HOPOTI: Powering the Next Generation of Riding Schools
Riding programs are the gatekeepers for future USEF members, leisure riders and even Olympic athletes. They perform best when they diversify their revenue streams from balancing lessons, boarding, events, and services to build stable, sustainable businesses. Hopoti Software is making this process smoother and more efficient by providing innovative technology that transforms the way equestrian centers manage and grow multiple revenue sources within one unified platform.
The Tech Equestrian had a chance to catch up with Juliette Silvain, parent company at CAVALL Group, and Joonas Mononen, Head of Operations at Hopoti, to get their insights on this groundbreaking service, which is now accessible worldwide.
A Wealth of Experience
Launched back in 2017, Hopoti was the brainchild of Ville Salonen who found it difficult to find and book a lesson for his daughter based on the fact that a majority of stables spend little to no time updating their websites (if they have one), return phone calls and provide minimum information on trainer background or lesson horse experience. Over time Hopoti worked in collaboration with the Finnish Equestrian Federation and attracted 200+ riding schools to adopt the platform – a testament to its ease of use and effectiveness. In 2019, the solution expanded by partnering with the Australian Pony Club which helped introduce a whole generation of young riders to an easy way to find and manage their lessons. By 2021, Hopoti was firmly established across UK & Ireland and by 2022 was starting to expand to the US market. This year the team is happy to announce they are available in 40+ countries supporting 240,000 registered students and managing global payments with well-known payment provider Stripe. They are also joining the CAVALL group to further grow within the US and scale for international growth.
“Saving time, building progress focused curriculums and being more rider-centric is a great way to sustain and grow a riding business.”
Creating an Ecosystem for a Seamless Digital Experience
“We started from the perspective of a parent trying to book the best possible experience for their child and became focused on helping equestrian business provide the highest level of service,” shared Joonas. Hopoti is dedicated to helping stable owners minimize administrative tasks and streamline payment management. Juliette added, “We have also played a key role in showing stable owners how to diversify their revenue streams through programs like camps, add-on services, clinics, and more.”
Top features of Hopoti:
Barn Owner; Trainer/Riding Instructor
· Fill your lesson program with easy bookings, reminders and payments
· Track waivers and invoices without the paperwork
· Manage your lesson horse’s health by tracking activities, care tasks and lesson workload
· Keep an accurate record of your staff chores and time
· 100% of bookings are paid online – no payment worries for missed lessons
Riding Student
· Search for stables and events by location
· Online riding diary – document your rides by trainer and horse
· Calendar program designed to share entries with horses, coaches and friends
· Synch data with popular sport watch brands, track your progress digitally
· Book additional lessons based on real-time availability
Horse Owner
· Add all your horse’s data to share with your trainer
· Monitor your shoeing’s, dental, vaccinations in one easy to track location
· Manage important health documents for transport and showing
Hopoti takes the guess work out of revenue projections for your business. Book a demo today!
“We offer a free trial for the business platform, allowing users to test features and we make it easy to sign up.”
Transparency Drives Improvement
270+ stables use Hopoti and one of the unique platform features is the ability to receive anonymous, and straightforward ratings from customers. Within two weeks from a lesson, clients can rate their lesson, horse and instructor separately, providing invaluable information for improving services. Ratings are not publicly available and are only collected from actual bookings. This ensures that riders give authentic and precise feedback, which can be used internally for the riding school to learn their strengths and areas for improvement.
Payment Model
“Our model is built on revenue share, which means we only succeed when our customers succeed. By aligning our model this way, we are fully focused on helping riding schools grow, attract more riders and deliver outstanding service.” Book a demo to view all of the features. Beyond the student portals, riders can sign up to Hopoti Plus to further track their progress and access discounts with virtual training content with a 30-day free trial for new subscribers. For riders, Hopoti offers a 30-day free trial for new subscribers.
AI Ushers in Reliable Customer Support
As artificial intelligence continues to shape the consumer world, Hopoti utilizes these advancements to enhance their services. "AI enables our tool to be easily translated into many languages," Joonas explained. "It also allows us to offer 24/7 customer service in addition to live chat."
“Together, we are giving riding schools access to Ridely’s outstanding digital learning platform so they can strengthen their curriculum by tying in learning outside of the barn.”
Horse Welfare + Ridely Partnership
Hopoti believes that horse welfare is a fundamental driver of a riding school’s long-term success. Across its customer base, the highest-performing schools are those that treat their horses as true partners by using Hopoti to track workload and recognizing that strong horsemanship education can both protect horses and unlock new revenue opportunities, such as dedicated horsemanship lessons. “Riding schools are foundational learning centers for equestrians, shaping their understanding of horsemanship, riding skills and influencing horse welfare,” said Juliette. “This is why we are excited to announce a new partnership with Ridely, an award-winning equestrian training and welfare app with Hopoti to give riding schools access to Ridely’s Horse Welfare Score and courses.”
Advancing Tech Adoption with Better Digital Tools
According to CAVALL, Hopoti’s parent company, the question of whether equestrian businesses will adopt technology is no longer up for debate as it was 5 years ago because it has already happened. Today, it is normal for equestrian professionals to log into multiple platforms to run their operations, whether that’s buying and selling horses through social channels, managing competitions with horse show software, or handling bookings and customers digitally.
Over the next five years, Hopoti and CAVALL believe that the industry will become far more data-driven and consolidated. The real shift will be in how businesses use technology to answer key operational questions from understanding customer demand to managing horse workload, optimizing lesson programs, and automating administrative tasks. This evolution isn’t about replacing horsemanship, it is about giving professionals better tools to run sustainable, customer-centric businesses while protecting the well-being of their horses.
Building the Brand
Hopoti remains deeply rooted in the equestrian community by growing via referrals from their own customers. Outside of word of mouth, Hopoti actively attends major horse shows to meet professionals in person, maintain a strong presence on Instagram and Facebook, and partner with businesses which complement their software. Hopoti also brings together key professionals to further power equestrian businesses at events designed to help equestrian businesses learn how to use technology to grow sustainably.
Hopoti Website
Follow on:
Facebook: Hopoti.com
Instagram: Hopoticom
Youtube: Hopoti