Braiding at horse shows

[Mayhemrider369]

I’m wondering how trainers/customers feel about the current system of arranging for a Braider. It seems there are “Head” braiders that take on a lot of customers and then hire other braiders that work for them and send them to cover the clients. Is it disappointing to not have the Braider you thought you hired doing your horses? What do you find to be the pros and cons of this system?

Another question…
Obviously (and rightfully so) veteran braiders have a large share of the business but how best can someone newer (not brand new) break in to get their own customers. It seems no matter what, you’re “stealing” customers. How would you market yourself to customers without it coming off like poaching? Social media works for some but a lot of big trainers (bigger accounts) don’t use social media for arranging these types of services. The horse show world is small so it seems difficult to navigate without stepping on toes. The braiding network is even smaller. Every braider I’ve talked to accuses others of bad service, unreliability, stealing customers and then goes on and on about loyalty and having each others backs. Because of all the dynamics would customers and/or braiders be interested in some kind of website or app that braiders could be booked? I’ve also found trainers are not big on moving into more tech driven modalities. Most like it “old school”. Just curious on what the trainers/customers think.

[Pocket_Rocket]

Hope you’ll take this reply with a bit of humor as intended - but the braiding world seems like something of a hornet’s nest even by your own account:

@Mayhemrider369

Every braider I’ve talked to accuses others of bad service, unreliability, stealing customers and then goes on

and certainly from the FB page of one particular braider who makes appearances in these threads too - well, that’s a scary door to knock on!

[trubandloki]

@Mayhemrider369

I’m wondering how trainers/customers feel about the current system of arranging for a Braider. It seems there are “Head” braiders that take on a lot of customers and then hire other braiders that work for them and send them to cover the clients. Is it disappointing to not have the Braider you thought you hired doing your horses? What do you find to be the pros and cons of this system?

Another question…
Obviously (and rightfully so) veteran braiders have a large share of the business but how best can someone newer (not brand new) break in to get their own customers. It seems no matter what, you’re “stealing” customers. How would you market yourself to customers without it coming off like poaching? Social media works for some but a lot of big trainers (bigger accounts) don’t use social media for arranging these types of services. The horse show world is small so it seems difficult to navigate without stepping on toes. The braiding network is even smaller. Every braider I’ve talked to accuses others of bad service, unreliability, stealing customers and then goes on and on about loyalty and having each others backs. Because of all the dynamics would customers and/or braiders be interested in some kind of website or app that braiders could be booked? I’ve also found trainers are not big on moving into more tech driven modalities. Most like it “old school”. Just curious on what the trainers/customers think.

This answer is coming from someone who has not shown at a hunter show in years and when they did it was not the big week long things in Florida in the winter, so it is worth what you are paying for it.

I never dealt with the system where you hired what is basically a company and they send out whatever braider they have for that area.
We (the barn I trained with) had someone we always hired and contacted them before the shows to let them know we would need their services and they scheduled us in.
If she had too much work with her regular clients she would call in a helper. Everyone knew the helper too. They were very upfront about who was braiding your horse.

It is clear now that there is at least one professional braider I would never do business with, because she seems to like to stir up drama and make a scene about every little thing and then turn around and fire legal action at the drop of a hat.

I think if you want to braid professionally you simply have to make yourself available, let people know you are available and treat your clients well once you have them.
If you know/ride with a trainer why not ask if you can do some of their horses?

You can’t expect to start out with a full book of clients, but I think if you show you are dependable, not into drama, and do a great job all while communicating well, you will have no problem getting and keeping clients.

I think an app seems like a fun idea, but I am not sure how well it would work out, for the reasons you mentioned and because it would require the braiders to be willing to all use it too.

[HJdaydream]

@Mayhemrider369

Is it disappointing to not have the Braider you thought you hired doing your horses? What do you find to be the pros and cons of this system?

I show A/AA circuit hunters. I’ll take a stab at answers your questions.

Is it disappointing to not have the Braider you thought you hired doing your horses?
As someone who has their horse in a “full service” type program, I rarely make contact with the braider. IME, braiders are arranged for by the trainers. Most competitors couldn’t tell you the name of their braider, unless they know from writing the checks, or what they look like. Braiders typically come at night, so you rarely see them. I know what braider my barn uses because she also has her horse in our program (plus she’s done our horses for many years). From chatting with her I know that she sometimes has other braiders working with her, and I have never been able to tell a difference in my horse’s braids. So long answer short- no, I’m not disappointed if another braider does the braiding. I honestly can’t tell the difference.

What do you find to be the pros and cons of this system?
As I stated above, trainers are the ones hiring and arranging for braiding in most programs. I don’t think most competitors know much about the current braiding system.

[Railbird]

I think you are giving a little too much credence to some of the internet braider drama- IRL I don’t think I have known braiders to regularly speak poorly of other braiders. Generally you’ll have a contact and if they’re booked up or not going somewhere you are going, they’ll refer you to someone else. New people usually network with more established braiders who refer out new inquiries they don’t have room for in their books. Or in my case when I used to braid in my younger years, the rude horses they didn’t want to deal with. There’s a shortage of braiders versus horses needing braided.

I think a booking functionality/app would be a good idea for braiders to have available so that barns can update their lists real time, since usually the next days plan is happening for the barn at a time when the braider is asleep, bur I am not sure how much interest you will get. Horse pros tend to be resistant to tech and change.

[Foitin]

Agree with HJdaydream. I’m in a similar “full service” setup and the trainers have a couple great braiders they use. The trainers determine who gets what, how many tails are done, how many tied-in fake tails, etc. I know the braiders a little, but most riders don’t. They just pay the Venmo account the trainers text them at the end of the show or that they receive as a direct request from the braider. All the braiders I have used in the past 2 years have Venmo.

