TTE ADVISORY BOARD: How the Pandemic is Impacting the Horse Industry & Catapulting Horse Tech
In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.
- Sun Tzu
April is typically a very busy start to the spring horse show season; however, we have been reminded of how quickly life can change, especially this year. With the turmoil and uncertainty the COVID-19 pandemic has created it is natural to question everything and look for signs of hope. This month I asked the TTE board their thoughts on the impact of the pandemic on the horse industry along with what we think will spur more growth and reliance on technology in the coming months and years.
1a. What effects will the COVID-19 pandemic have on the horse industry - what changes will be short-term and long-term? 1b. How can horse tech help in challenging times?
In the short term, this is so tough for a lot of small businesses, including horse businesses. For horse business owners to not be able to charge for lessons, or go to horse shows, or do any horse purchases or sales, is a massive financial cramp. For barn staff, the risk of contagion and injury is real - everyone wants to stay safe from this virus and no one wants to (fall off or get kicked, and..) get injured and have to go to a hospital right now, for any reason. For horse owners, it's very sad to not be able to visit their horses. For many, people's horses are equal in attachment as their dogs and even children, so having to isolate from them is emotionally terrible. But, all of these protective measures are necessary for individual and public safety. I hope everyone bands together, helps one another out, and that the crisis can move on to a less severe stage sooner than later, at which point business can resume as normal.
How can horse tech help? I can speak from experience with regard to barn management software like Stable Secretary. Stable Secretary has a team member feature which enables users to add stable managers, stable employees, and horse owners to their accounts. This feature has been particularly useful during this crisis. First of all, all barn staff can stay connected through our online software and mobile app without being near each other. That has always been a serious advantage when there was actual mileage between team members, but now it's proving to be very useful during this isolation period. Everyone can stay up to date on horse activity, notes, feeds, meds, etc. w/out being near each other. In addition, horse owners are able to login and see what their horses have been doing, which makes them happier. We have encouraged our users to add more photos to daily horse records or notes to help owners feel more connected to their Horses. So, people can stay on top of horse care and aware of all daily activity easily without actually being near each other.
How else can we help? We are offering a 50% discount to all of our users at this time to try to help them stay organized despite likely revenue loss.
- Kate, Stable Secretary
I think all of us have been experiencing horse barns being closed or very limited because of the virus along with horse shows being canceled. I think one of the fun things that has happened is that we have joined one of the Virtual Horse Shows on Facebook. You pay your entrance fee which is $20, practice and then record your video and upload. You get scored by professional judges along with competing with others around the world. There is prize money along with a lot of free jeans! One of the benefits is no horse hauling! Both my son and I have entered a few of the competitions and it has turned out to be a very positive experience and everyone is very helpful and supportive.
I can see from my horse management app; the usage is way up over the past month. Since more people are at home in their barns, a lot of horses are being added along with a lot journaling is taking place. I'm seeing a lot of people connecting through the app in the care and enjoyment of the horse.
- Patrick, Equestrian App
Equestrian events will get postponed and canceled. I feel bad for every competitor who was working hard towards a goal. Truly.
Mainstream industries (food, transportation, etc.) have enticed the amount of capital it takes to build great tech and do great things. I hope this economic reset will draw more focus to smaller industries.
Effects on the horse industry won’t be very different as the effects on all the industries. With the lockdowns and social distancing guidelines and the cancellation of shows, the horse industry will have a huge economic impact. Grooms, braiders, show staff depend on shows and they will see their income affected by the cancellations.
Technology will help during these times as it helps in any other industry, it helps to be in touch with people and to manage barns and important tasks even without being present. In some state’s lessons are prohibited due to lockdowns so why not give lessons through video and focusing on theory, go back to basics of horsemanship.
For a long time, the horse industry has lagged behind in new technologies, digitalization, data intelligence, and overall insights into horses. Normally, these evolutionary shifts develop over years or decades. Now they happen very fast. People are not only looking out for new products or tools that might be “nice to have” in normal times, but due to restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic, they are suddenly looking for tools that address a very difficult situation.
In the short term, that will (hopefully) mean that people open up more, become more aware of how new technologies can help, and also bond together to come away from the coronavirus pandemic stronger than before. In the long term, these cultural shifts will probably endure, and the evolution will continue, but on a different scale. Horse owners, trainers, stable owners, managers, veterinarians, etc. will have become more used to new technologies and probably appreciate the possibilities of things like telehealth, digitalization, and telemonitoring after the crisis.
