The Big Topic: Horse Life in a Time of Change
In my previous post, I made mention of how horsepal and H&R contributor Patty B. and I spent considerable weekend time discussing how the flurry of change--on nearly every front--is likely to affect the horse world. We're still discussing it, via e-mail, now that Patty's back home from her visit. (Photo is of Patty with her Aussie, Pearl.)With her permission, I'll share some of what she sees coming:
"On the big-world level, my gut tells me we'll separate ourselves into two sects: Those who'll thrive during change, because they don't fear changes to the status quo and in fact embrace the chaos of uncertainty; and the hunker-downers, who'll cubby, burrow, bail, and bolt toward their own personal safety net. As this segment struggles to comprehend their changed state of being, divorce rates will rise, substance abuse rates will rise, debt rates will rise. We're seeing this already in foreclosures, bankruptcies, etc.
"On the horse-life level, the marginal owners and some of the newbies will be the bolters--I'm seeing that already in my own horse circles. Longtime, deeply committed horse people, even the rich ones, will find alternative ways to enjoy the horses. On the bigtime-show level, some of the uber-rich will find other things to do with their horses--not because they can't afford to play, but because it's no fun to be queen of the three people left showing in a class as opposed to being queen of 30!
"Others, those of standard lower-to-middle income, will find cheaper ways of feeding, and will let some areas of horse care slack--extending farrier visits, skipping vaccinations, and so on. Some will reach the point of having to choose between horse needs and human needs, and will hope in the meantime that they don't need car repair, medical care, etc. I witnessed this during the deep recession of the early '80s."
Please feel free to join the discussion. It won't be quite the same as a weekend at Juli's cabin, but you're invited to chime in nonetheless.
posted by Juli Thorson @ 12:21 PM
14 comments
14 Comments:
After seeing the market plummet this morning, I was thinking the exact same thing. Thought I'd read your column as a break during lunch. As an economist and rancher, I think we are in for a wild ride. I really think that there will be enormous impacts on the horse market as all things come together for major financial changes. In CA we are seeing outrageously high feed costs that just continue to rise, I have seen hay in the 250 to 320/ton range, and a lot of people purchase by the bale which is even higher, grain has gone up, transportation, feed, etc. Board in the area can be 550 and usually much higher, that doesn't include the add ons for blanket take off, turn out, extra feed. How many people can afford that? On a personal note, I keep my horses at home so am somewhat insulated from these costs, however, it still costs me more just to feed them. I am currently looking for a new horse but will be very selective and may just wait a bit to see what happens. Additionally, I have had several offers for free horses a trend I think we will see more of as finaces get tighter. Most of the horses have big problems or their owners have money problems, what will happen to them? On your change or hunker point, I have had horses over thirty years and will continue to but I have already changed my horse activities partially due to age(I am just getting older and have more broken parts)and partially due to finaces, I am choosing extra activities more carefully. I have shown all over and currently don't have a mount worthy of high level competition. I am not willing to waste time, energy and money when I am not competitive. Also, I don't have the desire to prove anything at the moment. If I had a good one I might feel different. Another issue that will come back to haunt us is the horse slaughter issue and all the rescues requesting donations. What will happen here? Personally, I will take care of my own horses first.
I will always have horses but will make changes as time goes by.
An excellent comment that does a good job of summing up where a lot of people are at.
I lived through the 80's, raised a large family and kept horses. We stayed out of debt, did as much ourselves as we could, still had a ton of family fun, raised a garden, canned, had music and dance lessons and made ends meet. The cost of feed for horses is probably going to control itself eventually as horse owners drop by the wayside. For now,I am not going to upgrade my trailer and my '92 truck is running just fine. I'm not taking in any of the offers for free horses. I run a stable with 47 head, teach a ton of lessons each week and balance my books. We are not a high end anything, but we have fun, are reasonably safe, and take good care of the horses. I doubt any of my clients will be selling their horses anytime soon. Everyone is careful with their money. The young girls at the stable work hard and pay for much of their horse addiction themselves. I too am concerned with the horse rescues. There is nothing extra to donate for them, but I'm still donating to my church. That is a habit from many decades. Personally, this will be an interesting next several years. We will adapt.
What concerns me is if everyone just hunkers down, and don't spend a bit of money on the extra's, the economy will continue to be stagnant and not improve.
