Why does it feel like it requires a trip in a time machine in order to submit entries for a horse show… even in 2025?
Despite so many tech advancements in sports and just in our everyday way of living, signing up for classes at your local circuit can sometimes require mail-in forms or navigating clunky, antiquated (barely) online systems. It’s not only a hassle for competitors, but for the staff that run the horse shows, too.
Horse Spot is a company that is trying to bring the horse industry into today’s world. Its founders have worked every job there is at a horse show, so they know the ins and outs of what it takes to manage a fast-moving, successful circuit. But since then, Michael, Lindsay and Christopher Lenard earned experience in the real world before building their tech platform, Horse Spot, which is designed to make the horse show experience easy and seamless for both organizers and competitors.
Launched in 2023, Horse Spot allows competitors to submit entries easily online, and for horse show managers to accept those entries, offer live scoring, make the add-or-scratch process and even checkout easy and simple for everyone involved. This cloud-based platform is changing the way equestrians can enter, access and enjoy their time at horse shows, from rated circuits to local schooling series, and making the process simple and organized for the managers who put on these events.
All of the information needed about the horse show is readily available at managers’ and competitors’ fingertips.
In its first two years, Horse Spot grew from being a side hustle start-up to a full-time career for its founders, and now services more than 400 horse show circuits across the U.S., and even in Bermuda. The types of events range from hunter/jumper, dressage, three-day eventing and breed shows, among others, and reach organizations like the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association, the USEF, U.S. Pony Club and more.
“As an entrepreneur, half the battle is just getting started,” said Lindsay, who left behind her career in global advertising to launch Horse Spot. “We knew horse shows from our own personal experience and knew the void that needed to be filled for show managers. So we just started by getting our hands dirty.”
Horse show managers can login and access everything they need to keep the horse show running smoothly from any kind of device – a phone, tablet or laptop – thanks to Horse Spot being a cloud-based platform. That means managers are no longer tethered to only one or two computers in the show office to update results or to check-out competitors. Services are completely customizable, and also feature analytics and insights to identify performance and popularity trends among users at a specific event.
“We’ve worked really hard to prove how reliable the platform is,” said Michael, who admits it’s been a challenge to approach horse show secretaries who are used to using the same, perhaps outdated tools for many years. Michael spent decades working as a show secretary and in horse show management while also pursuing a career in accounting and consulting. “But it’s been fun to watch the overall tune and tone from folks change once they see what our technology can do.”
Now two years in, the founders of Horse Spot are continuing to expand. Beyond offering horse show management services, the tech company is also able to support equestrian organizations beyond a single horse show. Associations looking to track annual memberships, year-end points and awards, and more are services now available by Horse Spot.
“We brought our product into the market only six months after ideation,” Lindsay explained. “We were far from perfect when we started, but we’ve learned a lot from those early incremental steps. We’ve done a lot in a short timeframe.”
Want to learn more about Horse Spot? Discover shows at horsespot.net, learn more about them here and discover their social media channels here: Instagram and Facebook. And listen to our full interview with Michael and Lindsay on Episode 136 of the Heels Down Happy Hour Podcast.