Everyone wants to be able to get to their horses 24/7. This can be difficult even in regular times, but now it has become nearly impossible due to strict limitations around the globe to limit the further spread of COVID-19. Horse tech can help in so many ways to have insights into the well-being of horses even when we cannot be there.
To keep in line with everyone’s new parting sentiment here in Germany...stay healthy!
Short-term: The crisis situation that we are going through did first hit the stables, pony-clubs, dedicated equipment and services companies which were already in a critical financial situation. The impact is direct and enormous for all event organizers given the cancellation of all international and national competitions, horse racing. Without rapid help from governments, donations, the risk of seeing stables, pony clubs - closing is real.
Many ponies and horses will suffer from that situation also in terms of welfare as the risk of health problems related to a confined life is very high. The high-level sport horses will have to be kept in the work with the risk for some not to be at the same level physically and/or mentally in the future. Horse sales will also be affected. It’s a consequence loss for professional riders who will have to start in some case their training again and will have to cope without prize money.
Long-term: Some riders who have been forced to stop riding due to the coronavirus crisis and its financial impact may not start again once the crisis is over since the economic crisis will take much longer to overcome. This will have an impact on the recovery rate of the commercial activity of the different players.
Horse tech can help in challenging times by reducing operating costs -thanks to technology and digitalization- as well as the retail prices of equipment and services (e-shopping) will be essential for, on the one hand, being able to withstand a possible future crisis and, on the other hand, offering attractive prices to boost trade.
To reduce operating costs and be able to continue to manage its horses and installations independently as much as possible, all technologies allowing automation of recurring maintenance tasks (for horses or installations) will be essential.
Automatic food distributor, remote and automatic management of access to the meadows, digital management of the stables, remote horse welfare monitoring, mobile training application... all these kinds of solutions will be part of the equine world of tomorrow.
As with any major disruption like COVID-19, this will have a huge impact on the way we do business. But more importantly it is going to make us appreciate how we have always done business. In my niche of the industry, buying and selling horses, it is a huge change for multiple reasons but the inability to travel to look at horses is the most obvious one. I've seen huge tech innovations come out of this quarantine. In the stock horse world, an innovative trainer set up a "Virtual Horse Show" group, it has become insanely popular! They pick a class to highlight, give them the parameters of the class, including a "pattern" if necessary, there is an entry fee and set number of riders. The riders submit their videos in an allotted time frame. They have a specialty judge that reviews the submitted videos, the winners are named and they even have payouts from the entry money they collected. They allow all breeds and types to participate, it has been amazing to watch the horse community come together through technology in this way.
After seeing the popularity of this, a good friend of mine Heather Pelon of Horse Sale Videos, came to me with an idea to do virtual horse sales. We are in process of setting up our site to host Zoom conferences to participate in Virtual Horse Sales. Join the Facebook Group, Sales Paddock: Virtual Horses (we left off "Sales" to try and get around Facebook policies of not allowing animal sales), to become a part of this cool new way to see horses from afar! The idea is to "Go Live" with a horse, have buyers ask questions about the horse and request to see it do different aspects of its discipline. We'll create a "Watch Party" through the group or we can set you up to host a Zoom conference on a specific date through the Sales Paddock website which can also be posted across social media. We recommend planning the event out and doing a ton of social media about it before launching your Virtual Horse Sale. Sales Paddock is here to help! Clinics can be done this way as well! I would love to see some of our favorite trainers start using Zoom to set up a virtual clinic, or style it like the the virtual horse show. In the past there has been critique groups where people submit pictures or videos, but you can do a Zoom clinic with multiple riders and have a similar feel to a real clinic. We can help you navigate this as well.
I don't know if anyone can predict the long term effects this will have on the horse industry because we are just at the beginning of it all. If we come out of this in a relative short period of time, I think the effects will be minimal. If it lasts through the summer where we continue to not have shows, I only hope that some of the effects will be positive. On a macro level this gives us time to evaluate the industry as a whole and really disrupt the "business as usual" mentality and figure out what is really important to both professionals and amateurs to promote the success of the industry. On a micro level, one of things people are still able to do in some areas is to be outside with their animals, hopefully this revives the industry back to it's purity and the love of these wonderful creatures, make it simple again.