Re: [RC] 1000 mile horses-dime a dozen? miles per dollar or dollarsper mile? - Truman Prevatt
Ed,
The cost of the horse is inconsequential. You get a horse for 500
bucks and then you get tired of riding in your backyard so you need a
trailer - get a used bumper pull WW for 1100. That works for awhile but
then you notice the saddle doesn't fit so you get a new one say 500
bucks. You're happy for awhile and then you discover endurance riding
and go to your first ride. You find out the saddle doesn't fit and get
start looking and get a used Wintec (those felxible trees fit everthing
you know) for 250. Then you decide you have to have a trailer with at
least a dressing room for you stuff if you are going to go to endurance
rides - especially if it rains.
Find a nice used one for 3500, sell the WW and then discover the old
International Scout doesn't have a long enough wheel base to be stable
with the bigger trailer - yep new truck. You find a good used F250 for
11,000. BTW the wintec didn't fit either so you give up go to DeSoto
Custom Saddlery and get one made that does if another 600 bucks. Now
you determine that sleeping on the ground and knowing you could be in
the path of a stamped at an endurance ride starts to enter your mine -
yep small living quarter is in the offing. You are tired of rust so AL
is the only way to go. You head up to LBarA and have him build you one
- 15,000.
Fast forward today where you've gone though the LBarA into a Sundowner
and of course a diesel one ton to pull it, a second custom saddle -
after 600 miles of competition the first custom saddle no longer fit -
a different horse and the whole saddle process all over. Then of course
that doesn't even count getting more land so the guys could have a
bigger space to live on and more grass. Nor does any of this count hay
and feed.
Yep the horse is surely the cheap part. If I had not have discovered
endurance I'd be retired by now.
As to your question. The mare cost 500 bucks ( she was too hot for
anyone to handle so I said what the hell I like hot females ;-) ) and I
had about 1800 miles on her when I retired her to breed. The Jbird cost
1000 (another bargin because of "personality" ) and he has 1750 and is
still going strong.
So if your don't figure in the real cost it's about 25 to 50 cents a
mile. If you figure in the total cost it's probably close to a hundred
dollars a mile ;-).
Yep the horse is the cheap part.
Truman
Ed Kilpatrick wrote:
this might be a fun thing to do. just for starters, use the
price that you paid for your horse, the miles ridden on that horse, and
come up with a cost per mile. :-) lets dont even count cost of tack,
equipment, upkeep, etc., etc., because that could get real crazy! and
remember, i said just for fun! truman, i can almost smell the
sawdust burning! :-) i paid $100 for my horse, and he has 510
endurance miles. ed
-- We imitate our masters only because we are not yet masters
ourselves,
and only
We
imitate our masters
only because we are not yet masters ourselves, and only
because
in doing so we
learn the truth about what cannot be imitated.
