Building a Sustainable Horse Business with Jenny Schwartz

What if building a successful horse business isn’t about going to more horse shows, selling more horses, or constantly searching for wealthier clients?

In this episode of The Equine Business Edge Podcast, Jamie Birch sits down with Jenny Schwartz, founder of Drop Your Stirrups, for a wide-ranging conversation about building horse businesses that are financially sustainable—for both the business and the people running them.

Jenny brings together two worlds that don’t often intersect. She has more than three decades of experience in finance and public-sector budgeting, while also having a deep background in the horse industry as a competitive rider, instructor, nonprofit equestrian leader, and business consultant.

Her competitive riding career included competing at Madison Square Garden, riding with some of the industry’s most respected trainers, competing in hunters, jumpers and equitation, and pursuing Grand Prix competition before ultimately deciding to step away from professional riding and pursue a career in finance.

That combination gives Jenny a very different perspective on the economics of the horse industry.

“Each episode contains a ton of great information and ideas, this episode eclipses them all! Jenny shares so many amazing ways to maximize revenue for barn owners, riding programs and all horse professionals. If you aren’t following Jenny, you are truly missing out!” – Jamie

Rethinking the Traditional Horse Business Model

One of the biggest themes of this conversation is a simple question:

Does the traditional horse-show business model actually create a sustainable business for the trainer?

For many trainers, significant revenue comes from traveling to horse shows, coaching at shows, commissions from buying and selling horses, and managing competitive programs.

Jenny challenges horse professionals to consider another possibility.

What if the core business itself generated enough predictable revenue that the trainer didn’t have to rely so heavily on horse shows and horse sales?

That leads to a discussion about tuition-based and subscription-based riding programs that create more predictable recurring revenue.

Instead of selling one lesson at a time and absorbing the financial consequences every time someone cancels, a trainer can create a structured program in which clients commit to a semester, season or year.

The horses still need feed, veterinary care, farrier care, bedding, turnout, staffing and facilities whether the rider shows up that week or not. The business model should recognize that reality.

The New Canaan Mounted Troop Model

Jenny shares lessons from her leadership with New Canaan Mounted Troop, a nonprofit equestrian organization founded in 1939.

The organization developed a structured riding and horsemanship program built around an academic-calendar-style tuition model.

Students weren’t simply taking riding lessons.

They progressed through defined levels, learned horse care and horsemanship, participated in barn responsibilities, developed leadership skills and eventually mentored younger participants.

That structure created something bigger than a riding lesson.

It created community, progression, responsibility and belonging.

Jenny believes elements of that model could be applied by horse professionals throughout the industry.

Turning Unused Barn Capacity Into Opportunity

When Jenny became involved in the organization’s leadership, she noticed another business problem:

The facility was heavily utilized after school—but significantly underutilized earlier in the day.

The horses, facility and infrastructure were already there.

That raised an important business question:

What else could those assets be doing?

One answer was developing their own therapeutic riding and horsemanship program.

The program began with one participant and ultimately opened the organization to entirely new communities, donors, foundations and fundraising opportunities.

Jenny and Jamie discuss how the same resource-utilization thinking can apply to for-profit barns.

Could unused daytime hours support:

• Adult riding or horsemanship programs?
• “Mom’s morning” programs?
• Beginner programs?
• Community partnerships?
• Senior programs?
• Camps?
• Clinics?
• Therapeutic or adaptive programs?
• Horsemanship classes that don’t require intensive riding?

The larger lesson is to stop looking only at stalls and lessons and start asking how the assets already inside the business can create additional value.

Community May Be Your Greatest Retention Strategy

Jenny also makes an important distinction between being an exceptional rider and operating an exceptional business.

Some extremely talented riders struggle financially because technical expertise alone doesn’t create a sustainable program.

Meanwhile, a trainer who creates an environment where people feel welcomed, supported and connected can build extraordinary customer loyalty.

That means thinking beyond the rider.

If the rider is a child, the parents are customers too.

The entire family may be part of the customer experience.

Jenny discusses ideas such as barn workdays, family events, in-house horse shows, progression systems, awards, parent-trainer conferences and leadership opportunities for older students.

People may initially come because they want to ride horses.

They often stay because they’ve become part of something.

Think About the Entire Lifecycle of the Horse

Another fascinating part of the conversation examines the horse itself from a business perspective.

Different horses can create value at different stages of their lives.

