Author Archives: Britt

How I Got Here

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From a young age I was encouraged to pursue my love of horses by my late grandfather. I spent my early childhood learning the basics of western pleasure and trail riding. When I was nine years old, I climbed onto a lesson horse I had never ridden before, picked up the reins and the horse reared and flipped over on me. For the next two years I watched people ride through my neighborhood, simultaneously jealous of them and terrified to get back on. On a cautious whim I asked my mom if she could find out if the barn those riders were coming from offered riding lessons.

That barn was Blackwood Farms, a top level training facility run by the internationally successful eventing and dressage trainer Melissa Beardsley. When I began riding lessons there in April of 2003, Melissa had just returned from a double clear run through the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event. I began my lesson with her assistant trainer and Ric, an older black and white leopard appaloosa gelding who was the most magically colored horse I had ever seen. I think I was shaking from when I started brushing Ric to the moment I swung my leg over the saddle. By the end of the ride I had completely fallen in love with that cranky old horse and my fears were gone.

I rode with Melissa for the next nine years, and had the additional privilege of learning from world-renowned trainers like eventers Derek di Grazia, John Camlin and Kristen Bachman, and Melissa’s late sister, dressage trainer Kim von Hopffgarten. I learned the basics of eventing and the elegant peacefulness of dressage. I had my share of successes and mistakes, I learned how to be humble and how to be a good student, and little by little, I became a good rider.

While each component of my history as an equestrian isn’t unique, the combination of experiences I’ve had make me a great teacher and trainer. I empathize with riders who’ve had bad falls and had trouble getting back on. I focus on creating a space where riders feel confident, and safe to make mistakes and ask questions. Above all, I strive to create the safest riding environment possible to ensure that time in the saddle is always the best hour of any rider’s day.

-Britt Nelson

T-post Trauma

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I see a lot of people who use T-post fencing for their horses, and I get it. They’re cheap, and easy to install, and, in theory, they’re not that dangerous. If you cap the posts they’re really not that dangerous, right? Even if they’re capped, T-posts have always made me nervous. Too many people I know have answered the question, “How did your horse get that scar?” with, “Oh, he impaled/stabbed/harpooned/gouged himself on a T-post.”

Even horses that walk away (or, more likely, limp away) from T-post related injuries with relatively little damage done still usually need some combination of Tetanus boosters, antibiotics, stitches, stall rest and rehabilitation care.

The horse pictured above was playing with another horse over the fence, and while bucking he kicked the cap off of a T-post, then landed on it. I will repeat, this injury came from a capped T-post. There was actually a chunk of horseflesh on the post. Yuck, and ouch. Luckily, this horse was caught and treated within minutes of injuring himself. He is recovering and doing as well as can be expected.

I’ll keep this post short and end with this statement: Please don’t use T-posts. Even if you cap them, they’re not safe.

Summer Riding Camps, Part Two

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This week we’ll look at unmounted activities to keep your campers active and engaged during their week of camp. I want to start out by recommending that you break up each day of camp into two parts, and spend half of the day riding, and half of the day on unmounted activities. Depending on the number of campers you have, you can have the campers split into two groups and have one group ride before lunch and one group ride after lunch. If you do this, make sure to alternate which group rides first every day.

Appropriateness of the unmounted activities depends on the age and size of your campers. These activities are appropriate for younger or smaller children:

Coloring Pages: Horse or farm themed coloring pages are a great way to keep kids busy at the beginning of the day while they’re waiting for all of the campers to arrive, or while they’re waiting to be picked up. You can find a lot of free downloads online.

Group Grooming: A great way to teach campers how to groom is to groom a big gentle horse as a group on your first day.

Feeding: I like to have campers help feed their horses hay or grain. Flakes of hay can be too heavy and awkward for small hands, but scooping grain is usually a big hit. Most kids love to help take care of their horse or pony. Just make sure to not feed directly after riding or when the horses are hot and sweaty.

Filling Water Buckets: Scrubbing and filling water buckets and troughs is a great activity for hot days.

Bathing a Horse: This is also great for hot days, and bubbles and suds are always fun!

