Welcome to Trainer Tuesday! Each week we ask trainers a question and gather their answers for you. These trainers have a range of experience, backgrounds, and focus points of their programs, so the answers have as much variation as you would expect and also probably much more similarity.
This week’s question posed is: What do you think is pushing owners away from owning open/professional horses or horses for junior or aspiring riders?
Here are their answers:
“It is the exorbitant expense of the sport that keeps people away from just being owners. I think many people would enjoy being owners; however, justifying the expense of paying for someone else to show your horse is tough unless you are extremely wealthy or maybe can’t ride anymore, but still love being involved in the sport. Usually, people have to choose between a horse for themselves, their child, their spouse, or sponsoring a rider, and understandably, they will often choose to put the money into their own riding goals.” -Hope Glynn
Read more from Hope and listen to her on The Plaidcast here.
- “For Hunters, there is no longer Madison Square Garden, which was a draw for owners.
- The cost of entries and the daily cost at their stable.
- A lack of respect from some of the horse shows when presenting winners.
- There are more classes for amateurs to ride/show and enjoy their horse.” -Diane Carney
Read more from Diane and listen to her on The Plaidcast here.
“I think the biggest problem is cost. It is much more expensive now to buy and own horses. I also find that the Junior and Adult want to do the Derbies, open classes, or lower levels rather than pay for someone else to ride their horse.” –Colleen Brombach
Read more from Colleen and listen to her on The Plaidcast here.
“As someone who is a long-time rider and horse owner in the industry, I can definitely say that the main thing pushing individuals away from owning horses for other people is the cost these days for monthly expenses for horses. I think there are many people out there who would actually like to get more involved with owning horses to support riders they believe in, but the cost needed each month to pay for the horses is just getting to a point where it’s unattainable for most people to keep up with financially.
The costs that add up each month for the horses’ stalls, vet bills, physio appointments, and show fees just add up to an exponential amount, which pushes most people away. It’s unfortunate that there’s also little to gain for owners and riders at shows for making prize money on the horses they have together. Show jumping really doesn’t have much prize money to earn in relation to how expensive a sport it is to be in. When you compare our prize money to other sports that have more exposure and bigger sponsors, it’s a stark contrast.
This is a hard sport to make a living in, and owners and riders need to see earnings roll in so they can keep things going without losing their profits the next month on more bills. These costs are difficult even for the very wealthy, let alone people who just love horses and want to get into show jumping, but are prevented from doing so financially. I hope, as a whole, it can become more affordable, because it’s such a special sport that should be shared with more people.” -Kerry McCahill
Read more from Kerry here.
“I believe the reason we do not have owners supporting open horses is because most of us have gotten better with the management/care of our horses and if the horses are doing the open divisions and the amateur or junior divisions divisions, it’s just too many classes at a show, and if we were only showing once or twice a month it might be different. But unfortunately, most horses stay on the road for three weeks at a time. In my opinion, that’s just too much for the horse to do.” -Stephanie Haney
“I think it’s hard for people to deal with the prices and politics, and in their minds it’s not fun anymore, which is so sad. Even just the costs of shoes is so high right now, to take a horse to a show, let alone show it… And the politics of it all push people away from owning horses to promote a rider or an up-and-coming young pro. Every day I think about how to solve this–without owners, it’s hard to keep the next generation going!” -Dana Hart-Callanan
Read more Trainer Tuesday Responses from Dana here.
“I think that the market shift towards much higher prices on horses has made people a little more risk-averse. As prices come down again, we may see more people buying professional/lease horses. I personally cannot encourage people to buy additional horses to lease or for me to ride because I don’t have any available stalls!” -Amy Kriwitsky
Read more Trainer Tuesday responses from Amy here.
“I think in today’s day, most owners want to ride and show themselves. There are more opportunities to do that now at the shows. And in thinking of horse welfare, it’s hard for most horses to show in double divisions week after week. There are still a few owners who really enjoy the process of owning a professional horse, but not as many as in the past.” -Jenn Tirrell
“What’s pushing people away is the expense and the expectation of the horses to not be horses. We can teach the horses that it’s okay to miss distances, we can do some bombproofing, and we can teach resilience, but we cannot teach the horses to be robots and have no emotions, no reactions, and no “bad days.”
Recently, it is terrifying how numb some trainers want the horses to be, and the more lifeless = the more $$$. Unfortunately, no matter the price tag, it’s still a horse, so when the horse has any opinions or attitude (usually related to riding and training), then come the early returns, lawyers, money demands, etc.
In my experience with sales and matching rider to horse, the expectation is perfection and nothing less. I do not plan on changing my path of having one horse to make up for a junior or amateur, and I believe we can work together to change this for the better for our horses and riders by setting realistic expectations with clients and owners while also remaining honest about our horses and the ability they have.” -Alliyah Antoniadis
Read more from Alliyah here.
“The most obvious answer is the cost. The cost of showing horses has become out of reach for most people who earn their money. Even being part of the upper middle class is not enough disposable income to become a patron of the sport. An additional problem is the fact that so many horses these days are getting euthanized because they are falling down. It’s hard to justify spending significant money on a horse to train when the percentage of horses developing neurological disease is so high.” -Carolyn Biava
Read more Trainer Tuesday responses from Carolyn here.
“You have to invest a lot of money into a horse, whether that be developing one or buying a made-up one, and quite frankly, it’s less risky and sometimes less expensive to buy the known quality than take the chance on making one up that won’t make it to the top.
Today’s owners are very goal-oriented and achievement-focused. They seem to be more interested in setting personal goals for themselves or their children than supporting professional riders. With the abundance of low-level classes, there is a goal for everyone. You don’t have to have a top horse or top rider to enjoy the sport.” -Lauren Kissel
Read more Trainer Tuesday Responses from Lauren here.
