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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 456
 
Location: SW MO | WrapN3MN - 2018-12-20 11:30 AM
As a 2D-3D sometimes even 4D barrel racer. . .
I do this for fun, I don't do it to make a living on it or expect for my winnings to make my expenses a wash. I completely understand the concept of paying a higher entry fee to win more money - completely get it. I cannot afford to run 2-3 horses for more than what I am already paying ($25-$75/run typically). If I had a 1D horse, I'd risk the $200-$500+ all day long. But I don't, so right now I am just having fun and working on making myself and my horses better than we were the last run we made.
I don't have the fancy therapies (BOT, PHT, Game Ready). I have a simple, "cheap" feeding program. So there really isn't other expenses for me to cut to put more money in my pocket for the higher entry fees.
At a NBHA we had offered a 3D slot race, $100 entry fee and 100% payback. We had to cancel it because only 2 people signed up.
We just had something like this in my area. There was going to be a slot race in conjunction with a weekend race that usually pulls 300+ entries per day. They canceled the slot race because they couldn't get the entries.
There is a 5D series about 2 hours from me with 2500 added per weekend and they have been struggling to get 100 entries. 80% pay back. $35 EF and $15 processing fee per weekend.
Edited by Mzbradford 2018-12-21 8:39 AM
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| I basically look at it like gambling. I don't bet what I can't afford to loose... and I can't afford to loose much. So we go where I can have fun and win a few dollars back.
We had a series the past couple of years in our area where they did 1 weekend a month with some pretty good added money. We generally go to our NBHA district shows and a few local rodeos but last year we skipped many of those and focused more on the series shows. What a mistake that was! It cost us a butt load of money because of the higher fees and we didn't win a dime.
What we noticed was it was the SAME barrel race every time. The same 1D horses ran the same times which made the same 2, 3, 4 & 5 D horses place every weekend. Over the course of the summer their numbers dropped because a lot people realized after the first few shows, its the same so why keep going if your horses doesn't hit in the money. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1515
 
Location: Illinois | FLITASTIC - 2018-12-20 9:37 AM
JLazyT_perf_horses - 2018-12-19 2:22 PM
Most I've paid was $275, but you got 3 runs for that. I think your answer about higher fees/higher payback will depend on the division people fall in. A 1/2D rider will probably happily pay higher, the 1D in my area tends at a regular weekend race tends to have 5-6 people, 2D will have double/triple that, and then the other 50 horses in the back fight for the last 2 divisions. We pay a $25-30 fee even if it's $100 added, most times 1st in the 4D doesn't even cover your entry/office fees for the day. You're basically going for the fun of it at that point. Last time I won the 4D at a $500 added race I still came out upside down on my day. If I had a better shot to win, like the 1/2D horses I'd probably pay more, but I think a lot of the back of the pack might be deterred by higher fees. We had a local place start charging $10 jumpout fee, plus $5 office fee for day riders per horses and boy the number of people that pull in for the day went drastically down. And that place is where we have some of the biggest payouts of the whole NBHA season. I live 20 miles away and just started stalling for the weekend because it was cheaper to stay
Thats crazy!! Last hole in 4D is supposed to get your fees back.
When I said 1st in the 4D doesn't get your entry/fees back for the day I meant all my entries for the day, not just for the one class. I usually run 2 classes, after I pay the $15 fee just to step my horse off the trailer I'm already $70-80 into it and it's generally $100-150 added at most races. They pay 5-6 in each division, doesn't leave a lot of room for payout. And not all are NBHA, so when it's not NBHA they can divide it up however they want to and its usually 40%,30%20%10% respectfully to the divisions. I used to go to some awesome ones from a producer that went under, but they were $10,000 added and $65 entry, plus $10 office. I drove up to 5 hours to go to those. Friday & Sunday were always $2,500 added for $45 entry. Stalls were like $60 for the weekend. I thought people would flock to those and have 250+ entries, but the last one I went to was only just over 100 entries & the producer just couldn't keep it up with those numbers. It was sad to see it flop like that. I got 5th in the 4D on the $2,500 added sunday and still got over $200 check. Almost paid for my weekend. I don't remember what the bigger day paid out, but it was sweet.
For $1500 entry fee I wouldn't even be able to afford to go, no matter the payout. If I had a 1D horse that was wining everywhere I went maybe, but otherwise count me out |
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 Own It and Move On
Location: The edge of no where | OhMax - 2018-12-20 2:18 PM abrooks - 2018-12-20 2:03 PM This has been an interesting topic on FB.. I would pay the higher entry fee for the chance at some crazy money. I do not like going to a local race with 75% payback $100 added and you can't even pay for your trip. That's not fun to me. I love barrel racing and I love competition and seeing friends and the whole atmosphere (99% of the time). I missed so many local races b/c my goal was to go to every Lucky Dog race in 2018. I don't regret my decision and I'm going back to them next year. I did win decent checks at some bigger added money local races but I've gotten pretty picky about where I spend my money. Team Ropers do it ALL THE TIME. I've asked the question on FB and I think the guys were scared to answer. How much of the mentality difference between the "typical" team roper and barrel racer has to do with the hard wired differences in women and men? Not trying to get flamed but I know I have more of the roll the dice attitude compared to a lot of my girl friends. Not a bad thing just different. I saw that post. I think it has to do with the differences in the 2 sports. Team roping you are able to number ropers based on their skill level. My husband is a #6 header and I am a #2 heeler, so we can go enter the #8 ropings and not worry about roping again open rodeo winning teams (most of the time, everyone gets lucky once or twice before their #’s get bumped up ). He can turn around and pick up a different higher numbered heeler and go rope in the #10 or #11. He actually quit going to most official numbered ropings because if he got bumped up much higher it WASNT going to be worth it to him to go and pay high fees anymore because he’d have to take such a lower numbered partner because most ropings around here are 10’s or 11’s. So we go to a lot of open jackpots/drawpots. We’d like to get back into it more since I’m starting to rope more - but justifying the hefty fees when I’m still inexperienced is what’s stopping us, and knowing it wouldn’t take long before he got bumped up in number again and I lose my partner until I feel like I can compete in the #10. We have other older retired friends who go to Arizona every winter and have complained to USTRC about the same thing - they get their numbers bumped up and that limits the people they can rope with and ropings they can enter. Folks who go south and spend $15-$20k/winter in entry fee’s. I can’t take a solid 3D horse and only go run him against solid 3D horses. Then I can’t get on my 2D horse and only go run against the 2d horses. And we’ve all seen a solid 3D horse make a run of a lifetime and place in the 1D, or a 1D horse have an off day and make a 4D run. Many organizations try to do some different things such as youth, novice, amateur, non-pro, etc. it’s just hard in a sport where the right arena, right ground, and right day can make all the difference. Heck, most nights at the NFR could have been a 2D.