I'm not suggesting that we as a nation continue our extravagant ways that have been part of the root cause of the problem (being in debt just to have the latest and greatest), but I think that if you need a new trailer and can afford it, why not help out and buy it?
I do think that it will take a while before things improve, and hopefully this time around folks will learn a valuable lesson, and be a bit wiser about spending and investing in the future.
We've discussed this on our local list serv... have seen some of the newbies move on; others cut down. Many of my trail ride friends are staying closer to home rather than opting for long trips to new places. Many of us have parked our LQ trailers and are driving 2 horse bumpers or stock trailers. Hay hasn't gotten too outrageous yet - but expect some of that is due to a good crop in our area. If I can ever afford a new truck again, will trade in the diesel for a gas burner.
Lots of free horses out there. Many temptations. I just recently gave a horse to a friend who could afford her and will use her. Haven't had a new horse for 3 years; don't need one and certainly don't want another mouth to feed.
We do our own vaccinations & yes, have cut down on farrier visits, doing our own maintenance on the horse's feet.
I hold less memberships now than before, volunteer for less if it requires lots of driving.
I'm sad. I finally found a hobby I am passionate about and I can afford. Although at this point, nothing has changed with my job, my husband is a self-employed contractor and his income has dropped drastically.
http://www.horsetrailriders.blogspot.com/
I've always had horses in my life, and I have never made much money- so I have learned to do things on a shoestring. I spent a few years doing some extravagant things like taking lessons and buying new tack, now I will use what I have, maintain my truck and trailer and go less. Fewer shows, rides and visits to friends and trainers will be the norm for awhile. I'll start cooking at home again (DRAT! THAT is the VERY worst part!)Fewer magazine subscriptions too ( sorry Juli)
As calcowgirl said, age, fixed retirement income, aches and pains and raising costs have pretty much stopped our small breeding operation, no foals this year, maybe one next and then, maybe no more at all. Showing was givin up some time back, to much time at work and now costs. The feed prices increasing and all the rest of expenses, just difficult to deal with but still totally committed to my old gals who will spend out their lives here and probably not get replaced.
We too have learned over the years to adapt, do for ourselves, a big garden next summer, farrier work, just trims, no shoes needed on our horses, no fancy nights out or vacations, love our modest hearth and home.
Sales are in the tank or non-existant and that is also dictating the horse operation and overall day to day living. I sure wish there were some answers, and not to just the horse industry problems but the whole picture of living life in today's economy. Guess part of it is being able to connect with others on places such as this and share good ideas, sources, successes and at times what really doesn't work. Thanks for that Juli and all who contribute to any blog, list, message center or personal contacts by whatever means is the choice.
I have horses of my own, and also raise my own hay for sale. I've already had one customer drop by the way side. They started buying round bales, locally, every week, as opposed to buying a load of small squares from me. They can't afford to pay for an entire load all at once, but can budget in the rounds on a weekly basis. Some others are buying less because they've sold off a few head.
I too lived thru the 80's ended up moving back to the Palouse area to survive. We have a small house and a couple of acres that are paid off. We have several acres of pasture that our neighbors let us use for small favors in return. The hay is mostly suppled by my husband's cousin in exchange for mowing his yard. I did get about 15 tons more this year, not the best quality, but 75 a ton picked up out of the field.
Reality is that we are getting older and getting slower just getting hay in this year pretty much took all summer very little time to enjoy the horses so something will eventually have to give. Market is non existent for selling any so as time goes by and the market isn't there we will have to euthanaize a few.
We have already been doing most of our trims already,vaccinations are done by a vet- that is to insure that when we have an emergency she will come. We have one mare out in reining training and had 60 rides put on one 3 year old.
We didn't breed last year or this one and not planning any breedings for at least 2 more years. The one trainer keeps raising his prices so much that we won't be able to afford to have him start out horses anymore. We have 3 more younger ones that will need to be started when they get old enough.
It's going to be a bumpy ride and sadly by the time the horse market does come back we will probably be too old to participate much. A lot of people have or will loose everything and have to start all over. When this happened in the 80's at least the slaughter plants were still open so the flood of horses went thru much faster. This time they are going to be there for years.
Another topic of discussion should be renaming the slaughter plants to something less dreadful. I have noticed the cattle industry calls it harvesting now. Renaming the whole process may help our cause.
