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The Elitist Sport
So English riding seems to be much more elitist over here in the USA than it does in England. Why would I say this you may ask...
Well its fuffing expensive that is why!
As you guys know, the cost of buying the horses is more expensive, plus I shipped mine about a billion miles, so all of that already puts the USA ahead cost wise. Now, of course, I am the proud owner of my Axel. This meant I can get to registering for the competition year ahead. First I had to register myself. To be eligible to compete in the competitions and finals at which I would like to be able to show, I had to register myself with the following. USEF (United States Equestrian Federation) $80 for the year, USDF $90, then RMDS (Rocky Mountain Dressage) $70. All these are Annually and JUST FOR ME. I mean flipping ridiculous. THEN on top of this the bluddy horse has to be registered. Axel has lifetime registrations so luckily its just the transfer fees... $50 for USEF, $35 USDF and another $25 for the Freisian Sporthorse registry transfer. Now if he wasn't already USEF it would be $115 and USDF would be $300. Still with me? Hows your checkbook feeling?
THEN, Oh then, you get those whopping show fees too. The first show I am planning on doing is a schooling show, yes unaffiliated. For that I get to pay $25 per class... oh plus a $25 show fee, stall fees then a $5 paypal fee. Then you start looking at the official shows. Here you get to pay $45 per class, plus a show fee/ admin of about $35, then stall fees $150 for a weekend plus trainer fees, shavings fees etc etc.
It is something people are just used to over here and accept. We go into it with a choice of competing or not and the knowledge that it's very expensive. But I just feel a little sad that these costs do make it an elitist sport over here. Not that everyone who competes is well off, far from it. But it is just SO much less affordable and accessible than it is in the UK. Having said that, I haven't done but one or two shows over there so would be really interested in the costs over there. So if any of my gorgeous UK dressage friends would like to give me some costs, I would love to share and compare!
Well its fuffing expensive that is why!
As you guys know, the cost of buying the horses is more expensive, plus I shipped mine about a billion miles, so all of that already puts the USA ahead cost wise. Now, of course, I am the proud owner of my Axel. This meant I can get to registering for the competition year ahead. First I had to register myself. To be eligible to compete in the competitions and finals at which I would like to be able to show, I had to register myself with the following. USEF (United States Equestrian Federation) $80 for the year, USDF $90, then RMDS (Rocky Mountain Dressage) $70. All these are Annually and JUST FOR ME. I mean flipping ridiculous. THEN on top of this the bluddy horse has to be registered. Axel has lifetime registrations so luckily its just the transfer fees... $50 for USEF, $35 USDF and another $25 for the Freisian Sporthorse registry transfer. Now if he wasn't already USEF it would be $115 and USDF would be $300. Still with me? Hows your checkbook feeling?
THEN, Oh then, you get those whopping show fees too. The first show I am planning on doing is a schooling show, yes unaffiliated. For that I get to pay $25 per class... oh plus a $25 show fee, stall fees then a $5 paypal fee. Then you start looking at the official shows. Here you get to pay $45 per class, plus a show fee/ admin of about $35, then stall fees $150 for a weekend plus trainer fees, shavings fees etc etc.
It is something people are just used to over here and accept. We go into it with a choice of competing or not and the knowledge that it's very expensive. But I just feel a little sad that these costs do make it an elitist sport over here. Not that everyone who competes is well off, far from it. But it is just SO much less affordable and accessible than it is in the UK. Having said that, I haven't done but one or two shows over there so would be really interested in the costs over there. So if any of my gorgeous UK dressage friends would like to give me some costs, I would love to share and compare!
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