For older or bigger campers, you could also use some of the following activities:

Stall or Paddock Cleaning: This is a great thing to teach kids how to do, and to teach the importance of. Most campers are probably dreaming of having their own horse one day and they need to know how important this is, and how often they need to do it.

Tack Cleaning: This takes a certain amount of patience for the campers, so it may not be appropriate for all. But anything involving sponges and water is a great way to cool off on hot days. I follow up tack cleaning with a “sponge fight” in the arena. I get a bunch of cheap tack sponges and a few buckets of water. I break the campers up into two teams, draw a line down the middle of the arena, and the campers try to throw the sponges across the line to get the other team wet, it’s very similar to dodgeball and it’s very popular.

Watching a Farrier: Depending on how fast your farrier is, you may want to have the kids watch trims and not shoeing. Pick a well-behaved horse or pony to have the farrier demonstrate on, and encourage the kids to ask questions. Similarly, some people have a veterinarian demonstrate vaccinations or teeth floating. While vaccinations or other minor procedures may be a good option, I’ve found teeth floating to be too scary for young children. One or more camper often ends up scared by the sedated horse and the power tools.

Collages: I ask around for old horse magazines or catalogs to use for this. The kids can cut out pictures and make stall signs, or decorate paper bags or folders for their other crafts.

Summer Riding Camps, Part One

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Camp season is just around the corner, and while riding camps can be a great way to make extra money for your business, they’re often stressful and exhausting. The best way to have your camp go smoothly is to be very prepared. Planning your schedule and all of your activities out in advance will make your work easier and make your time as a camp counselor much less chaotic. Over the next few weeks, we will look at how to prepare for your camps to make sure they run as smoothly as possible, and what different types of activities you can use during camps to keep your campers safe and entertained.

Preparing for Camp

Early in the year, set out which weeks of the summer you’ll be hosting camp and make that information readily available to anyone who visits your website, your Facebook page and your facility. You can make your work even easier by signing up for an online booking service where parents and guardians can register for camp weeks or months ahead of time. Determine what skill level and age of campers you are accepting for each week. If you can, splitting up your camps in to different groups based on age or ability level will allow you to keep all campers engaged at all times. Set a limit to the number of campers you can host in each week, which will depend on your staff and any volunteers you have.

On your camp forms, get permission from parents on your camp forms to use any pictures you take of the campers on your Facebook page. You will also want to make sure there is a place on your sign-up forms for parents to list all allergies and health conditions of any of your campers. It’s a good idea to let the parents of all campers know about any allergens so they can avoid packing them in lunches. I like to send out an email the week before camp starts to remind everyone of what to bring and ask parents to not include any allergens in their kid’s lunches. I also like to include a place on the sign up forms for parents to explain any learning disabilities their child might have, if they feel comfortable doing so. It can be really helpful to understand if a camper has ADD, ADHD, dyslexia or any other learning disabilities when you’re teaching them.

Be very clear when your camp starts on your sign-up forms and on your website. Decide beforehand if you are willing to take campers earlier than your scheduled start time. If you are willing to take campers early, put limits on how early, and charge the campers more for the additional time. Set clear drop-off and pick up times, and have a simple activity to entertain children while they are waiting for other campers of their parents (coloring pages work well for this).

Before your week of camp starts, gather all supplies you need for the entire week of camp. Don’t wait until Tuesday night to get the craft supplies for Wednesday, there’s a good chance you’ll be exhausted from running around with campers all day and you won’t want to make a trip to the store.

And finally, just before your week of camp starts (for me this is usually Sunday afternoon) tidy up your barn and put away anything that you wouldn’t want a child to get their hands on.

What to Bring to Your First Riding Lesson

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Outfitting yourself or your child for riding lessons can be a daunting task; equipment can be expensive and you might not know what’s necessary and what’s not. Here’s my list of the essentials, and why they’re so important.

 

Helmet: Most instructors are fine if you bring a bike helmet for your first lessons, just make sure it fits correctly

Boots with a heel: The heel is important, it keeps your foot from sliding forward through the stirrup. If you ride in a western saddle your boots should pull off, not lace or zip up. Western stirrups don’t break away or pull off the saddle, so if you fall off you’ll need your boot to pull off your foot so you don’t get dragged. English stirrups can pull off the saddle, and some instructors even use “safety stirrups” (see photo at top of post) that can break apart, so it’s okay to wear lace up or zip up boots.

