30th anniversary 2012: How things have changed 1982–2012

Costs and charges

There is no record of the entry fees for the first National Capital ride in 1982, but in 1985 entry fees for the main ride were $25 adult and $20 junior, with a $5 late fee. By 1987 the late fee had been dropped and the adult entry fee increased to $35 (the junior fee remained at $20).

For the 50 km encouragement ride in 1982, entry fees were $10 and $5; by 1986 they had increased to $12 and $6. By comparison the current National Capital entry fees – $90 and $70 for the main ride, $50 for the training ride and $30 for the social ride – represent a fairly modest real increase over a period of more than 25 years.

Though the cost of running the rides has always been substantial, the allocation of costs has changed. For example, in the 1980s the head vet's fee for officiating at one of our rides was a bottle of good double-malt Scotch. Affiliation fees have increased substantially – from $2 per rider for endurance rides and $1 per rider for training rides in 1986 to $28 and $15 in 2012 – but on the other hand, we no longer need to arrange our own insurance for our rides as we did in the beginning.

By Melanie O'Flynn

Acknowledgements | Ride base | The course | The ride date | Riding times, entries and completion rates | The vets | The horses | Equipment | The buckle | Riding rules | Training and social rides | Costs and charges | Technology and communication | Some things have not changed | Photo gallery of past 30 years

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