Being a poor starving collage student
and a competitive horse person is hard. Many horse loving youths that
have been showing since childhood find themselves with out a horse
and an arena to show in once the hit collage. Others, like myself,
were horse poor youth that upon tasting adulthood went crazy and
decided to try to live out their childhood dreams. I blame my parents
for never buying me that pony I ask for every year. And because I
went crazy, I decided to pursue horses seriously and to try to get an
education. The path I picked is difficult and not for everyone but I
have learned how to show on a budget at the very least.
Trying to keep and show a horse on a
collage budget is difficult. For starters your hourly rate at the
crappy day job is probably right around $10 per hour or less, and
you've got rent, utilities, cell phone, tuition, books, vehicle
expenses, and the occasional night out with friends. Where are you
supposed to fit the horse in? I'm not gonna lie there is a certain
amount of hard work and sacrifice involved.
My first bit of advice is to apply for
all the educational grants and scholarships you can. Get someone else
to pay for as much of your school and living expenses as you possibly
can. Get good grades! Don't make my mistake and spend extra years in
collage just because you'd rather be at the barn than your general
classes!
Secondly, make friends with horse
people. Start hanging around competitive stables, work for them in
your spare time, show them your skills. Opportunities to ride will
almost always follow and often when you are lurking at high quality
facilitates, quality competition horses. A free lease is or half
lease is nice if you can get it. Befriend a barn mom and you might
land an opportunity to qualify the child's horse in the adult amateur
classes thus getting your self in the ring largely on someone else's
dime. If you are a skilled rider/showmen often times there will be
sale horses that owners are willing to let you ride and promote the
horse for them. Look for opportunities, don't be picky about
discipline or style of saddle as long as the horses are treated well.
I'm of the belief that no time in the saddle is wasted time, stock
seat, saddle seat, hunt seat, they all have something to teach, take
every learning opportunity.
If you have your own horse, working at
the stable and making friends with the horse people is a superb way
to make a dent in that board bill and pick the minds of trainers and
other experienced competitors.
Another problem is often the wardrobe.
Show clothes are not cheap and after the freshmen 15 you may find
that the show cloths you wore in High School no longer fit, or have
gone out of style or you have change disciplines. Or you are new to
the game entirely. This can be a road block but there are some cost
saving strategies here as well. The easiest is to buy used or on
consignment. If you buy used make sure you know the fabric type and
quality of the item that you are buying. Buy something as close to
your fit as possible and save on alterations. If you are industrious
you could try making your own show clothes. There are a variety of
sites that sell patterns.
http://www.suitability.com
and
http://www.jeanhardypatterns.com
looks like they have decent ones. I'll probably be trying out the
suitability
If you are willing to put in the time
and you have the skill you can make show clothes for a fraction of
what it would cost you to buy a new custom suit.
Always be on the look out for
opportunity to use your skills to make a little extra money. I'm a do
it yourself-er if there is an item that I can fabricate my self I
will do it. I've made my own tail bags and sold them people at the
barn. I can make hay bags. I do blanket and sheet repair. Often times
I end up with decent quality items that I can repair and resell, or
even use if the owners no longer want them.
Be wise is your purchases. Collage is
probably not the time to buy that shiny new dressage saddle you've
been eye balling. Especially if old trusty is still serviceable or
the horse you are riding comes with tack. If you do need more or new
equipment buy used! Either that or wait for a screaming good deal. Be
smart about it! There are a great many resources for used tack out
there. A warning though, if you are going to be buying saddle used
ask for pictures of the underside and the billet straps and common
wear areas on the saddle. Ask about the return policy in the event
that the saddle is not in the promised condition or doesn't fit you
or the animal.
Now if you don't have anyone else
paying your show bill there are things you can do to make the show
experience less ouchie on the pocket. This is a situation where
making friends at the show barn is handy. If you are any good a
grooming and you are traveling with a larger group there is some good
money making opportunities. Clipping, bathing, sanding, prepping the
horse at the show, lunging, and warming up horses, walking and
cooling out after classes are all really good ways to help come up
with the monetary resources to get yourself to the show. If you
aren't with a show barn at least try to find a show buddy, someone
you can split travel cost with and who can help you with your horse's
care and you with his/her's. Your horsie network can be your biggest
asset.
I hope that this has at least given
you some ideas of how to keep your horse expenses down. If you have
any experience showing on the cheap and have anything to add please
leave a comment.
