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Re: [RC] buying prospects - heidiSome of this discussion has gone beyond the "average" rider. I don't know many people that can afford $10k for a "prospect", I suppose if I could afford it my shopping venues would change. But if I have to choose between my "budget" horses and competing, I am going to have to go with the horses. I got into endurance because I thought it was a sport I could afford to do with my horse, unlike so many others. I am glad to see that it is as varied a sport as I hoped. Jena, what you say about the sport is true. And if you have plenty of "elbow grease" and a good eye, you can certainly go enjoy the sport on a budget. I also fully understand the being broke part--I still remember my years of bumming around in a geriatric half-ton Ford pulling an old beat-up Miley 2-horse bumper pull, with a little camper shell on the truck and a foam pad inside for my sleeping bag, and a Coleman stove, and a lantern, and a cooler. My horse WAS the most expensive part of that old outfit--I started endurance on my foundation stallion, who I got for $1000 only because his former owner was a good friend of mine and wanted me to have him--and was going off to college and couldn't keep him. I bought him on a contract and paid him off when I sold his first filly. That said--while one still sees rigs like that in ride camps, they are no longer the average. I now have a '97 Powerstroke that I bought used last year, and my ratty old LQ trailer (rusty top, homemade interior) I paid $4000 for--and I'm one of the "Okie" outfits in camp! It might be interesting sometime to do a survey of the average ride camp and find out the makes and models and years of the trucks and trailers... I'd bet my '97 is considerably older than the average. When one sees $50,000 t0 $80,000 (or more!) tied up in truck and trailer, and the folks are quibbling over the price of a horse that is still down in the mid-four-figures range, one does have to wonder what it is all about... Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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