Yes, there is “a sucker born every minute”. I never liked the circus.
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Reading @AskMyAccountant.17’s posts makes me think that a social media influencer isn’t that different from an amateur who owns a tack store. Both are probably going to get free or discounted stuff, especially if you consider the tax write off aspect of the tack store owner. I have a veterinarian friend who wrote off their horse showing expenses as advertising.
Hence my earlier Kardashian reference.
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I am not very familiar with them but for the attorney that was one of Simpson’s defense.
In the good ol’ days of this very BB, there were a few participants who by merit of clever writing, personal magnetism or other device always seemed to start the most followed and posted on threads. Those were the “influencers” of their time.
Today, many such people manage to gain huge followings and as such, they reach huge readership. Most are more relatable than the celebrity or superstar participant in a given sport. The soccer mom who posts about the travails of finding the right cleats for her tween daughter is more relatable than Mia Hamm. Average readers have had the same experience on the footwear floor at Dick’s and on the sidelines at a game.
That Mom who can convince you to try a certain pair of cleats, or the rider who can get you to try their favorite horse shampoo are being compensated for their marketing skills. You might call them pro marketers or but it doesn’t make them pro in either soccer or equestrian pursuits.
I work for a tack store and many vendors allow us to purchase goods direct from them at big discounts. They figure that tack store employees are “trendsetters” and can “influence” sales by being seen wearing or using their products. Some offer merchandise or even cash incentives for sales. Does acting on these programs make me a pro?
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To me, the only person in that family who was famous for a good reason is the Olympic gold medalist. Other than that, I don’t understand it. And I couldn’t identify any of them on sight. But somehow they have become household names. In some households, anyway.
I didn’t know that the Kardashian family included an Olympic gold medalist. 
Caitlyn Jenner by marriage?
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I am aware that the former Decathlon Gold Medalist who is a now a lady has the last name of Jenner. I don’t understand the connection to the Kardashians?
I suppose I could google and find out all about the Kardashians and every other social media “influencer”, however I’ve gone this long without caring and, especially under the present circumstances, I just don’t have the energy to bother with social media “influencers”.
For all I know the Kardashians could be nice people but I don’t know them, and they aren’t important to me as far as solving the serious issues I am concerned with. There is plenty of important reading to be done at this point in time, and any leisure reading goes to books or COTH horsey reading.
I apologize for the derail.
It’s not overly complicated. Just Google Khardashian+Olympian. You probably don’t even have to get terribly close to the correct spelling.
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Thank you, it’s not that I am unable to Google, but that I really don’t care and have no desire to know, just as I have no desire to Google professional wrestling.
I was sorry to see that the Olympic athlete that I saw on TV when I was a kid was so unhappy and I hope that Jenner is now happy. It must have been a very difficult life and hopefully it is easier now.
I figure that if someone is curious enough to ask they are curious enough to want to know 
.
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Understood. I just really don’t care enough to look it up.
Again, sorry for the bizarre derail.
The dressage shows I go to all offer the chance to pay a nominal additional fee if you want the score to count for qualification for Regionals - it’s not another class fee, I gather it just covers the additional administrative work involved. As I recall, it’s around $10. No separate ribbons or anything like that, and once you have your two scores for the year you are qualified.
There are some pros who have gone down the road of being good marketers. Beezie is one. Her farm puts out informative YouTube videos. And sometimes they talk about the feed or supplements they prefer and things like that. Some huge influencers have also been successful outside of social media (The Rock has had a varied career in different areas and has hundreds of millions of followers on social media). But think about the average horse pro who is good enough at the horse thing to get sponsorships. Many of them don’t have time for social media, aren’t good at it, or don’t care because they are horse trainers. Many of them aren’t good at marketing for themselves. A
Lot of the time because they don’t have to be to get business. But that means for that particular sponsorship, how many people do they reach and influence from the brand’s perspective? Maybe some if it’s helmets or tack and they get their photo in a big publication one month. But still not as much as if they were posting on Instagram every day.
Also think about those pros that change brands regularly. They are making deals for themselves and/or following what the USET mandates per their deals of the year more than telling the average rider that the product is superior. The amateur who can provide an unbiased review winds up being more valuable to everyone than just saying the USET will be wearing Hermès.
I think the USHJA did ultimately decide that it was analogous to the tack shop owner or brand owner (you can be an amateur promoting a company you own) and so the proposal was scrapped.
