[ChestersMomma]

It looks like a higher end place. Things can really add up fast with fees as far as showing and training go. I've learned to always be cautious to always get prices up front and always anticipate being charged for every little thing in the horse world (like the leg clipping thing). Horses are a hard business to make a profit in and its understandable that she is going to charge you for everything. If you work with her again in the future I would get a contract up front stating exactly what you want from her and how much she is going to charge you for it.

With that said while the 1200 seemed high at first to me, if you were paying 240 for board I guess the other high prices make sense. Shoot, I pay 180/MONTH but thats not training board...

Sorry about the nasty surprise I hope you got some good training and show experience out of it at least.

[Preppy_Ponies]

Wow that does sound a little steep. Did you discuss fees and charges with her before the 2 weeks. What was said then?

Originally Posted by OrangeRikki

Here's what she charged me:

Horse Transportation (6/19-6/21) Horse On Course Horse Show: 142.50
3 Horse Show Coaching: 240.00
Motel Charge (all four of us in one room): 150.00
Clipping (I clipped EVERYTHING except for two legs that she did, and I didn't even ask her to): 25.00
One Hour Lesson: 50.00
4 Half-Hour Lessons: 150.00
Supplements (that I did not ask her to give): 15.00
Board for the Two Weeks: 272.00

Naturally I decided to bring him home, and that cost me 48.00. We live less than 15 miles away.

Grand Total came to $1,140.50

Hmm well the coaching fee ($80/day) seems on par with the norm in my area, actually I think my trainers is $90.

Then the motel fee, you say all 4 of you shared a room. So was that the trainer and 3 students? If so then standard practice is to split the room between the clients. If she followed that then working backwards the room cost $225/night. Does that seem right?

For the clipping why did she clip those legs for you? If you were having trouble or going to leave them undone then I could see her steping in and doing them, not wanting a client to have subpar turnout or something like that. But that is one I might bring up if there was no reason for her to do them.

I'd talk to her about the supplements but unless you had told her not to feed them prior to the show them you might not be able to get around that. Some trainers have certain show regimanes and everyone gets fed some kind of extra supps or something like that.

And the board, what is her normal monthly rate? I'd do the math and see if it works out right for the number of days your horse was there.

Then the lessons, well I'm curious why she is charging $37.50 for 1/2 hour but only $50 for an hour. Is that the norm for her? In my experience half the time is usually half the price, give or take a few dollars.

As for the trailering at 1.50/mile that doesn't seem too off. But without the actual mileage It's hard to know for sure. For taking your horse back to your place, the math almost works if she charged you for her roundtrip gas.

[OrangeRikki]

She charges $17 a day for board. Totals about $520 a month.

And no, $225 a night does not seem right. It was four of us in the one room, but one of the other girls told me the room was about $160 a night.

I'm not upset, I understand the charges for the most part, I just didn't expect them to be so high. I'm just more in shock than anything at this point.

[katydid]

Originally Posted by txgray

That's not far off some of the fees I've seen. It can get really expensive, really fast (although it's a little cra.ppy of her to nickel and dime you for some of that stuff, IMO).

I just added it up, plugging in what my fees would have been at my show barn... that would have cost me $950, assuming the show was in town. More like $1100 if it was a couple hours away. So, not far off what your bill is.

Agree with this. I definitely get annoyed by nickel and diming, but at my show barn I would've expected to pay about $1200 for two weeks board/training/3 day show. More if my horse was also trailered to the barn and back (from home). I know my barn charges a minimum haul rate of like 115-120? something like that -- regardless of how close the show is.

[OrangeRikki]

Well, if you guys say it's reasonable then I suppose I'm alright.

I was starting to wonder if I should switch to another trainer. I know one who said she would come out to my place (so no boarding fees) and give me lessons here for $40 an hour.

[Preppy_Ponies]

Originally Posted by OrangeRikki

Well, if you guys say it's reasonable then I suppose I'm alright.

I was starting to wonder if I should switch to another trainer. I know one who said she would come out to my place (so no boarding fees) and give me lessons here for $40 an hour.

No harm in trying out someone new, especially if it saves you some money

[txgray]

Yeah I agree. I wasn't saying this trainer is absolutely the right one for you, just saying that her fees aren't far off what I've seen as normal in the h/j world.

I'd for sure at least lesson with the other trainer and see which one you like best.

[OrangeRikki]

Maybe I will give the other trainer a try then. If I like her, I'll definitely save a load of money!

[LifeIsGrand]

That's almost as much as training board at my barn which has 4 training rides a week.

o____O

[gids_mama]

Originally Posted by LifeIsGrand

That's almost as much as training board at my barn which has 4 training rides a week.

o____O

Thats what i was thinking.

When i had looked at putting batman my old horse into a training...

for one month full training with board, and 2 riding lessons a week on him it was around 1500.00 but thats 1 month, plus i knew the lady was a realy good trainer, and with a total of 8 lessons......

she seems really high though your lady...