There is no way to put it gently and we all know the cold, hard facts; horses are expensive. With the economy still on the down turn and vet bills not getting any cheaper, owning a horse can take a toll on the wallet. In addition to the monthly maintenance of vet bills and shoeing, showing a horse can cost even more with entry fees, stall fees, trainer fees and don’t even get started about all of the tack and millions of miscellaneous things needed. In the end, is showing horses really worth the amount of money we invest in the sport?
GoHorseShow talked to parents, Jami Salamone of Scottsdale, Arizona whose daughter, Gabi Salamone just made the AQHYA Youth World Western Pleasure finals with her new horse, HRZ Make Mine Gold; Peek Owen of South Carolina, whose daughter Virginia won the Congress 12-14 Western Pleasure last year with One Lazy Investment; Canadian Brenda Gower whose son, Cole just placed in the Top 10 in the showmanship at the Youth World and just received a bronze trophy for placing third in the Trail on Wednesday with She Made It Happen; and finally, Molly Gentry of Guthrie, Oklahoma, whose daughter Gentry Cherry just won the Equitation Over Fences on Tuesday at the Youth World with Imasgoodasitgets. Let’s find out what they had to say!
Why do you think the cost of showing horses is worth it?
Brenda Gower, mother of Cole Gower
Horse Showing teaches the youth about responsibility. Not only do they have to take responsibility for their actions they also have to care for their horses. To see your child improve ride after ride, gain valuable knowledge, learn to work and gain respect for your trainer and in some cases like Cole, he gained a mentor in Bruce Vickery. To me that connection is priceless.
Jami Salamone, mother of Gabi Salamone
When Gabriella was 11 years old, my husband Bruno and I took Gabriella to a couple of shows with the Circle S team. We didn’t know anything about horses or horse shows, but we knew we loved the people on our team. After meeting Trevor and Jeff Johns, Trent and Taylor Searles, my husband said, “I want Gabriella to grow up with kids like that.” We found the Quarter Horse youth to be amazingly polite, academically successful, caring toward their parents, patriotic, religious and generally have values we wanted Gabriella to emulate. All of the dangers that children face today in school with drugs and alcohol, sexual promiscuity, lack of focus and direction, seem to be accelerating, and, as parents, we were really determined to foster Gabriella’s passion for horses to keep her on track through high school. If she didn’t have that passion, we wouldn’t have made such a big commitment. In the process, we learned to love being with our show friends, traveling together as a family, and as part of a larger family with our team.
Molly Cherry, mother of Gentry Cherry
First of all, we try and do this as much on a budget as possible, you should have seen all the people in our hotel room at the show in Lexington, Kentucky! We are also blessed that we live just north of Oklahoma City where all the World Shows take place and also a couple other great shows, so we don’t have to haul far or have hotel expenses. But to answer your question–yes we do think it is worth the expense for our family to be able to compete at the same place at the same time and be able to travel with our family and friends. We absolutely think it is so important to be able to do something you love with your whole family!
Peek Owen, father of Virginia Owen
Showing really builds Virginia’s confidence and she just loves her horses. It gives her a lot of responsibility of handling an animal, learning the responsibilities of taking care of it, and how to travel. It really just teaches her about growing up.
Do you believe it is a wise investment in your child’s future?
Brenda Gower–Yes, I one hundred percent do. For us, we have to fly into every show, large or small, so the expense is greater than most, but, where else can they do something like horse showing that they love? They learn responsibility, challenge themselves, learn to deal with stress of competition, learn that every ride is not going to be successful, and how to pick themselves back up and move forward–all the lessons the youth exhibitors will need in their adult life. It is invaluable in my opinion.
Jami Salamone–We do attend larger shows as time allows. The biggest downside has been Gabriella’s grades in public school. Even though her high school was supportive of her in her sport, individual teachers often disapproved of lengthy absences for the bigger shows and found ways to lower her grades. She still finished with a 3.8 GPA, and, we are thrilled that she is going to the ASU Leaders Academy in the Business school with a large scholarship. The scholarship money is huge and the collegiate equestrian programs also are a great option to offset the cost of showing. We all make trade offs (time and money) to show or sponsor our kids to show. It’s been a great investment for us – Gabriella has blossomed into an amazing young woman and we have grown as a family.
Molly Cherry–With today’s NCAA Equestrian teams and scholarships available, I do believe it is a wise investment for a competitive youth.
Peek Owen–I feel like it’s a very wise investment, and I really love the horses too. It’s something she’s grown up doing; she’s had horses since she was three and we have a farm, so, it is just a part of our lives. I showed in the late 80s and early 90s and when she was old enough to want to show on her own, we started getting into it more. She rides at home and spends a lot of time doing it, so, she has done very well in the past three years. It’s just something we really love to do and we really enjoy it together.
What do you hope your child gains most from showing horses? What do you hope they aren’t influenced by?
Brenda Gower–I hate to be repetitive but responsibility. Also the knowledge that a horse is going to have good days and bad days just like the rest of us. The main thing I wouldn’t like him to pick up would be bad sportsmanship. You have to take the good and the bad. It all comes in the same package-that’s a horse show.
Jami Salamone–A thing that has always impressed us is the support the kids offer each other – even though they are competing. Many times I have seen the girls helping each other with a pattern, lending an outfit or words of encouragement. I don’t think that’s common in sports and it’s fascinating to me that it bridges all ages. Gabriella’s best friend, Taylor Searles, is 14 – four years younger than her. They have a common bond and youthful spirit. One thing we didn’t want was for Gabriella to become so involved in horses and horse shows that she had no other life. We encouraged her to participate in other things, kept her in public school and sponsored several international trips for community service and education. During the winter break, she is headed to Antarctica to join the research team and study wildlife there. She has to sacrifice a show in order to go, but the trade off is worth it to her.
Molly Cherry–I hope my children gain long lasting friendships, like I, myself, have personally experienced; the confidence gained from obtaining goals in a very competitive industry and most important loving and caring for an amazing animal. None of us would be here without the great horses in our lives. I hope my kids never forget hard work and the instrumental people that got them to where they are in this industry. Hard work and dedication is most important and to always make your horse number one!
Peek Owen–The last three years, Virginia just really started showing and during that time she’s really learned life experiences like meeting people, and, she’s much more outgoing now than she used to be. There’s nothing that comes to mind that I hope she doesn’t pick up from it–it really is just great.
**GoHorseShow would like to thank these parents for sharing their thoughts with us!
Photos © Eric Hardesty
