Equestrian is indeed one of the most expensive sports in the world as some factors such as stabling the animal and travelling to various events can approximately cost you around 200,000 US Dollars excluding other expenses such as buying a racehorse and then training and maintaining her.
What is Equestrian?
Equestrian Sports is a sporting event which involves the various skills of riding, driving, steeplechasing or vaulting with horses. The fact which is surprising about this sport is that is not as famous as considering the cost. Riding horses would strong backing of the monetary situation of an individual and it also requires a huge amount of investment. Equestrian is also commonly known as horse riding or horseback riding.
ELEMENTS OF EQUESTRIAN SPORT
- It has 8 disciplines such as Show Jumping, Dressing, Evening, Endurance, Vaulting, Reigning, Driving & para and Tent Pegging. Among all 8 disciplines, Vaulting is the safest equestrian sport.
- However, the domestic equestrian sports competitions only include Show Jumping, Dressing, Evening, and Tent Pegging.
- Polo is also considered one of the leisure elements of Horse riding, polo is a game in which players riding on horseback use long size mallets to put the ball in the opponent’s net (goal), There was a time when polo was only played by Rich class people because of the expenses that came after owning a horse. In today’s time, polo is played by mostly army personnel and professionals on occasions or an event.
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Why Equestrian is an Expensive Sport?
- The Horseback Riding is expensive because it covers all the fees starting from Buying the horse, Paying the tuition fees to learn to ride and Competition fees to Spending money to manage and take care of the horse which on average costs 2,50,000 in rupees or $4000/yr.
- Horse demands daily care from owners and this can quickly add up to the tons of money, we have prepared a list of costs that an owner needs to cover:
- Board: This is another option if you don’t have the convenience to own land and keep a horse in your stable, Horse boarding is a rental monthly or quarterly service for which you pay to keep your horse in someone else’s stable. The expense of boarding also depends on the services offered, most stables offer full-care boarding, Pasture boarding and self-care boarding.
- Full-care boarding: Monthly average cost of this type of boarding is 2100-1100. When you go for this option the stable will provide a stall, a barn and a field for turnout. The staff will attend to all daily needs.
- Pasture boarding: Pasture board is responsible for keeping your horse out in the field 24/7. The staff is responsible for every other necessity.
- Self-care boarding: This is when you have the stable for sheltering your horse but you are required to attend to all the needs of the horse by yourself.
- Feed: Horses are fed usually grains and hay, most of the full care boarding stables provide supplements for your horse. Horses that keep weight won’t generally require certain supplements until and unless they are to be prepared for heavy training and completions.
- Grain: Grains provide Protein and minerals in beverages they cannot get from grazing grass. The price of grain is determined by its quality of it, averagely speaking a grain bag costs up to 1000 rupees. Depending on how much grain your horse would need to eat a day the fact that should be kept in the mind if your horse is required to eat a large proportion of grains, then it is highly advised to split the total amount into a few times to avoid overeating.
- Hay: Horses are expected to spend the majority of there in a day in grazing, Hays are usually packed in two different ways: square bales and round bales. The pricing of Hays also depends on its availability in the market, you can also start stocking on hay to avoid sudden urgency.
- Vet bills: Adult horses require the attention of the Vet at least once annually to get a physical exam, and also get vaccinated for the prevention of diseases. However, depending on injuries and illnesses the horse might need extra care from the vet which will add up to your bills. In India Vet generally charge a sum amount ranging from 3,500 rupees to 12,000 rupees for vet calls.
- Vet call means when a vet has to travel to the place where you keep your horse, scheduling on business hours is much cheaper than the weekends.
- Vaccines: Horses need annual vaccines to prevent any chances of them getting ill. Many owners prefer to give these vaccines to their horses by themselves.
- Coggins: To travel with your horse or to board him at someplace you need the negative cogging test. These tests are taken yearly to make sure that the horse doesn’t have contagious infectious anaemia.
- Teeth Floating: The fact that horses choose their food causes them to develop sharp edges on their teeth. To avoid these horses need some treatment like filling at least once a year.
- General health exam: Horses should also get general health exams at least once a year. The vet takes vital signs and other measurements to make sure that he is healthy.
- Farrier: Farrier refers to the trained personnel who take care of your horse’s hooves. Hooves grow like human nails and are frequently required to be trimmed. A horse needs the hooves attended to every 4-5 weeks depending on the horse’s age and season. In summer, horses need the farrier more frequently as more moisture in the ground causes the hooves to wear more quickly. However, in the winter season hooves stay dry and a horse can cover long-distance trains for much longer times before having a visit from the farrier.
- Trimming: Every horse is required to get its hooves attended to very frequently. Some horses can go barefoot due to their sole strength and comfortability. These types of horses are required to attend more often.
- Shoeing: Some of the horses need shoes to be put on them to support their mobility and protection from pebbles that might cause injuries and sometimes permanent damage.
- Corrective shoeing: This is used to correct the horse’s comfort; the rate of this procedure can be very high as it requires specialized attention and a lot of work to be done.
- Tack: Buying saddles, cinch and bridle result in bearing high costs but when it is maintained carefully, The Tack pieces will tend to last longer. Prices tacks range from 750 rupees to 6000 rupees depending on quality and type too because saddles and bridles cost differently.
- Saddles: The price of saddles depends on the quality and brand you can buy them from the track store as per your high or low budget.
- Cinch: This equipment holds the saddle on the horse firmly. Just as saddles they also depend on the quality and brand of the product.
- Bridle: These go over the horse’s head giving control to the rider. It includes cheek straps, chin straps, Browbands, and throatlatches.
- Food and supplies: As a horse owner you need to keep supplies in order and should be available at any time and place. A list that can help know much about supply requirements.
- Halter: 700-2000 Rupees
- Lead ropes: 35- 140 Rupees
- Brush set: 700- 1200 Rupees
- Walter bucket: 500 rupees
- Feed bucket: 300- 2500 Rupees
- Liniment: 4200- 8000 Rupees
- Shows and events: These include Lessons, competitions and most importantly the Club Membership.
- Lessons: This includes taking lessons to ride a horse on his back, and also having an instructor to guide you to create a psychological bond between you and your animal. The instructor is not only Responsible for answering and clearing doubts but also take efforts to make the learner start taking initiative as an equestrian sport is very and can cause injuries.
- Competitions: If you want to compete in your local area competitions, then it won’t be much of a big deal in the expenses department. In case you plan to compete on a bigger platform there are various Fees that you are supposed to such as Entry fees, trailering fees, hotel fees and stabling fees.
- Club memberships: This includes various clubs such as Foxhunting clubs and polo clubs. For membership in these clubs, you are required to pay the club membership fees annually or half-yearly.
Is It Hard To Take Care Of A Horse?
- Besides being a highly expensive sport, which requires a colossal investment, It also depends on you how much time and hard work you are willing to put into this task. If you are very much capable of affording Full-care Board, then it will be barns responsibility,
- Taking care of your horse means you have to go past your daily routine and you should be able to give your time and involve yourself in trust-building and other elements of Equestrian.
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