A horse already costs a fixed amount per month before you've ridden a single competition. Once you start competing, costs are added that look small per day but add up over a season. Below are the cost items a competition day involves, with realistic ranges, and how to estimate what an active season adds to your monthly budget.
The Cost Items at a Glance
A competition day consists of a few fixed costs and a few variable ones. The fixed ones recur every year, regardless of how often you compete; the variable ones scale with the number of starts and the distance to the competition.
| Item | Type | Typical amount |
|---|---|---|
| Start permit and start pass (KNHS, the Dutch equestrian federation) | Fixed, per year | roughly €30 per discipline, plus membership |
| Entry fee per class | Per start | €15–€40 per test or course |
| Transport (trailer or rental) | Per day | depreciation on your own trailer, or €80–€150 rental |
| Fuel and tolls | Per day | depends on distance |
| Parking / grounds fee | Per day | often €0–€15 |
| Food and drink | Per day | what you bring yourself or buy on-site |
| Unforeseen (repairs, first aid) | Varies | small, but budget for it |
The amounts differ by discipline, organizing club, and region. Use the table as a framework, and check the competition's schedule of classes (vraagprogramma) and knhs.nl for the exact, current rates.
Start Permit and Entry Fees
Before you can compete you need a start permit (official proof that you're allowed to compete), and your horse needs its own start pass per discipline for your combination (you and your horse together). These are annual costs that are separate from the number of competitions: budget roughly a few tens of euros per discipline per year, on top of your KNHS membership. If you ride in multiple disciplines, you pay per discipline. The exact rates and conditions are on knhs.nl; don't go by a figure you heard mentioned somewhere.
You pay the entry fee per class (a component of the competition for a specific level) that you ride. For a test (a set exercise you ride for the judge) or course (the jumping course you ride) in the entry-level classes, that's typically around €15 to €40. If you ride two classes in one day, you pay twice. Some competitions also charge a small administration or grounds fee on top. Entries are usually made online in advance; watch the closing date, since entering late can be more expensive or no longer possible.
Transport: The Biggest Variable Cost
How you get your horse to the competition largely determines what a day costs.
- Your own trailer. You don't pay per trip, but the trailer depreciates and costs maintenance, insurance, and inspection (keuring, the mandatory roadworthiness test). Converted, that's a fixed monthly amount you spread across your competitions. If you already have a trailer for other purposes, the extra cost per competition is mainly fuel.
- Renting a trailer or truck. Anyone without their own transport rents one or rides along with someone else. Trailer rental is often around €80 to €150 per day; riding along with a stablemate or in a shared truck can be cheaper, where you usually chip in for fuel.
- Towing vehicle and driving license. A trailer with a horse in it weighs a lot; check that your car is rated to tow that weight and that your driving license covers the combination. Driving an overweight combination is not only uninsured but also finable.
On top of that come fuel, any tolls, and parking. At a nearby competition, that's a few euros; a day on the other side of the country can easily cost a few tens of euros in fuel. Plan competitions nearby if you're keeping the budget tight.
The Small Costs That Add Up
Alongside the big items, there are costs that don't amount to much individually but add up over a day and a season:
- Food and drink for yourself — catering isn't generous everywhere, so bringing your own saves money.
- Parking or grounds fees, sometimes a deposit for a stall.
- Consumables: braiding bands, a new sponge, tape, a spare stirrup leather.
- Unforeseen repairs to tack or trailer.
What you shouldn't count as separate competition costs, but which does factor in: the extra lessons and training in the run-up to the season, and possibly broader insurance now that you're on the road more often. Those belong with your fixed monthly costs — see the guides on what horse riding costs and which insurance you need.
What This Adds Up to per Month
To determine what competing adds to your monthly budget, you calculate not per day but per season. Here's a worked example for a rider who competes roughly once every two weeks in their own region:
| Item | Assumption | Indication per year |
|---|---|---|
| Start permit + start pass | 1 discipline | a few tens of euros |
| Entry fees | ~20 competition days, 1–2 classes | a few hundred euros |
| Fuel | short trips | a few hundred euros |
| Other (parking, food, small items) | a few euros per day | up to a few hundred euros |
For a quiet season close to home, that puts you at roughly a low four-figure sum per year, or somewhere around a hundred euros or so per month on top of your fixed horse costs. If you compete more often, further away, or in multiple disciplines, that adds up quickly: an active competition year can soon run to €2,000 to €5,000 extra, in line with what the general cost guide states. It's the distance and the number of starts that make the difference, not the entry fee itself. The cost calculator works out a competition year like this using your own assumptions, on top of your fixed monthly costs.
How to Keep a Handle on the Costs
Competition costs are easy to steer once you make a few deliberate choices.
- Count your start permit and start pass as a fixed annual cost and divide that by your expected number of competition days — then you see what a day really costs.
- Choose competitions nearby if the budget is tight; transport and fuel are the biggest variable cost, not the entry fee.
- Share transport with stablemates if you don't have your own trailer; that saves on rental and fuel.
- Enter on time to avoid more expensive late entries, and check the closing date in the schedule.
- Keep track of one season budget instead of counting per day — that way you can see in advance whether the number of starts you want to ride actually fits.
Rates, entry fees, and KNHS amounts change from year to year and from competition to competition. Use this as a guideline to budget your season, and get the exact amounts from the competition's schedule and from knhs.nl before you enter.
See also: What horse riding costs · What to bring to the competition · Applying for a KNHS start permit · Terms you'll hear at a competition