A Case for the Little Guy

Why the smaller Reiners need to have their voice heard 

September 11, 2019

Today as I was going to pick my son up from school I was excited to receive the notification from Apple Podcasts that there was a new episode of Andrea Fappani's Along For The Ride podcast, this episode with Bob Loomis. As always I instantly clicked play and looked forward to some great incites from two horsemen I admire and look up to. But as the conversation turned to purse money, and the structure and focus of events I quickly became disappointed. Andrea and Bob both made it very clear that they do not support adding money to the lower levels, they feel its more important to boost the purse to the winner because “$4000 extra to a lower level guy isn’t going to make much of a difference”. As the wife of that lower level guy Andrea, allow me to tell you why that $4000 will make or break my, and a lot of other people’s year, and why supporting the non pros and lower level professionals should be of paramount importance to the association and all event organizers, and most importantly to you, how that is the path to getting the futurity champion's check to $250,000.

I am the average reiner. I am female, I own my own facility, and my primary income is made from horses. I’m younger than the average age of 48.7, and my gross annual income is less than the average $100,000/year, but I live in the middle of reiner country in Pilot Point, TX and I find that I’m the pretty average trainers wife here and when we attend horse shows. My clients are the pretty typical client. They work a corporate job, earning around or a bit less that average gross income. They afford 1-2 horses and save up to attend shows so they keep an eye on the expenses. When Andrea said his clients have $100,000 into each horse they ride at the Futurity so a few thousand dollars in winnings didn’t make a difference I had to chuckle. His clients are definitely in a different tax bracket from mine. For my clients we put the pencil to paper before every horse show, we look at how the horse is doing, realistically how we think they can score and where that would put them in the standings, and thus where they could place and what they can expect to bring home if they do well. So when we work the numbers and try to explain to a client that even if their horse has a great day and wins the lower level, or places high, they’re still not going to cover all of the expenses to get to and be at the show I’m sure you can guess the result. That horse doesn’t get on the trailer to attend that show in the open classes. And eventually after a few shows like this the owner begins to wonder if this is really worth it and the horse goes off to do something else. That’s one less horse in my barn, less income for my family. So when I can tell a client that there’s a few more thousand in the lower level where their horse can be competitive, and if they do well they can expect to take home some money after expenses, even a little bit, guess what? That horse gets on the trailer, if they do well they or a friend who sees their success might come put another horse in training, that’s more horses getting on the trailer, and more entries adding to the pot at the show. Thats also me being able to say yes to dance lessons for our little girl, or soccer team for our son, or paying off medical bills or our mortgage. But why does my little 18 stall barn and 4 horse trailer going down the road matter Andrea? Why should you be concerned that an extra $4000 to my client making all the difference in the world on if they’re going to continue with this sport? Because me and my clients are the majority. A quick look back from 2015 to 2018 shows that Level 1 horses and riders made up 36-39% of the entries at the NRHA Futurity. Last year, when they took the cap off of the Level 1, 47.7% of the entries were in the Level 1. Thats nearly half. Now looking at the number of horses nominated each year as compared to the number who actually ride through the gate at the NRHA Futurity. That number is a little shocking. 323 horses ran through the gates at OKC last year, in 2015 when those foals were born and nominated 2,561 were given the opportunity to pay in and compete at the Futurity. Now I can not tell you the number that made payments but did not finish their payments or did not attend the futurity, but the number that ran through the gate was only 12.6% of those who could have. Let’s say more of the owners of those nominated horses see themselves having a chance to pick up a check. Because for many owners, even some earnings is enough to justify the costs to show your horse. So say 20% of nominated horses run through the gates. Thats nearly double the entries so now there’s going to be that much extra money going into the pot, 35% of which is allocated for the Level 4. Then thats double the number of horses, and therefor their people, at the show so more people spending money at vendors so more vendors want to attend. More attendance at the show also grabs the attention of sponsors who are more willing to sponsor to get their product or service in front of these additional people, so that’s even more money to put towards your prize money. And then seeing more people, and more prize money and the opportunity to have a shot at some of it even more people train their nominated horses up and attend. I think you can see where this is going. A rising tide raises all ships. So when you see me at the big meetings begging and pleading for attention and money to the lower levels, please know that it’s not to take money away from the upper level, it’s to help attract in more people to build the purses for everyone. We would all love to see the Futurity winner walk home with $250,000, we would just also like to go home with a bit of a check for our runs too. Because less than 2% of those 2,561 nominated horses will ever make it to be a Level 4 horse, and only 1 (or 2 occasionally) will win the Futurity. So can you really berate me for thinking that looking at the other 98% of horses and owners who are the majority could be the real key to raising your check that you take home? The cry of the little reiner isn’t to take money away from the bigger reiner, it’s that we’d like to be able to eek out a small living doing the sport that we love, and $4000 is the difference between paying a number of bills, and having to go look for a second job or sell some horses.