[MHM]

@Foitin

All the braiders I have used in the past 2 years have Venmo.

That is a much, much, much, much better system than waiting around on Sunday morning for the casual people to turn up and remember their checkbooks when the braider has already been there for 10-12 hours for the fifth day in a row.

[HMF]

I am really curious to see responses to this as well. I am rider who also braids… I do have a full time job so I am not looking to take on accounts, but I see all that happens within the industry and I can’t say that it’s a good thing.

As noted in the OP there are several braiders throughout the country who “hold” the accounts and hire a large team of braiders to cover the work. In some cases it works ok, but in many cases the quality and consistency of work suffers. I think in most cases trainers know this is happening and accept it as the way the industry works.

The issue that most trainers and riders are not aware of is the cost of this system to everyone involved. As braiding prices are going up in many of the above mentioned cases part of that is because you are now paying layers of people. That head braider is taking a cut on the work for simply organizing lists. The travel fee that the westcoast braiders charge rarely goes to the actual braider when work is passed on. On top of that there are braiders who hold back a portion the fee for each horse.

Long story short these days you are hiring a braiding service rather than an individual braider as it was in the past. There are pros and cons for sure, but I can’t see it changing anytime soon unfortunately.

[NaturallyHappy]

I’m curious…how much is braiding now?

[phoenixrises]

$125 ish for mane and tail. Pulling is extra but we usually make sure we’re good on that before they head to the show.

[NaturallyHappy]

Thank you… I thought it may have gone up significantly based upon the above.

[MHM]

I think the pandemic made things a little worse as well. It seems like there were some braiders who found new jobs when there was a pause on horse shows, and then once the shows started up again it seemed like there were places where fewer horses got braided for a while. By the time things picked back up, some of those braiders had moved on with their lives and found some other line of work.

So now there is even more of a braider shortage, and the braiding organizers who can find coverage have the chance to consolidate more accounts. It’s not a new arrangement, but it just seems like maybe it’s become more prevalent in the last few years.

[Mayhemrider369]

I’m just going off personal experience with speaking with several braiders. It’s a weird world to navigate.

[Mayhemrider369]

Hornets nest is exactly how I’d describe it lol.

[Mayhemrider369]

I hear so much about “Braider shortage” but it seems difficult to break into without having to deal with a lot of back biting and drama.

[MHM]

It probably depends a bit on where you are and who you know. Like most things.

[mvp]

Here is my experience from the “back seat,” but I am “in the car” with a braider based in Aiken, SC.

(I prep manes for her and any other braiders who are here at shows, plus any local who wants it in my Manes For Meows, one-person charity that donates all proceeds to a local cat sanctuary. I also used to groom and show as a poor college kid in yestercentury, so I got to see how braiding accounts worked then and a little bit now).

Now that H/J world has “industrialized,” everyone is a paid expert (no ammies braiding their one or kids doing their own day care), and trainers travel a lot, they hire braiders who take care of them. In the Facebook age, that means the braider is responsible for finding another braider for that trainer at any show she goes to. So if you get an account/become the braider for a pro here in Aiken who decides to take some horses to a show in Chicago, you had better get on the horn and find braiders up there to service those horses. That might be why it’s hard to hang out your shingle wherever you are and gather new business; pros aren’t looking.

I did have a horse braided at a show by someone (who has been exposed as sleazy in the horse-selling world and is also now persona non grata on one of the braiding FB pages) who did try to be something like a National Braiding Madam-- arranging to fly in braiders to help her at this little West Coast show. But! I’m not sure there that many braiders running huge, national brothels and monopolizing business everywhere. Rather, I think the main barrier to entry is that no one but an established braider is looking for more braiders.

But they are looking. I believe here really is a national shortage of braiders and the ones I work with would welcome a new set of skilled hands at the shows. I can ask how they come to hire new people and how those braiders eventually come to take on their own accounts. But know that there is more work out there than braiders can cope with. Also, there are a couple of braider FB pages (it sounds like you know this). If you put examples of your work and area up there, I’m sure someone will use you.

As far as how people feel about their horses braided by an unknown person? I don’t think the owners have a clue. I don’t think the trainers know or care too much so long as the horse looks good and is ready on time. Judging from how I get paid, it all really depends on how the main braider for the account sets it up. As often as not, the pro pays her braider and that braider pays whomever she hired. I’ll ask how this works. I don’t think my braider here is taking a cut of the work others do “for” her; but I do think they trade horse-to-be-braided back and forth depending on which show each one will be at.

PM me if you want, but I’ll also ask my braiders how this works.

ETA:

Oh, and I suspect that the drama queen mentioned obliquely above and whom I described as kicked off the main braider FB page is just one person who has posted here and got knickers twisted about the difference (or not) between a KWPN and a DHH (which is also a KWPN) horse.

Also, I think I recall my braider here staying that Gulfport is chronically underserved. So if you want to dig in and travel, let it be know that you will go to there.

[MHM]

@mvp

As far as how people feel about their horses braided by an unknown person? I don’t think the owners have a clue. I don’t think the trainers know or care too much so long as the horse looks good and is ready on time.

I think that is the case a lot of the time.

Many owners probably would not even know the person who braided their horse if they tripped and fell over them in line at the coffee shop in the morning. Mostly because the braider is finishing their work day and grabbing a cup of coffee for the drive home while the owner has just arrived to get ready to show when they are both standing in line next to each other for a caffeine jolt. They might never see each other in the barn at all.