Given that one is dealing with a commodity that attempts to commit suicide on a daily basis it’s amazing any of them make it to top levels.
Signed, starting over for the fourth time. . . Sigh.
18 Likes
@punchy Even buying a ready made UL horse still often takes time and shows to establish the partnership that is needed for the top level of Eventing. It may be 12 months or more, even if the riders share a common system. Horses have their own opinions and views which need to be heard and considered by the human.
1 Like
That’s what the riders with consistent strings seem to do. For example, Boyd, Phillip, etc. always seem to have a few at the 1 and 2 star levels that either move up or move along.
1 Like
I agree he was so nice. What a great day!
As to why he and a handful of others get so many I think owners don’t care how the team as a whole does. I think they care about their horse being marketed now, not every 4 years.
4 Likes
Maybe the other riders aren’t making their program/ personality attractive enough?
1000% and I don’t want to fault the owners of the male riders at all. I don’t think it’s wise or even feasible to say that we should pull those owners from those riders, but the key is to bring new owners into the sport rather than recycle what we already have.
While one owner may enjoy being wined and dined and attend parties, another may enjoy being part of the process and want to help with a bucket of ice in the vet box. (Not that another may want both). Rider A may be able to provide the former and Rider B the latter. As a rider, I think you have to recognize where those skills and capabilities lie if the method of funding is to be from horse ownership, or there are organizations like EHOA in the UK which help subsidize that skill for riders.
I say this as someone trying to syndicate their own horse and doing so currently with interest but unsuccess. It’s been a good learn process and self-reflection at what I can provide and who would enjoy that service.
3 Likes
my own tiny thought about this, (flame suit on,) is maybe take a marketing class or two. Look, I do not know anything about sponsorships, but Boyd has a ton of natural advantages. He is phenominally talented, his accent is intriguing, he is super good looking, he is funny, self depreciating, and from what I hear, a terrific guy. And never forget luck.
Maybe some of the women need to figure out how to market themselves.
7 Likes
If you look at EHOA on line it is a membership organisation for people who own events horses. The best thing is it provides a hospitality area at many Events where one can sit down, watch a screen, have a cuppa and meet fellow owners. It does have a “syndication brokerage” section online where riders seek syndicate owners and potential owners can see what might be available. In the context of this discussion, that brokerage role might be useful e.g. on the USEA web page (if not already there).
2 Likes
To be fair, he did what he was purchased for. He came 9th at the London Olympics with Karen O’Connor. After her accident, he had 2 qualifying scores at Intermediate FEI with Marilyn Little before he came 4th at Pau with Phillip Dutton in 2013. Yes, he missed 2016, and then went on to 4th at Kentucky with Phillip in 2017 before moving onto Phillip’s daughter for Young Riders. That horse campaigned at Advanced FEI for 9 out of 10 years from ages 8 to 18. Successful with a total of 5 riders at FEI levels. What a horse!
17 Likes
The number of 5* riders within in the UK is pretty incredible
2 Likes
See I think this is the wrong model. My jump trainer who events up to 4* asked me if I wanted to participate in a syndicate of her horses. I told her no because I think it is a bad model to be invested in something so fragile. I told her if I was inclined and had the money to throw away, I would invest in her. I told her, if I was a rider I would form an LLC around myself and solicit investors. I would be considered a part owner of every horse she had. It has the benefit that if a horse doesn’t work out or gets a career ending injury, I’m not out my money and I still get to play. In a way it is similar to the microshares you can buy in racehorses.
The other parallel is investing in start-ups. I was talking to a venture capitalist one day and he told that they bet on the person, not so much the idea. So I would want to bet on the person and not the horse.
10 Likes
maybe take a marketing class or two
100% agree. I think a lot of riders lack an appreciation for the unique business models they are trying to run and just don’t have the business and marketing savvy to properly communicate their value proposition. What are you selling and why should someone buy in? That’s a question I’ve casually asked a few upper level riders when syndication comes up and have been surprised how many of them stare blankly back at me.
