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What Matters? Distribution Matters. What Matters? Help and Education Matter.

In business, one of the key tenets is, “You can’t sell a product that your customer doesn’t have a reasonable chance to buy.” The same is true for the American Saddlebred horse. We have a superior product but poor distribution. To illustrate this, several years ago, 33 percent of the membership of the ASHA came from just 10 states, with Kentucky, North Carolina, and Illinois leading the way. That, in business, is called a distribution problem.

So, the first act is to recognize and accept the problem. The second is to understand how to address the opportunity. To that end, the American Saddlebred Horse Association announced this week the creation of a partnership with equine industry-leading business consultant Elisabeth McMillan of EquestrianProfessional.com. Thanks to the generosity of a private donor, this opportunity funds four grants through the ASHA’s new sponsorship program.  These four grants underwrite six months of training to help four Saddlebred businesses learn development and strong business practices. We are investing in this program to help strengthen the promotion and representation of the American Saddlebred in more regions across the country.  We realize that unless our trainers and instructors create and sustain viable business opportunities, our industry and our breed will be at risk. 

This ongoing professional education includes how to innovate and evolve business models, construct financial statements, maximize online marketing channels, recruit clients, do public relations and much more. The four chosen businesses also will receive a free year-long subscription to EquestrianProfessional.com.

Recently, two young trainer/instructors “graduated” from the Lilly’s Mercer Spring Farms Apprentice program to start their own American Saddlebred operations. In total, more than a dozen Saddlebred professionals have graduated from this innovative program. These “feeder” ideas -- those that help create new riding instructors and American Saddlebred trainers -- are the future of everything.  We need to get young people to see this as a viable career option and to do this, we have to make sure these tremendous trainers and teachers also are able to run great businesses.

The grant application for this training program is available here. Applications will be accepted until end of business on Thursday, Sept. 26. All applicants must complete in full and submit the form to be considered. Those businesses selected will be notified by Monday, Sept. 30, and will get started the first week of October. 

ASHA is working to ensure the future of the American Saddlebred through the viability of our trainers and instructors in underserved parts of the country … that’s What Matters.