Gloves: Yes, even in the summer! Reins can quickly rub sore spots and blisters on hands, especially if the lesson horse or pony tries to pull for grass. Gloves make a big difference in the comfort of the rider, especially for children.

Long pants: Long pants prevent pinching or rubbing from the saddle. Cotton leggings are a great, affordable option. they don’t add bulk or rub. FYI, riding tights are basically leggings with grippy knee patches. And no grippy knee patches means the rider has to balance better on her own. Even if you’re 6 year-old is a girly-girl, please encourage her to wear pants or leggings, even if she insists on wearing a skirt over the top.

Extras: A water bottle and sunscreen are both a good idea. You might want to bring treats for your pony, but before you do ask your instructor if you can and what treats they allow. Don’t be surprised if the instructor says no—a lot of people don’t like rewarding their horses with food, it can make them mouthy and more likely to bite.

 

Finally, expect that you will get dirty. Even the nicest facility will have dust and manure. Don’t bring anything to the barn that you can’t get stained.

 

How Do You Find the Right Instructor?

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Finding the right riding instructor is extremely important, and deceptively difficult. Whether you’re looking for yourself or your child, keeping these thoughts in mind will help you find the best instructor to meet your needs.

Explain your goals

Every good riding instructor has a specialty or a specific approach. It could be a certain discipline (dressage), it could be a philosophy (natural horsemanship), and it could even be something like rider fitness. Your instructor’s skill set should align with your goals, and your instructor should have a specific plan of how to help you reach your goals. This sounds simple but it’s all to often overlooked.

You will also need to pick an instructor who has already accomplished what you hope to learn from them. Unfortunately, a lot of instructors are willing to train students to do things they have never done themselves. Don’t be afraid to ask about an instructor’s background, professional training or qualifications.

Explain your experience

Don’t just tell them you are a “beginner” or “very experienced”. To me, a beginner is someone who has never sat on a horse, or has only walked. To a Grand Prix dressage instructor, a beginner might be someone who has just started her lateral work. A good description of your experience could be, “I rode in a 4H program through high school but haven’t sat on a horse in 10 years” or “My daughter has loved pony rides at the fair but has never had a riding lesson” or “I have a 15 year old quarter horse in my backyard. We love going on trail rides, and I’m interested in furthering our skills and maybe going to a few open pleasure shows.”

Make sure to also tell your potential instructor what kind of things you aren’t confident about or capable of doing at (handling hot horses or buckers, can’t remember how to put on a bridle, etc.)

Explain any limitations you have

It can be very helpful if you explain to your instructor any physical or mental limitations you have, if you have any and you feel comfortable doing so.

For example, I’m dyslexic, and left/right is really hard for me. My trainer always uses inside/outside instead of left/right. She will also say things like “turn towards the parking lot” instead of “turn left”. I didn’t realize how necessary this was for me until I took some lessons from another instructor who always used left/right instead of inside/outside. As a teacher, it is also extremely valuable for me to know if a student has Attention Deficit Disorder. I take a slightly different approach to keep students with ADD focused and safe.

And a reminder–you will never be physically fit enough to be a good rider riding in one or two lessons a week, You will need to take your physical fitness seriously if you want to make progress and more importantly, stay safe. The Riding Doctor by Beth Glosten is a great book that explains how you can use Pilates to improve your stability and effectiveness in the saddle.

What Ms. Topping Learned: Writing Off All Your Horse Expenses

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Editor’s note: This article is a guest post from the CPA, Stephen L. Nelson, I interviewed for an earlier blog post this month.

So, if you happened to check out the last blog post about when and how one can write off the expenses of a horse on your tax return, you probably weren’t surprised to learn that while you can sometimes write off the costs of owning a horse—and save tons of taxes–hobby expenses usually can’t be written off.

Given these twin realities, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that over the years horse owners have repeatedly tried to take deductions, regularly been challenged by the Internal Revenue Service, and frequently ending up losing the argument in court.