I was watching the finals of the Snaffle Bit Futurity on line this Sunday, and noticed a whole lot of empty seats. Both ends of the arena were half empty, as well as the long end on the other side of the video camera. I can remember when it was sold out on Finals day. That should give people a heads up that the horse economy is going into the tank. What we don't know is how much the lack of attendance is due to the economy, or how much is due to the fact that you can watch the whole show, from start to finish, on line. Are even the wealthy starting to cut back? For our part, we bale our own hay, both for the horses & our tiny herd of Braford cattle. We have both round bales & square bales, and if it runs out before spring, our neighbor who breeds cattle, has put tons of hay from his fields in his barns. This is coastal Bermuda, at $6.00 per bale. We also give our own vaccinations, and keep our horses trimmed on the farrier's 6 to 8 week schedule. We have a small business that caters to the uber rich horse people in California. So far, the economy hasn't made a difference in our orders. However, when the wealthy begin to feel the pinch, then our business is going to slow down, and we will have to tighten our belt even further. We have a year round vegetable garden (vines are still giving tomatoes), and we try to do as much to save expenditures as we can. Have 2 horses that should be in some kind of training, but that is a luxury we can't afford. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out!
Hmmm...seems to be a different post from "Spook Factors and the Economic Boogeyman" - in July.
Its seems in July we all thought - boy things could get bad...could.
But now its seems that is inevitable. My husband is losing his job, putting a cramp in our finances - so if he is out of work and chooses to re-educate himself, I will be in the group that cuts way back but holds on my horses in hopes that things will get better.
I lived off of Top Roman in college to afford to keep my horse up there with me and go to the occasional show. Now I am not stupid and won't be choosing horses over paying my Mortgage - but I will do everything I can to hold on them.
Then if hubby chooses the school route and we are down to one income - in two years I will be back in the show ring making up for lost time.
Showing is a hobby - not worth going bankrupt for. Horses are a part of me and worth the effort to keep.
Definitely a different post, as this is Patty talking, not me.
Also a different post, in that we hadn't yet reached September 08--when Americans lost $1 trillion in net worth in a single month. Which happened even before the Wall Street meltdown/bailout.
Is there anyone who thinks that taking that much $$$ out of the consumer economy in just the last few months isn't going to shift just about everything into a whole new cycle?
And, very sorry to hear about hubby's job.
I'm in the northeast, Vermont, and the price of everything horsey has skyrocketed too. Own 3 horses and I'm still all ears when it comes to cutting back. As we speak, I will be changing my boys grain to something $5 less/bag, use hay cubes as supplement, which is still only $12/50lbs. I've got and maintain numerous contacts for hay and doing a little bartering for bales. We fenced in our yard for grazing this summer/fall....and saved quite a bit in gas for the mower! We cut our own wood off our property which is also expanding our pasture (dirt lot) area to 5+ acres. We heat w/ wood only, we use cfl's, keep the lites off, buy groc's in bulk, have free internet, hang out our clothes when it's not 40-below, shop at thrift shops, recycle shavings/grain bags for trash, just found a supplier of sawdust for bedding that's free if you get it yourself, hubby trims hooves, do our own vacc's, I have a few chickens and sell eggs to cover the cost plus a few bux (chickens are so EASY! The eggs are great and quite profitable!).....there's lots of ways to cut expenses to keep my boys and planning to get another one....a rescued horse. Winters are hard here, but we don't blanket unless we absolutely have to. We built our own barn and the boys have free access so they can run around to warm up. I'm a cancer survivor of 13 yrs ago and now looking at possible breast cancer but I work a part-time job and save every penny to stock up for winter....while the hubby keeps the boat a'float in his own particular expertise: everything! I'm working on starting a "horse co-op" w/ other local horse people so we can all help each other out in times of need. We have to look at this economic glitch as a personal challenge and take a good long look at our lifestyles....we're spoiled, wasteful and rigid and I will never have a problem w/ "doing without" a few personal things to help a horse that needs a good, loving home.
It's getting tough everywhere. I'd love to get back into showing but when I start adding up the cost for the regular lessons, vanning to the show, stabling, and all the other fees that go with it, I just can't do it. As someone else wrote, showing isn't worth going backrupt for. Right now I'm just focusing on making sure my horses are safe with good quality hay and feed. i'm also getting back into good old fashioned just riding, hacking out, and enjoying spending time with them without all the competitive pressures.
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