18/12/2024
They have worded this to perfection.
Iām going to preface this by disclosing that I donāt set my prices. My accountant does. Sheās done my books for the last 8 years and watched me struggle financially the whole way. She owns horses and is aware of how the industry works.
Thereās a post on fb talking about prices in the horse industry. Mostly on trainers and breakers. Personally I charge $550 a week including gst. For this your horse gets its feet and teeth done. It gets fed and kept in a private paddock with a rug on. Most important they get rode/handled for a minimum of an hour a day. I know thereās people either side of me. Some more some less
That is not really any of my business.
The biggest cost that constantly gets over looked is land. Itās extremely hard to do much without some sort of base to work out of. Iām extremely fortunate that my family helped me to get a start. Without their help thereās no chance Iād be able to buy a place to run a viable horse enterprise. Numbers arenāt my thing and Iām sure someone in the comments will help. To get a 30% deposit on a $700000 place is going to take a lot of horse riding. Add some facilities to work in and a million dollars quickly rolls around.
Then you have to add in all the stupid s**t that I hate thinking about. Insurance, loss of income insurance, sick days, holidays, superannuation and wages. Seriously it gets out of hand extremely quickly.
Itās a dangerous job. No matter how good you are thereās a chance a Gumby horse will hurt you. And youāre working for the paying public that means you have to take and ride everything that gets run in underneath you, the good the bad and the ugly. Today is 32 degrees and 99% humidity. I still have to work. Itās to hot to ride at lunch so Iāll shoe some in the middle of the day in the shade.
Yesterday it was rained out and we could only ride a limited number of horses. I could build an undercover. At $500000 Iāll have to work until lunch time the day of my funeral to pay it off.
Guess what Iām trying to say is this isnāt an easy job. It can be extremely rewarding and has moments I wouldnāt change for the world. It also has days that are an absolute grind. I think everyone no matter what they charge is earning their pay.
If you think anyone in the horse industry is over paid then feel free to start a cheaper business and get after it.
Theyāll always be a cheaper option. And thatās fine. Itās how the economy works.