BY LESLEY JENKS
I hear it all the time. Why aren’t there more affordable show options? What happened to the local one day shows? What happened to the shows where the lower level, school horse type can still be competitive? Where can we show if we can’t afford the rated shows?
In 2008, I started a small local show series in Central North Carolina. At first, it only offered jumper classes, and after a few years of limping along, I added a broad range of beginner rider, hunter, and equitation classes. As soon as I did, the shows started to grow.
By 2017, my shows were averaging 140-160 entries each month. I was running two rings from sun up to sun down. Then Covid happened, and then the facility I was leasing was torn down, and I had to move across town to a facility that could not handle the traffic of the shows. So I made a change and hosted three shows per year at our local fairgrounds, which has a big horse show facility. This gave us the option to offer a two day, unrated horse show with overnight stabling.
I kept the prices as affordable as I could, and ran the same schedule that had made the series so popular. But things never recovered. The feedback I received was that my exhibitors simply couldn’t afford the weekend stall fees, and they preferred the one day shows that we used to offer. The fairgrounds experienced a large rate increase, and I simply could not continue, so my shows came to an end.
Last July, I moved my business to a lovely facility that was able to once again host my shows, so I picked a few dates and hit the ground running. The first show at the new facility was very small, which I fully expected. The second show was impressive with nearly 70 entries. We were back on track, and I was so excited about the series gaining popularity again!
But ever since then, the shows have been struggling to stay afloat. We were scheduled to have a show this coming weekend, and I had to make the difficult decision to cancel as I didn’t have enough entries to move forward. 11 to be exact. I had 11 entries. Where was everyone?
Hosting horse shows is hard. It is labor-intensive, there is backend paperwork involved, there are a lot of up-front costs, and it is disruptive and hard on my onsite borders and my property. To provide a surface-level insight, it takes me roughly 12 hours of labor and a minimum of $2000 up front out of pocket to host a one day show. So I have to bring in $2000 worth of entries before I even profit a single penny.
My shows are fully insured, which I promise you, many unrated local shows are not! My staff are not volunteers, they are paid hourly employees. They are experienced at running shows, keeping things moving and answering questions. My judges are licensed, some with the NCHJA, and many with the USEF, and they run me anywhere from $300 – $600 per show. How many local, unrated shows are using licensed judges?
Ribbons are over $1000 per show. I pay to have a certified EMT on the grounds for the entire show. How many unrated local shows do that? We offer prize money for our Hunter Derby and Jumper Classics. We give really nice ribbons (24” streamers!), prizes you get to pick from that I purchase from our local tack shops, and even Gift Certificates towards money off your next show bill. How many unrated local shows do that?
We provide bottled water and cold towels at the gate. We have an excellent food truck that cooks breakfast and lunch. We offer multiple schooling breaks throughout the day and “not before” times so that people can plan their arrival times. We utilize Horse Spot online software, and we keep it current with the ring status all day long, updating it at the gate with every entry, and we additionally post real-time ring updates in a Facebook Horse Show Series group.
We offer beautiful Year-End Awards (coolers, scrim sheets, bridle bags, garment bags, etc) and again big beautiful ribbons. For many years, we even hosted a banquet and made it a special evening to dress up and be recognized. $15 classes, $15 Office/EMT fee. No other fees. No membership dues. Derbies and Classics are $30.
Class offerings include everything from an Assisted Walk Trot Division, where the horse/rider has a handler, all the way up through the 3’ Hunters and Equitation and Jumpers. Our jumps are well decorated and have filler, including logs, roll top, walls, boxes, gates, flowers, and even some fun filler like ducks, ladybugs, etc for the jumpers.
Sounds great, right? So where is everyone?
My personal students show at a mix of C and A level shows in the Southeast. I see the big shows offering Opportunity Classes, Walk Trot, up through Crossrails. They might have 2-4 entries on a solid week; some weeks they only have one. I understand the reasoning behind a trainer bringing these beginners to the big shows, especially if they do not regularly attend the smaller, unrated ones. But this industry as a whole is in big trouble, and this is one part of the problem.
Shows are becoming too expensive for most people to afford, and people who do not have a competitive show horse are never going to be successful at the bigger rated shows. These beginners should be starting off at the unrated, smaller shows to gain experience, and offer the lower-level horses a chance to be competitive.
The grassroots of our industry is disappearing, and at some point, so will this entire industry if we don’t do something about it. Land and farms are being turned into subdivisions. Lesson programs cannot afford to stay afloat. Horse owners cannot afford boarding costs. Veterinarians are harder and harder to find. Farriers are aging out, and new ones aren’t coming up behind them. And the local, one day starter horse shows are disappearing.
What will this industry look like in ten years? How do we fix this?
Lesley Jenks started riding in 1986, showed up through the Juniors and Medal finals. She graduated from Lake Erie College in 1996, rode as an amateur briefly before turning professional, and started Finally Farm LLC in 2005. She has trained winning riders and horses on both the USEF and AQHA circuits.
