Status Quo

Hot, Humid, Sore
I did go swimming again and then for a ride on the Lazy River, but as far as doing much else...nope.  The knee is still a pain and will be until I get to my doctor.

Getting the barn chores done in the morning is more than enough for my knee and I didn't have much else to do except to to to the Township Council meeting at night.  Since I am running for office, I need to keep up on Township issues.  Not much going on there aside from the budget.  It's August and the Town still does not have a 2010 budget in place.  They have finally settled on one with a 5 cent tax increase, which means around $50 a year to the average homeowner.  While that may not seem like much, add up such increases over the last 20 years and it starts to add up.  Actually, my taxes have almost doubled since I took over the house.  I won't quote how much, since most of you would shudder, but suffice it to say, I could easily keep two more horses including feed, vet bills and shoeing for an entire year.  (That's shoeing at $150 a pop every 5-6 weeks)

Living in New Jersey is expensive.  Our new worry cropped up on Behind the Bit  the other day.  The Governor is planning on taking away State support of the racetracks.  I posted a rather long explanation of what the ramifications of this move would be for recreational horsemen in the State.  The horse is our State animal, but over-development has taken up acres and acres of farmland, both horse farms and crop lands.

If racing leaves the State and the race horse training./breeding farms go, tack and feed stores will be hard-pressed to stay open as a good percentage of their business comes from the racing industry.  As well, vets and farriers will be likely to go to places where there is more business, especially if a large part of their business is with the tracks.  According to the law of supply and demand, costs will then go up to the horsemen left in the State.  It's a worrisome scenario.

Politics are in play here.  The tracks could be rejuvenated with the addition of gaming machines such as slot machines, but that puts them in competition with the casinos in Atlantic City.  Instead of finding some kind of compromise government forces simply want the easy, "just deal with it" approach, and our Governor seems to prefer the "Just do it my way, " approach.

For all our horses, I hope there is a better way to solve some of the State's financial woes.