Feedbag inflation

Lake County's horse country feeling increase in feed costs

Last year around this time, horse trainer Scott Golladay, 53, was paying about $250 for a wagonload of grain for the horses that he boards at his stables in Newport Township. Recently the farmer who sells the grain told Golladay, "You better sit down when I tell you what it's going to be," Golladay said.

It now costs about $400, or 60 percent more, to fill the same container. The cost of oats is up about 30 percent. Fortunately, the price of hay, the main staple of horses, has remained steady in northern Illinois, although downstate prices have been twice as high because of last year's drought.

Golladay expects the price on this year's hay crop to increase because of higher fuel costs and farmers switching to grains while prices are up.

"If a guy says I can make X number of dollars growing corn instead of growing hay, he's going to grow corn," Golladay said.

He buys his feed and hay directly from farmers to save money.

Trish Jaffe of Evanston boards and rides her horse in Lake County several times a week. She said the cost of a 50-pound bag of feed has gone up 38 percent for her 19-year-old Trakehner horse named Ellure.

"He's an older horse, so he's on a special feed," she said. "It went up $5."

Despite the increase, Jaffe plans to continue riding and competing in horse shows.

"I started 10 years ago and got addicted to it," she said.

Illinois is home to about 77,000 horse owners and 213,000 horses, according to Horsemen's Council of Illinois President Frank Bowman.

"Fuel is up. Grain is up. Hay is up. The cost of doing business is up," he said. "I don't anticipate them coming down this summer."

Hay prices went up from about $4 to $5 a bale last year to $8 to $10 a bale in southern Illinois, said Bowman, who lives in Pleasant Plains. Hay prices in northern Illinois have stayed at about $5.50 a bale from local feed dealers, or as low as $2.50 a bale if you buy directly from farmers.

"Hay is the basic foodstuff. You can always cut back on grain," Bowman said.

Lake County has one of the highest concentrations of horses in the state with more than 40 stables of various sizes.

"This is some of the last little country left in northeastern Illinois," Golladay said.

Scott Golladay Stables boards about 80 to 100 horses and trains both horses and riders on a 550-acre farm, of which 140 acres are devoted to horse operations. The rest of the land is leased for farming.

Golladay started working at the stable in 1985 to train Arabian and half-Arabian show horses imported from Egypt, which are bred on the farm. A filly was just born a few weeks ago.

"Arabian is one of the oldest breeds of horse," Golladay said. "They're high-spirited and intelligent and, in my opinion, the most beautiful of all the breeds."

The stable opened up for public boarding in 1995 and today boards many different breeds. The horses forage in the pasture behind the stables during the day.

Golladay gives about 30 lessons a week for riders 5 to 70 years old, he said. He teaches English, western and driving styles, from novices to competitors.

He was also one of the horsemen who assisted the horses involved in a trailer crash in October on Route 41. That crash led to the death of 18 horses.

Golladay grew up in Delavan, Wis., and got his first pony when he was six years old. In college he started training horses and has maintained his love for the animals.

"With everything that has changed with computers and the Internet, the connection with horses has been there for centuries," he said. "It's been there forever and it will stay there forever."

Lindsey Ramsak of Bristol, Wis., boards four horses at the stable. She was introduced to the sport through her two daughters who started riding 10 years ago.

"90 percent of horse enjoyment is what happens off the saddle," Ramsak said. "Our mare produced some babies which was a great learning experience."

Ramsak also keeps her own blog about horses and rides with her daughters on the weekends.

"As a family, it's a wonderful, wholesome activity you can do together," she said. "I have teen girls who would rather hang out in the barn in the mud than go to the mall."