.

There were lots of vendor pavilions, but unfortunately due to the weather, most of the vendors weren't around. My poor hubby was particularly bummed, because he'd wanted to try out some Custom Saddlery saddles, but the saddler wasn't there. Our bank account is safe for a little longer!

Absolutely NO TEXTING WHILE DRIVING GOLF CARTS. Seriously, they fine you.

We watched a few PSG tests, watched other riders practicing (first time I've ever seen rollkur in person), and then wandered around for a bit to scope out the barns. Did you know that FEI barns are quarantine zones? You needed a wristband to get in, which we obviously didn't have. So I couldn't go smooch Verdades' nose or anything. Bummer.

 

FEI barn stall (but outside of the quarantine area)

Fancy topiaries are a Thing.

We were getting hungry and the weather was looking even more sketchy, so we decided to leave the showgrounds and get lunch. From the window of our restaurant, we watched this squall line blow in:

This storm line spawned something like 5 tornadoes.

After lunch (and the storm, which fortunately only caused a few downed limbs where we were), we headed over to the On Course Consignment Shop, which was highly recommended by Lauren. There, we proceeded to spend 2 hours shopping for Things.

ALL THE THINGS.

I did not buy these beautiful Petrie boots. Fortunately they were just a little too short and too wide - and at $950, probably not that much of a deal.

I have no idea why my husband was looking at shads.

Believe it or not, we didn't buy a single thing in that store. Nothing. There were a few items I was looking for, but the didn't have them. The bank account breathed another sign of relief.

After shopping, we decided to take a nap in the car since we'd been up since 3 am. We caught some z's, then got some sushi for dinner, and headed back to the show... only to find this sign:

NOOOOOOOOOO!

Because of the tornadoes and rain, they cancelled everything at WEF Friday night. Everything. I won't lie, I was pretty disappointed. However, we walked over to the barns just in case there was anything going on, and were treated to a few minutes of Michael Klimke riding his GP horse in a snaffle. 

No really, that's him. Promise.

I especially liked how he finished his ride with a nice, forward trot and canter on a long rein, with lots of big pats for a job well done. You are an inspiration, sir.

Given that everything was cancelled, we headed back to the car to drive to our hotel. In the parking lot, we saw this little guy:

A fox!

So while it wasn't how we expected or hoped our day at WEF would end, it was fun nonetheless. I can't wait to go back!

Close call

Yesterday afternoon, I got the call every horse owner dreads. Cash was colicking, they'd gotten him in the trailer but he was down, and they were on their way to the vet but it didn't look good.

Quite possibly my favorite picture of us. Photo courtesy of Lauren.

I waited by the phone for an hour for news. When I finally got the call, the prognosis was mixed. He'd been choking, but deep in his chest, which was why it had presented as colic. He'd managed to clear the choke on his own in the trailer, but they had pulled 9 liters of reflux from his stomach and his blood numbers weren't great, so there was a very real chance that he would colic. We'd just have to wait and see how it played out.

I managed to sit on my hands for another four hours, after texting the people I knew would be most concerned about him. Hubby and I talked about how far we were willing to go with treatment if he did end up colicking. I did the math - I've owned Cash for 20 years, and in that time he's probably been to the vet at least 40-50 times for colic*, and the majority of those times he needed IV fluids to re-hydrate and pull through.

Luckily, by 9 pm he was eating, drinking, and pooping, so we didn't have to make any decisions. He stayed overnight for surveillance, but is on his way back to Paint Creek Ranch (and his Reddums, who was apparently looking for him last night) this morning.

Visiting last summer. He looks pretty good for 27!

Because of the excellent care and attentiveness from the folks at Paint Creek Ranch, Cash has managed to dodge another one. I cannot thank the staff there enough for taking such good care of him and getting him to the vet so quickly. Maybe he'll make it to 28 after all!

* He's a chronic colicker and has had this problem since before I got him. He doesn't have ulcers, is on nearly 24/7 turnout with his BFF Reddums, gets his feed soaked, etc. etc. Our vet suspects an internal problem, such as lipomas, but it's impossible to know without opening him up.

SPOOK AT EVERYTHING

Sunday, I had a lesson ride on Taran. I'll have to blog about the ride later, because while it was awesome, it was also interrupted at random points by spooking.

Here's the short list of Things We Spooked At:

We had to leap this DANGEROUS SHADOW every time we went over it. Thank goodness his mom doesn't want him to be an eventer.

There were HORSE-EATING ALLIGATORS in the bottom of this pot. Also those poles were dangerous.

C is for courage, of which Taran has none.

I got a clean flying change as we spooked away from the PILE OF JACKETS MONSTER. (Alas, I did not get a change back.)

I don't even know what's scary about this, but there's clearly something terribly, terribly wrong with it.

This entire corner is terrifying. The whole thing, all of it. TERRIFYING. Please note that there's actually nothing there except a CORNER.

More horse-eating flowers in pots.

On the bright side, Taran gives plenty of warning when he's going to spook, and his spooks are kind of a joke. On the not-so-bright side, there are dressage letters (often with flowers) at shows. Eeeek?

3 problems with having a horsey husband

I realize that I'm lucky because my husband shares my passion for horses and riding. We love spending time with each other, and we love spending time with each other on horseback. However, while having a horsey spouse definitely has its advantages (i.e. we never have that discussion on "HOW much does this sport cost again?!?!), there are a few downsides that you might not have considered.

1. You have to buy a horse for him. Said horse might be more expensive and better trained than your own horse.

The Incomparable Brego

2. You're not the only one who wants fancy new tack. In fact, your husband might have his eye on this fancy Custom Saddlery monoflap, despite the fact that he already has three saddles. He also owns four bridles, including some fancy custom Portuguese jousting thing with cast brass bling. 

He wants one. I want one. Who will get one first? Obviously the CORRECT answer is that you each get the other one a saddle for your 10th anniversary. That seems fair, right?

3. He will borrow your horse, and look damn good doing it.

I mean, we get "cute pair" on dressage tests all the time, but HE has women falling all over him and Paddy at jousts, and I'm just "the squire". Not. Fair.

All joking aside, having both of us be horsey works out pretty well, and I wouldn't change it for the world. Our riding interests are different enough that we don't compete against each other, but we support each other at our respective competitions (my hubby is the best chai-maker, test caller, and cheering section a girl could ask for). We take lessons from the same trainer (we do not share lessons, DO NOT DO THAT) and we both love trail riding and foxhunting, so we do that together.  

Yes, he's reading Kottas on Dressage. This photo was not a setup, FYI.

Does your spouse/significant other ride? Do you wish they did, or are you content to have different hobbies?

It might be time to replace these...

I've been thinking about getting some new winter breeches.

A hole.

A repaired tear (courtesy of a mesquite tree attack).

Lots of missing stitches.

Mind you, this particular pair of Kerrits fleece knee patch breeches are 12 years old, and I wear them constantly during the winter (ahem below 60 degrees ahem). I've actually got another pair that's in better shape, but they're both really thin in the seat. I tend to wear things until they're unwearable, and I think these are about ready for burial. Still, 12 years of hard use is pretty damn impressive, plus they're warm, comfortable, and hay doesn't stick to them. I'd buy the exact same breeches again, except that nobody actually has them in my size in reasonable colors. Pout.

So, anyone got any recommendations for winter breeches? Knee patch or F/S, I'm not picky. Must come in conservative dressage queen wannabe colors (e.g. not red, pink, purple, electric blue, etc). Hay shedding capabilities a plus.