When I trained horses as an all-knowing 20-year-old in the late 1970s, I knew I had to do something to persuade owners to give me a chance. So, while established trainers were charging $15 a day (and some of the top guys had the nerve to charge $18), I charged $12 and typically owned at least a quarter of every horse. I was working alone and while I had to pay the occasional race day paddock ($20), I got by. When the barn expanded and I had to hire a groom or two, they got paid cash under the table. There was no Workman's Compensation insurance or taxes to deal with. It was the norm at the time and I am pretty sure the statute of limitations has run out.  Other expenses included the veterinarian, the tack shop and the farrier. I would get billed directly and I would then bill fair shares out to the owners.  I have been comparing notes with several trainers from around the country to see where things stand today. To say the least, times have changed.  The trainers I talked to have day rates between $40 and $75. For some that's a bare bones price, for others a lot of extras are included. I currently have horses with five trainers and their day rates range from $55 to $75, so there is a great deal of variation. One thing I learned, in 40-year hindsight, about that special $12 deal I offered, I probably shouldn't have. "I'll have owners ask if I'll give them a deal," veteran trainer Ray Schnittker told me. "I won't. I'll put them in touch with someone who will, but if they need the deal, they should probably look at getting a better horse." (My barn consisted of $2,500-$4,000 claimers, so...)  Schnittker, who has trained at the Goshen Historic Track for nearly 30 years, charges a day rate of $75 daily. This includes feed, paying caretakers and training. Stall rent is $400 monthly, which includes bedding (not included in the day rate). He recently increased his day rate by $5.00, the first increase in 15 years.  "Everything is getting more expensive. All of my employees are on the books and I have to pay FICA and Workman's Comp, which adds about 13% to my payroll costs," he explains. "A one bedroom apartment around here can run $1,600 a month! Ryan Miller used to work for me and he moved out to Ohio, training at Greenville ten years ago or so. He was able to buy a threebedroom ranch house for $110,000. At Greenville there was a huge argument when stall rent went from $30 a month to $60 a month. Losing on-track stabling with grooms quarters cost us all a lot."  On the other side of New York, Ryan Swift plies her trade at Batavia Downs and Buffalo Raceway, aka the Western New York circuit. She says, "Day rate is $55 a day for anything 4 years old and up; babies are $60 a day - they require more time. Everything else is extra. I'm stabled at the track so no stall rent. Everything is so expensive. Feed is $30 a bag, we are paying $8 a bag for shavings, $9.50 for a bale of hay - it's crazy. As a trainer, where we make our money honestly is in our five percent (standard trainer's share of purse earnings). I have a horse at Saratoga with another trainer and I am paying a $3,000 flat fee for everything but the vet."  Meanwhile, Northfield Park is one of the tracks that does offer on-track stabling and also grooms' quarters, though Calvin Hollar's stable doesn't need the housing. He charges $40 a day, unless the horse is also using the water treadmill, in which case it is $55 daily. That includes feed, care, daily work, bedding and miscellaneous accessories. Hollar raised his rate $5 a day two years ago because it was becoming a struggle to make ends meet. How does he train for just more than half the cost of Schnittker?   "The biggest reason we can keep costs down is that (wife) Amy and I do all of the work. We don't have any full-time employees. We hire race paddock help and we have a regular Sunday stall cleaner so we get a day off. Sometimes we will hire someone for stalls when Amy can't be there in the morning. That's why we keep our head count at ten or below," Hollar explains. "That works out to about 5 hours a day, plus racing at night. That gives me a chance to golf in the afternoon and Amy to take her nap," he jokes.  ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter In southern Ohio, Nate Alexander stables at the Urbana Fairgrounds and charges $60 a day. The Maine native explains, "My rate had to go up $20 in the last two years because the cost of everything has gone up. That $60 includes hay, grain, bedding and daily care, along with basic supplies like low-end supplements, vet wrap, tape, liniments. That's the lowest price I can possibly charge to ensure all the bills and employees are paid.  And I have to make sure my family can live on what's left."  Also worth noting the Workman's Comp rate in Ohio is about one-third what it is in New York, saving the Buckeye State's trainers about $50 a month per employee.  Stall rent at Urbana is a reasonable $75 monthly. By contrast, at a training center like Winner's Circle, near Scioto Downs, stall rent is $380 monthly. At Northfield, the Hollars are paying $110 per stall, so while not directly related to the day rate, those numbers can be all over the board and add to the cost.  Meanwhile, in the thriving Metropolis of Sandstone, Minnesota, Dan Roland charges a flat monthly rate of $1,750 which includes everything but special vet work. He raised that rate from $1,500 two years ago. He trains at his own farm, although he does have some stalls at Running Aces most years. And, full disclosure, I own two horses in partnership with him.  Roland says, "I track actual expenses and try to average out those costs across all the horses, plus factoring in my time and the number of staff I have." Roland not only trains (currently 18 head) but has seven broodmares on the farm. He or his wife Jeri own a piece of nearly everything they train.  Perhaps the most interesting non-day rate, line-item to me was shipping expense, which is another big cost of horse ownership. The big four expenses are day rate, stall rent, shipping and veterinarian. Roland's farm is just an hour from Running Aces and his rate includes shipping. Schnittker charges between $300-$700 to ship depending on the track, and it is a flat rate regardless of how many horses are being hauled.  "If I ship just one, I lose money, if I ship several I make some money. It all averages out," He says. He also points out that in New York, you are paying tolls on nearly every ship. That is not the case in Ohio or Minnesota.  Alexander echoes that statement, saying, "We lose money taking one or two, but make money if we ship three or five, so everything averages out. It's just easier for billing that way." Alexander charges $100 per horse to ship to the three southern Ohio tracks, and $200 to Northfield.  The Hollars also charge a flat rate, between $100-$250, depending on destination. This is unlike several of my trainers who pro-rate shipping. For instance, one horse may be $150, but two will be $125 each and four might be $100 each.  Nearly all of these trainers have veterinarians and farriers bill their clients directly these days.  They will also adjust the daily price if a horse is turned out (with that charge being $15-$23 a day). Training centers like Winner's Circle offer grassy turnout paddocks, which trainers pay to use. Schnittker has a farm three miles from the race track where he can turn horses out, but there is still a cost involved.  I was surprised that they all charge the same rate whether an owner has one horse, two horses or eighteen. This is a factor that seems to dispute the idea that the "little guy" can't make it in this business. I was also surprised that some trainers did not want to share their numbers.  Secondly, most of these trainers charge the same day rate whether it's a stakes horse, a two-year-old in training or an old warhorse who may just jog a few days a week. Slow horses tend to eat just as much as fast ones. The most surprising thing to me was that training fees have no particular relation to purses. Some trainers at The Meadows charge more than some in Ohio, even though purses there are lower. Some in New York charge more than others, despite racing at the same venues. Granted, the trainer does make that 5% of earnings and Schnittker, like Swift, told me that is where the profit is, not in the day rate. And of course for trainers who retain an ownership share, the potential is better. Day rates are set to cover costs and make just enough to get by. It is the success of the horses that determines earnings.    That's it for this time. Now go cash. Hopefully enough to cover that day rate.