Showing the Horse Isn’t What Costs So Much—Spoiling the Owner Is
By Tommy Williams 931.492.2825
WalkingHorseChat.com
Every year, someone complains that it has become too expensive to show a horse at the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. And every year, the blame gets laid at the feet of the entry office, the stall bill, the inspection fee or whatever new charge happens to appear on the statement.
But after examining the actual numbers, an uncomfortable truth emerges:
Showing the horse is not what costs so much.
Spoiling the owner is.
The average direct cost of entering, inspecting and stabling a horse that competes in a preliminary class and returns for a championship is roughly $920. That is real money, certainly, but it is not wildly out of line with other national breed championships. In fact, compared with the Arabian, Paint, Quarter Horse and NSBA worlds, the Celebration’s basic horse-related expenses are fairly competitive.
Then the owner arrives.
Now we need the box seat.
We need the preferred parking pass.
We need the golf cart.
We need the tack room, the decorated porch, the catered barn party, the hotel suite, the cooler full of refreshments and enough reserved space to entertain people who may watch three classes before spending the rest of the night visiting.
Suddenly, a $920 horse-show bill becomes a $1,700 published-event bill before the trainer, hauling company, farrier, veterinarian or hotel ever gets paid.
And somehow, we still blame the horse show.
The average Celebration box costs approximately $537. An exhibitor parking permit adds another $255. Together, those two conveniences add nearly $800 to the cost of attending. That is almost as much as it costs to enter, inspect, stable and show the horse through an ordinary championship.
Let that sink in.
We are spending almost as much catering to the owner as we are presenting the horse.
There is nothing wrong with buying a box if you want one. There is nothing wrong with paying for close parking, renting a golf cart or entertaining guests. If you can afford those luxuries and enjoy them, have at it.
But call them what they are: luxuries.
They are not the cost of showing a horse.
The Celebration gives every entered horse a complete set of general-admission tickets. Morning performances are free. Less expensive reserved seats are available. Regular parking is available for considerably less than the premium exhibitor permit.
An owner can attend, support the show, watch the horse and enjoy the Celebration without purchasing a private kingdom around the arena.
Somewhere along the way, however, portions of the horse business convinced themselves that convenience was a necessity and luxury was an entitlement.
Certain owners no longer expect merely to participate. They expect to be catered to.
They do not want to walk from the parking lot. They do not want to sit in general admission. They do not want to carry their own drink, wait in line or share space with the ordinary public. They want the box, the pass, the cart, the hospitality area and somebody waiting to solve every minor inconvenience.
Then, after ordering the premium version of everything, they announce that the horse show has become unaffordable.
No—the horse show did not force you to live like royalty for eleven nights.
You selected the luxury package and sent the bill to yourself.
That attitude also drives costs beyond the individual owner. When enough participants demand more private parking, upgraded hospitality, elaborate barn accommodations and constant personalized service, the entire event must devote personnel, security, maintenance and space to providing it.
Those costs do not disappear. They eventually find their way into permits, stalls, tickets, concessions and fees.
The spoiled few help create expenses that everyone must absorb.
The deeper problem is cultural. The Celebration was built around competition, community and the Tennessee Walking Horse. Today, too much attention is placed on who has the best box, the largest entourage, the closest parking space and the most elaborate barn setup.
We have turned attending the horse show into a performance of its own.
Meanwhile, the horse—the supposed reason for all this—can still be entered in a preliminary class for an average of roughly $143. Inspection and advocacy assessments add about $30. A stall averages under $400 for the entire event.
Those figures deserve scrutiny, especially as costs rise. Management should always be transparent, economical and accountable. No organization should receive a blank check merely because it calls itself a tradition.
But owners should be honest, too.
If you choose the most expensive stall, purchase a full box, reserve premium parking, rent a cart, occupy additional space and entertain half the county, you are no longer calculating the cost of showing one horse.
You are calculating the cost of maintaining a Celebration lifestyle.
There is a difference.
Other national breed events frequently charge higher individual class fees, require memberships, impose office and drug-testing charges and demand paid stalls. Yet some appear less expensive because owners are not expected to purchase an entire social headquarters simply to watch their horses compete.
Perhaps the Walking Horse industry should learn something from that.
A national championship does not have to make every owner feel like visiting nobility. It needs a safe facility, honest inspections, competent judging, clean stalls, reasonable seating and fair competition.
Everything beyond that is a choice.
The Celebration should focus its resources on the horses, the exhibitors and the integrity of the event—not on pampering people who have confused preferential treatment with hospitality.
And owners who genuinely want to lower the cost can begin with the person in the mirror.
Skip the private box one year. Use the tickets that come with the horse. Buy ordinary parking. Walk a little farther. Sit beside the fans whose admission dollars help keep the gates open. Remember what it feels like to attend a horse show instead of holding court at one.
You might discover that the Celebration remains affordable when you stop demanding that it celebrate you.
The Tennessee Walking Horse does not need a box seat.
He does not need a parking permit, a catered meal or a golf cart.
He needs a stall, an entry, proper care and a fair chance in the ring.
Maybe it is time we stopped confusing the cost of showing the horse with the cost of spoiling his owner.
About the Author