Background about Horse-related Tax Savings Gambits

For example, at least one attorney has tried to write off the expenses for playing polo including all the costs of owning and caring for his polo ponies.

More than a few physicians or their families have tried to write off the costs of breeding and raising horses.

And countless numbers of folk have tried to call a small stable a “business” so as to take as deductions the costs of owning one or more horses.

As a general rule, in the majority of these cases, taxpayers lose the argument.

And summing up the situation simply: If horses or a stable produces only tax deductions or business losses, the activity can’t save taxes because you don’t have a business or investment. You only have a hobby you’d like for tax reasons to call a business or a hobby.

Tracy Topping’s Terrific Tax Planning Tactic

Given the above realities, the United States Tax Court case of Tracy Topping surprised pretty much everyone.

In a nutshell, Ms. Topping devised a business plan to leverage her equestrian skills, horse experience and a 16-year-old horse to design barns and homes. Her approach? She combined both the activity of owning a horse with the activity of designing barns and houses.

Per her business plan, the combination created synergy. Yes, on paper, a narrow analysis might make the horse ownership look only like a hobby. And an expensive one, as you might guess.

But her argument was the combination made good business sense. Owning a horse and then regularly participating in equestrian events and horse shows worked as a powerful platform for marketing her design business.
The judge agreed.

The tax court, for example, made this comment about her operation:

Petitioner’s business methodology consists of entering in and attending horse shows, and making contacts with prospective clients at the shows. Potential clients develop from horse show contacts, and then petitioner and Ms. Martin meet with the potential client. Early on in her business, petitioner tried to develop clients through her longtime experience playing golf. When golf failed to produce any clients, she dropped her golf club membership.

Drawing Lessons from the Court Case

You should read the court case and discuss it with your tax advisor if you want to use the logic of the Topping versus the IRS Commissioner court case. But let me point out a handful of factors you may want to pay particular attention to.

1. Ms. Topping had a formal business plan that rationally explained why combining her equestrian activities and her design activities made sense. (This was key.)
2. The two activities occurred inside the same business entity—in Ms. Topping’s enterprise, for example, both activities occurred inside a limited liability company she had formed in 1999. (This was probably essential to the gambit working.)
3. In combination, the horse activity and the design activity produced a profit most years. For example, while the “horse” business might lose $50,000 in a given year if the “design” business made $200,000 for the same year, the consolidated operation would then show a net profit of $150,000.
4. Ms. Topping and her advisors presented a compelling and believable business argument for why they were using horse shows and other events as their marketing approach. (That the judge believed Ms. Topping argument indicates he thought her argument was credible and good.)

Final Caution

A closing caution if you’re a horse owner interested in applying the lessons of the Topping tax court case: You do need to be very careful here. In many cases, you would want outside professional help from a local CPA or tax attorney in order to get the gambit to work right.

About the Guest Post Author: Stephen L. Nelson is a CPA in Redmond WA. The author of QuickBooks for Dummies, he holds a Master of Science in Taxation degree from Golden Gate University, a Master in Business Administration degree from University of Washington, and a Bachelor of Science in accounting from Central Washington University.

Lessons for Beginners

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A child’s first riding lessons can be repetitive, boring, and completely exhausting for the teacher. Once you get into the arena it’s easy to run out of ideas of what to do. Here are some of my go-to lesson plans for complete beginners:

To build confidence: Follow the leader

Most lesson ponies want to follow you anyways, so you can take advantage of this. I do this without stirrups to make this a balance exercise as well. I ask the rider to halt and walk on so she has to use her voice aids or gentle leg aids to get the pony moving again. I usually let the rider have really long reins and she “steers” without pulling on the pony’s mouth too much. I then make the rider keep the pony between me and the wall of the arena, and we walk around the arena with frequent halts.

To increase balance: Longe lessons

You can do this with or without stirrups, but know you will make more progress without stirrups. Make sure to pick a horse or pony that you have longed several times before, and you know well. The student may hold onto the horn or pommel with her outside hand to start, and her inside hand either loosely holding the reins or at her thigh. Once the student is comfortable on the longe line, ask her to hold her arms above her head, out to her sides (airplane arms), reach forward and tough the mane without moving her legs, lean back without moving her legs, twist her upper body from right to left, and anything else you can think of. The longe line is also a great place for students to learn the posting trot.

