Prepping for the 2014 Show Season= Budgeting

Welcome to my blog! I will be documenting the adventures my spectacular Irish Draught, Flagmount's Trademark, takes in the sport of Dressage. There will be plenty about my struggles as a 25-year old Adult Amateur as well.

Budgeting for the Show Season

Although many Dressage Queens are currently enjoying the show season in Sunny West Palm Beach, Flagmount's Trademark (aka- Mark, the official BHB) and I have yet to start gearing up for our competitions this year. Add in a winter storm, and I suddenly have time to start writing on the blog I've been putting off for nearly a year!

I went over my horse budget last show season after showing at Regionals and the National Finals, so a show-cation to sunny Florida is not in the books this season. Instead, I've been working hard to fit a show schedule to this season's budget. At 25 with plenty of bills on my plate (including a high maintenance retired horse, HRH Blitz), it's a struggle to do all the horse stuff that I want to do. I'm still waiting for my Billionaire future husband to knock on my door and hand me a black card!

We're going to do our Second Level debut this season, along with doing a freestyle or two... once I get choreography nailed down and the music edited to fit. I'd like to get enough scores to compete for All-Breeds Awards at First and Second level, and also for freestyles at those same levels. That means we need to fit at least 20 classes into our show season since I already have 2 scores at First level from Regionals and Nationals. Assuming each show weekend is 2 days long and I don't try to completely exhaust the BHB, I'll have to prepare for 5 shows before Regionals. I also want to let Amber show off her progress with the BHB at least a couple shows, so that means we need to add a 6th show to our schedule. Adding in Regionals and Nationals, hopefully we will be going to 8 shows this season.

I love going to shows in the Atlanta area. It's the most budget-friendly for me too since I get to save on the trailering costs and hotel costs that I'd incur on long-distance showing. Three-day shows, like the August Tennessee one or even four-day shows like KDA Spring shows, are awesome and make it easier to get tons of rides in at one location.

So far, it looks like our first show will be the GDCTA show at Conyers in April. I love supporting my awesome GMO! Hopefully we can debut the First Level freestyle that's currently in the works. I can't wait to get the shaggy beast primped up for show season!