Edited by MS2011 2018-12-21 1:51 PM
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 pressure dripper
Posts: 8696
Location: the end of the rainbow | Percentage of payback and added money determine how much I'm willing to gamble on any given weekend. And I have to admit the number can be very arbitrary depending on how far it is from home, who the producer is and whether or not I like the arena.
I'm also a fair weather barrel racer these days so I don't care much for pre entries since how dedicated I am to getting my horses ridden depends on the weather, my work schedule and how lazy I'm feeling.
Goodness I am spoiled.
Edited by willrodeo4food 2018-12-31 8:28 AM
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Expert
Posts: 1477
Location: In the land of peanuts and cotton | The most I’ve ever paid was $250 and that was for NBHA world. Even our 3 day shows around usually are $175-$200. Most open shows are $35 but no higher than $50. I realize this is cheap but unless it was for a benefit or something of that nature I won’t pay more than that. There’s been a push here lately for $100 entry fees for one run. I can’t and won’t pay that for just one run. I know that makes the payout much better but I’m not willing to risk that much on one run. I can understand those with 1D and 2D horses paying it but I’m not one of those. I can’t afford to make that big of a gamble. It’s not because I’m scared of hitting a barrel cause I’ve hit 2 on my horse in 4 years of owning him. He’s super consistent but not lucky. Usually falls in the cracks.
ETA: there’s a local, right down the road from my house run once a month. I refuse to go. It’s literally maybe 4 miles away but the entry fee is $35 with zero added and 75% pay back and very few(less than 25) entries. I won 2nd in 4D and got like $18. I’m not going knowing I can’t even win my entry fee back. That’s just throwing my money away in my opinion. I’m not against a once a month fun run type but not for a $35 entry fee. MAYBE $20 especially when the arena is free to use.
Edited by TessBelle 2018-12-22 9:51 PM
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 The Bling Princess
Posts: 3411
Location: North Dakota | Whiteboy - 2018-12-20 9:18 AM
What would you expect for a $1,500 entry fee?
Are you referring to the Xtreme 5D Barrel Race? $1500 entry fee at the qualifying level? I can tell you I would not pay that unless I was a 1D rider/1D consistent horse no matter where I took him. Too much for this middle class barrel racer, even with a million payout. I can run an entire season on a little more than $1500 for entry fees alone. Too much of a “single” gamble for me. |
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Gettin Jiggy Wit It
Posts: 2734
| Whiteboy - 2018-12-20 11:15 AM
I'm just curious about all this. I've never understood why barrel racers will drive 200 miles to win $500. That isn't even worth most peoples time. Pay a real entry fee and win some real money.
because most barrel races even small are 200 miles away.... |
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12704
| My closest races are 3+ hours one way. I knew this when I chose to get back into barrel racing in 2001. That's what lead to my BHW name! There are some barrel racers in Northern VA DC area - but they are few and far between.
I did the futurity thing in 2009 with high entry fees. The mare even won almost her entry fees back, minus Ft. Smith. But man was that some cold cold shows and long long drives!
Unless I move I will face those longer drives. In 2019 and moving forward I am shifting to larger shows since I'd rather drive 5-6 hours and hit some decent checks than run my horses in all these small shows with questionable ground. Then again, I may put a lot more into entries and stalls and come away with fewer $$'s than attending the district shows. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1395
Location: Missouri | willrodeo4food - 2018-12-21 7:35 PM
Percentage of payback and added money determine how much I'm willing to gamble on any given weekend. And I have to admit the number can be very arbitrary depending on how far it is from home, who the producer is and whether or not I like the arena.
I'm also a fair weather barrel racer these days so I do t care much for pre entries since how dedicated I am to getting my horses ridden depends on the weather, my work schedule and how lazy I'm feeling.
Goodness I am spoiled.
I'm with you on pre-entries. Mostly because it seems when I plan ahead, something always comes up with my kids or husband. So I tend to fly by the seat of my pants and just go when I can. I haven't even joined any of the local associations in years bc I don't want to be irked at myself at the end of the year for wasting money on a membership fee if I didn't make enough shows to make finals. |
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Regular
Posts: 97
| I can't afford a $1500 entry fee no matter the pay out since I'm not a 1D rider. I don't have to travel more than an hour from home and most are within 30-45 minutes of me year round. Entry fees are cheap and I can go to as many races as my horse and I can handle in a week. |
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