To develop skills: Obstacle course

Have the student steer their horse or pony between cones, over poles, between barrels, grab an item off one barrel and drop it on another barrel, etc. Obstacle courses are a great option for group lessons, too, and as an activity during a summer camp.

Hobby Horses: Rules for Deducting Horse Expenses

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Probably every horse owner spends time during tax season looking at their horse expenses and wondering whether any can be turned into tax deductions.

Accordingly, I thought, given the time of year, that I’d ask a tax CPA about all this. What follows is my interview—an interview that happens to be with my father, the managing member of local CPA firm in Redmond, WA.

Are Horse Expenses Ever Deductible on a Tax Return?

Yes, they may be—and in a couple of circumstances.

First, if your equestrian activities constitute a business, you can deduct any of your ordinary and necessary horse expenses as business expenses. If you’re a horse trainer and you own and use a horse to provide lessons, for example, you can probably depreciate that horse and deduct all of your horse-related expenses as business deductions.

Second, if your equestrian activities don’t constitute a business but rather amount to a hobby,  you may be able to deduct any hobby expenses to the extent you have hobby income.

For example, if you  earn $1,000 from training or in some contest or for boarding a friend’s horse,  you may be able to deduct up to a $1,000 of horse expenses as hobby expenses.

Unfortunately, deducting hobby expenses is tricky. Hobby expenses are deductible only if you itemize your deductions (and most people don’t) and only to the extent your hobby expenses and other miscellaneous itemized deductions exceed two percent of your adjusted gross income.

Furthermore, I should say you need to handle hobby deductions in specific way. You first need to deduct mortgage interest, property taxes and casualty losses. Then second you deduct any other operating expenses such as feed and veterinary care. And last of all, you would deduct depreciation on things like fencing, stables or an arena.

Can Someone Self-Prepare a Return with Horse Income and Deductions?

Sure, I think so. Most people should be able to use a product like TurboTax or TaxCut to do their return. And there’s little reason not to try this approach first.

 

To self-prepare a return, you just need to take your time and carefully follow the software’s instructions. By the way, I would strongly recommend using a tax software program. Don’t try to do this by hand.

And one final general observation about equestrian taxpayer tax returns: Do-it-yourself tax preparation should  present little problem if your finances are fairly simple and you’re pretty organized.

How Does a Horse Hobby Become a Horse Business?

Because business losses are so easy to deduct and can shelter other income (including wages you or a spouse earns), the Internal Revenue Service is suspicious of any business that includes elements of personal  pleasure, leisure or recreation.

Given this reality, anything having to do with horses is suspect.

Basically what you want to look at if you’re trying to decide whether your horse activities constitute a business or a hobby is the way you conduct the activity.

You want to consider, for example, the time, effort and expertise you or your advisors deploy. You also want to be able to convincingly argue that you pursue the activity in order to make money either in the short or long run.

Two examples probably highlight the extremes on the continuum here.

You can’t run up $10,000 of horse-related expenses for your 11-year-old daughter and convincing argue that you or your daughter horse ownership has a profit motive. Your daughter probably only spends a small portion of her time and effort on the “business” of having a horse. Her expertise—even if substantial for a pre-teen—is quite honestly limited.

However, an experienced trainer who spends 30-40 hours a week caring for horses and giving lessons? Who conducts this operation in a business-like manner? Who honestly hopes to make a profit at some point? Making a case that this activity is a business should be easy.

One other thing to note: The IRS presumes that any horse-related activity which produces a profit in at least two years in a consecutive seven-year period is a business and not a hobby.

Any Other Tax Tips You Can Provide Horse Owners?

Yes. I always recommend any taxpayer or business owner keep clean, organized accounting records. That’ll minimize the chances you’ll lose deductions or miss write-offs. Furthermore, good accounting records would tend to reflect that an activity is being conducted in pursuit of profits.

Finally, if you are taking position that your horse activities are a business, be consistently business-like: Have a business plan. Have a business license if required. Consider using a real accounting system like QuickBooks. Oh and one other thing. Do document the stuff you do to improve the profitability of your operation.