Most default to talking about adding to the value of the horse, which they do. But if that’s your pitch, your presenting value as return on investment which inevitably means selling the horse at a profit. That’s actually not the strategy upper level riders are pursuing and a big reason why they struggle to find long-term owners.
What they’re selling is a social endeavor - they’re in the hospitality business when it comes to recruiting owners, not the asset management business. It’s a completely different sell and a completely different value equation.
The riders who do this well have figured out that what they’re selling is more akin to a country club membership, meaning owners are here to spend, not make money. But that does require much more (and different!) work beyond just riding their horse for them and sending them video clips and bills. They have to make those owners feel intertwined in the journey and pitch the incredibly unique experiences that said owner will access - it isn’t something you can just purchase on Ticket Master.
The ones that do this best not only understand what they’re selling, they’re also great a tailoring that experience to each individual owner. Most riders completely miss this or don’t have the people/business skills to execute.
20 Likes
This may not be on point, but it is similar. I recently met with a girl, she is about 25 or so. She is a missionary, has been in Africa for 5 years. She is looking for sponsors, and I had decided to try to give her a tiny amount of money. But when I asked her to tell me about working in Africa, she couldn’t say anything except that she taught school. She had no clue how to sell herself, and I decided not to contribute to her.
2 Likes
This is SUCH a good post. It should be required reading for every aspiring rider looking for owners.
I feel for riders, because so many of them want to ride horses, not manage a boarding barn, or run a country club, or teach lessons to kids, or spend half of their day doing accounting, or head up an operations department for an acreage. But that is the job. If you want to ride horses, you want to be an amateur. If you want to be a professional, all of those additional things become “other duties as assigned” for you as well.
I do think this is clearly the reason why the best riders are not necessarily our most successful professionals. Back in the day when USEF had a training center and owned the best horses and assigned them to their riders as they saw fit, the best riders were the ones out there competing at the top. Now, the ones competing at the top are the best riders slash marketers slash general managers slash cruise ship directors, because that’s how you end up with the resources to do it. Somewhere along the line, we made that choice for the sport.
18 Likes
The event riders might take a lesson from My Race Horse. Lot’s of work, but they are really good at it.
2 Likes
You’ve just articulated why I don’t “get” syndication on sport horses. Unless the horse is a breeding prospect (and with horses, who ever really knows if that will pan out), where is the return on investment? I have never understood why anyone would want ownership in a horse that they never ride, but I guess that’s because I don’t have that kind of “throw away” money. If what they really get out of it is the social aspect, I agree with a previous poster that the investment should really be in the rider, not the horse.
5 Likes
I don’t understand it either but some people really just like horses but don’t want to ride. They have the extra money and want to have a horse they can have some kind of relationship with. I’m sure it’s rewarding for them emotionally.
I don’t understand fantasy sports either but people love those and they don’t play either.
2 Likes
When I worked for tech companies, the sales people tended to get enamored with all the tech. I was at a meeting with a big client and after the sales people finished their pitch, he wrote WIFM on the board.
WIFM - what’s in it for me (the client)? That’s the question that you have to think about when you are selling anything to a client.
So to follow on to the discussion. If you were a rider and were trying to pitch me on joining a horse syndicate or sponsoring you (the rider), what would you’re pitch be?
3 Likes
I have a person I would sponsor in a heart beat, and maybe this is what we need to convince her to do.
We’ve tried to own with her, but horses are a crapshoot. The rider and human though- is someone i want the best in the world for, and think that there are so many people who would. So I am really curious about how we could make this work
2 Likes
But race horses are treated in a far more disposable manner because it is all about the money. I was part of a syndicate for an elite eventer and only stopped when the horse retired. I personally believe that you need to be in it for the experience and the love of it all, if you truly want the horse’s welfare to be the priority. It just doesn’t pencil out otherwise.
1 Like
