Author Topic: A new level of facepunch  (Read 4163 times)

seamer

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horsepoor

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Re: A new level of facepunch
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2014, 09:10:02 PM »
What is unbelievable about it?  Rich parents will spend on their children.  I don't really know what the point of that article is, because it's talking about kids who are schooling for expensive competitions, and doesn't speak much about alternative ways of riding, or the benefits to children in teaching commitment, empathy and discipline.

I was horse crazy inexplicably from about age 3, but my parents were the opposite of rich, so I got to take some lessons here and there, and they bought me a $350 horse which we kept at a $75/month outdoor boarding situation.  I rode my bike there after work, and cleaned stalls to earn money for show entry fees and equipment I needed.  Most of the other people I rode with were also doing so on a shoestring because we loved it and it was our community.

I can honestly say that knowing I needed to have a good income to afford horses as an adult was one thing that kept me on the path to going to college and graduate school.  I came out way more successful than most of the rest of my high school peers from a low-performing school, and I doubt that would have happened if I hadn't had horses as a focus and motivation.  So even if, as a proportion of income, my parents were spending what the parents in the article were spending, I think it was a good investment that (mostly) kept me out of trouble.

Horse keeping can also be much less expensive than the figures quoted in that article - shows here range from $20 to $100/day, and I pay $225/month to board my horses with full care/feed.  Shots are more like $80/year, not $400.  I have two horses and will have my savings rate up around 40%+ here before too long, even though I have my own truck and trailer and enter events and take lessons regularly.

OTOH, the article might at least be useful for certain people who are thinking about buying their kid a horse without considering all the costs involved.

surfhb

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Re: A new level of facepunch
« Reply #2 on: November 21, 2014, 09:38:45 AM »
If I had the means I'd do the same thing for my daughter.   It builds character.

It would be unbelievably only if the parents couldn't afford it

backpacker

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Re: A new level of facepunch
« Reply #3 on: November 22, 2014, 04:22:53 PM »
From the article:

"The Ferrara family boards all three horses — Cookie, Teddy and Rubio — at Echo Farm in South Salem, N.Y., which charges $1,300 a month per horse. That includes hay and grain, cleaning the stall and turning the horse out into the field every day."

$1,300 a month? That's approximately what I spend to board myself.

BPA

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Re: A new level of facepunch
« Reply #4 on: November 22, 2014, 06:47:45 PM »
From the article:

"The Ferrara family boards all three horses — Cookie, Teddy and Rubio — at Echo Farm in South Salem, N.Y., which charges $1,300 a month per horse. That includes hay and grain, cleaning the stall and turning the horse out into the field every day."

$1,300 a month? That's approximately what I spend to board myself.

ha ha  Thanks for the laugh.

One Noisy Cat

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Re: A new level of facepunch
« Reply #5 on: November 22, 2014, 08:03:44 PM »
From the article:

"The Ferrara family boards all three horses — Cookie, Teddy and Rubio — at Echo Farm in South Salem, N.Y., which charges $1,300 a month per horse. That includes hay and grain, cleaning the stall and turning the horse out into the field every day."

$1,300 a month? That's approximately what I spend to board myself.

Those animals do eat like horses

Alchemilla

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Re: A new level of facepunch
« Reply #6 on: November 23, 2014, 01:59:13 AM »
Ours costs £80 every 7 weeks for shoes and £80 a year for vaccinations. Apart from £80 per year on hay thats pretty much it. Own land and stables. We do the work.