Dreaming and Planning

The dreaming and planning stage of your equestrian career and business can happen before you make the transition from being an amateur to a professional rider. Or it can happen when you make the decision to stop being a regular "civilian" to become a horse business/barn owner. These aren't just business decisions. They are a starting place from which you are about to make big changes in the course of your life.

The dreaming and planning stage can also occur multiple times during your career as you achieve and then reset your equestrian goals and/or physically expand your business i.e. purchase new horses, equipment, your own property or increase your staff.

Our aim at Equestrian Professional is to provide you with the tools and insights to help you navigate the crossroads that are common in the Dreaming and Planning Stages. As a member of this site you can learn from the experience of others who have been where you are. You'll also find our custom horse business calculators invaluable for the financial projections that you'll need to make the best decisions possible.

Young Businesses

Like most new businesses, this stage of your horse business will be challenging financially and physically. The focus will be on growth and somehow managing expenses while you get there.

The main key to making it through this stage is the ability to manage your resources, especially your expertise, well. This is where it is critical that you stay on track to hit your career goals while attracting the right clients for your unique business.

During this stage, your ability to market yourself is absolutely critical to your success. We are experts at helping horse professionals find authentic and effective ways of marketing themselves and their businesses. There is an enormous amount of information on this site to give you a jump on learning some of the intangible soft skills like finding your voice. You'll also find tools to develop tangible hard skills like how to write and implement a great marketing plan - super fast.

Established Businesses

Many of our members have well established businesses and equestrian careers. At this stage (if you did the New Business stage right) your business will be on track to grow mostly through word of mouth. Your marketing communications will shift from marketing yourself towards maintaining relationships with clients and colleagues and selling more specific products or services like one or two available stalls or horses and/or stud fees.

At this stage, you'll likely find yourself, thinking about keeping your clients moving forward, getting the right horses in your barn, hiring additional help or expanding your current offerings while not working yourself into the ground. Horse business owners at this stage are typically more than ready to really focus on profitability and sustainability.

What we most often provide established horse business owners with are strategic ways to improve their systems to increase profitability, keep them attaining their career goals and prevent burnout.

Committed Barn Teams

While some horse professionals are solopreneurs, there are also those who have well developed teams. For example, a show barn that has a barn manager, trainer, assistant trainer and instructors or an equine therapy program that has multiple key volunteers or board members. After working with many horse business owners over the years, we have found that it is critical that each and every person on "the team" needs to be on the same page. When it comes to the customer experience, integrity of the business and especially, the direction of the business your team needs to be 100% on board.

In order to help you and your team maximize your collective abilities, we provide group memberships that enable you to join as a barn and have multiple log-ins so that you can both unify your team and assign tasks to your team members so that your business runs more smoothly and the stuff that keeps you up at night, actually gets done!

To set up a group membership, schedule a setup call .

Member Library - Articles, E-books, Downloads, and Guides

The library covers the questions that come up in running a horse business - attracting and retaining clients, improving profitability, pricing your offerings, marketing, budgeting, dealing with difficult situations, hiring and managing staff, and many others. Our contributors bring expert work from across equine law, horse business insurance, accounting and tax, equestrian sports psychology, marketing including social media, equine syndicates, rider sponsorships, stable management, and lesson program management. Plus career insights from successful horse professionals across disciplines.

Webinars and Training Programs

Regularly scheduled live webinars from contributors covering the topics most relevant to horse professionals - equine law, social media marketing, sports performance, profitability, and others. Easily attend from your phone or computer. Members also gain access to the full webinar library (100+ hours), available anytime from any device.

Custom Horse Business Calculators

These calculators are custom designed for horse business owners. They cover horse purchases and sales, barn budgets, employee costs, equipment purchases, financial projections, profit margins, pricing analysis, and dozens of other tasks. When you need to create a new plan, make an important decision, or check the health of your business, the calculators give you solid numbers fast.

Start-up Resources

For horse professionals starting (or thinking of starting) a horse business or turning professional. Taking the leap is a big decision, and the high overhead and career demands of horse businesses mean you need to grow quickly. Charting your path to success first can make all the difference.

Business and Marketing Downloads

The members-only download library includes assessments, checklists, marketing calendars, business plan templates, and many other tools designed specifically for horse professionals - saving hours of desk work.

Equestrian Sports Performance Tools

Resources to keep you riding, training, teaching, and competing at your best. Rider assessments, goal setting sheets, webinars with successful equestrian professionals, and more. You can use these for yourself and with your students.

Customizable Forms and Checklists

Assets covering policies, releases, horse sales, boarding, lessons, and customer satisfaction. Use them as is, or customize to your specific needs.

Member Success Stories

Highlights of what's working across horse businesses from every breed, discipline, and part of the world. Learning what other horse professionals are doing - in different business models and disciplines - gives you pieces of the horse business puzzle you wouldn't otherwise see. We'd love to feature you next.

The Quarterly Horse Business Review and Planning Session walks members through four key areas every 90 days - financial, operational, clients, and career. Working in 90-day increments lets you evaluate marketing results, the financial realities of growth, your key relationships, and your equestrian accomplishments together. When all four areas are reviewed together, a horse business becomes stronger and easier to run.

Group coaching sessions are held regularly throughout the year, covering specific topics members are working through. The format is live - members bring real situations and work through them with Elisabeth McMillan and other members in the session.

Both the QHBR and group coaching are included with membership.

Membership gives you the framework. Private advisory and consulting add precision, consistency, and momentum for the situations that need one-on-one work.

Sometimes a business decision or opportunity requires more than a group conversation or a business tool. Equestrian Professional members can work privately with Elisabeth McMillan for both ongoing advisory support and deeper strategic consulting.

Monthly Private Advisory
Meet privately with founder and lead consultant, Elisabeth McMillan each month to stay on track, take action and work through important decisions and opportunities with the benefit of an advisor who knows your business and career. Private Advisory is available through the $350/month Membership + Private Advisory plan.

Strategic Horse Business Consulting
For significant changes, new businesses, major opportunities or challenges that require deeper analysis, private consulting engagements can be arranged. Depending on the situation, this work may include business and career assessment, financial and operational analysis, a custom operational pro forma, scenario modeling, and business, marketing and branding strategy.