money going out out out

[Todd & Toni Jones <tjones@coinet.com>]

A recent article in a regional
magazine was about "horse
collecting" and were you afflicted
with this illness. One way to keep
expenses hidden from a non horsey
spouse was to "hide" the
expenditures under headings such as
"groceries"  or "fuel" or
"miscellaneous"... never title a
column "horse expenses".  One of the
ways to decide if you were afflicted
with horse collecting disease was if
you looked out into the pasture and
saw horses you didn't recognize or
couldn't remember the names of.

Another great trick that really got
me laughing was the story of a gal
who had a small acreage and was able
to hide the fact from her husband
that she owned 4 horses. She just
made sure they were all nondescript
grey ones with long, hard to
pronounce arab names and rotated 2
at all times with a neighboring
horse person. He never saw more than
2 at a time and so never thought to
ask how many she actually owned. :)

In my own experience, while
campaigning in endurance is
certainly costly compared to just
trail riding for free, it's still a
lot cheaper than traveling to shows
for dressage, 3-day eventing or
hunter/jumper. Everybody's situation
is different and each person has to
decide what they want out of the
sport and what the budget will
allow. The initial purchases are
usually the inexpensive part (not
counting trucks/trailers), it's the
ongoing expenses that most people
fail to consider. In my case, the
horse lives at home so no board
bill, the truck is almost old enough
to vote, same for the trailer, I
spent lots and lots for the horse,
splurged for biothane halter/bridle,
and use an older OF saddle meant for
reining. Hey, it's comfortable...
even if the horn is a nuisance!

Anyway, it depends on "where your
heart" is as to what you will spend
your money on and how much, and how
deep into it you will go.

Just my input,

Toni Jones & Shagya O'Biwon
Central Oregon



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