A young horse may begin in a training program.

A more developed horse may move into competitive showing.

Later, that horse may become an exceptional lesson horse.

Eventually, an older or less physically demanding horse may be suitable for therapeutic or ground-based programs.

Rather than viewing every horse through the same competitive lens, Jenny encourages horse professionals to think about the entire lifecycle of the horse and where that horse can provide the greatest value.

Horse Professionals Need to Become Investors

The conversation then turns from business finance to personal finance.

Jenny repeatedly encountered horse professionals who wanted help with their businesses but weren’t building financial security outside those businesses.

One of the biggest patterns she sees is horse professionals putting virtually every dollar they earn back into the business.

Jenny’s message is simple:

You also need to become an investor.

Jamie and Jenny discuss retirement accounts, Roth IRAs, automatic investing, compound growth and the enormous difference that starting early can make.

Jenny also points out that many financial problems aren’t mathematical problems.

They’re behavioral problems.

Understanding concepts like opportunity cost—and learning to separate what you can buy from what you should buy—can dramatically change someone’s long-term financial future.

A successful horse business shouldn’t simply create more horses, trucks, equipment and expenses.

It should eventually create financial security for the person who built it.

AI and the Next Generation of Horse Businesses

Jenny is also actively exploring how horse professionals can use artificial intelligence to operate more efficiently.

She discusses using AI for marketing, content, business strategy and audience development.

One example is her own newsletter workflow.

Jenny has used AI tools to help develop a newsletter structure, identify potential stories across different topics, organize content and streamline the process of communicating regularly with her growing audience.

For horse professionals with specialized expertise, this creates another interesting opportunity.

Your knowledge can become an audience.

Your audience can become a community.

And eventually, that community can support additional products, services, subscriptions, education and revenue streams.

Jamie and Jenny also discuss another frequently overlooked revenue opportunity: earning commissions from the products trainers already recommend to their clients.

Horse professionals have enormous influence over purchasing decisions. When a trusted trainer recommends a product, clients frequently purchase exactly what they’re told to purchase.

That trust has economic value.

In This Episode

• Jenny’s journey from elite equestrian competition to finance
• Competing at Madison Square Garden
• Why she walked away from pursuing riding professionally
• How elite equestrian sport has changed financially
• Why the traditional horse-show business model can be fragile
• Creating predictable revenue through tuition and subscriptions
• The New Canaan Mounted Troop model
• Structured rider development and horsemanship education
• Building leadership and mentorship into a riding program
• Finding revenue opportunities in unused barn capacity
• Building therapeutic and community programs
• Creating new fundraising opportunities through a broader mission
• Why owning lesson horses can change the economics of a program
• Adult programs and other ways to monetize daytime capacity
• Why customer retention matters more than constantly acquiring new riders
• Creating measurable progression for riders
• Why parents and families are customers too
• Community as a competitive advantage
• Understanding the lifecycle of a horse from a business perspective
• Personal financial literacy for horse professionals
• Roth IRAs, investing and compound growth
• Why money problems are often behavioral
• Using AI inside an equestrian business
• Building newsletters and owned audiences
• Creating additional revenue from your expertise
• Monetizing the product recommendations trainers already make

Episode Timeline

00:00 — Meet Jenny Schwartz
02:25 — Jenny’s competitive riding career
06:54 — Leaving professional riding for finance
14:17 — How money is changing equestrian sport
16:25 — Rethinking the horse-show business model
17:23 — Building wealth as a horse professional
24:18 — The New Canaan Mounted Troop model
26:02 — Tuition-based riding programs
28:57 — Horsemanship, leadership & rider progression
30:49 — Monetizing underutilized barn capacity
31:47 — Launching a therapeutic riding program
36:36 — Fundraising and finding new donors
40:58 — Building community that retains customers
42:19 — Subscription models & owning lesson horses
44:25 — Creating revenue during unused barn hours
48:18 — Rider levels, report cards & measurable progress
50:38 — Why community can beat technical excellence
53:27 — Retention vs. constantly finding new clients
57:01 — The entire family is your customer
1:00:10 — Great rider ≠ great business owner
1:02:10 — The lifecycle of a horse as a business strategy
1:08:58 — The story behind Drop Your Stirrups
1:11:03 — Financial literacy for horse professionals
1:13:03 — Investing and compound growth
1:16:55 — Why money problems are often behavioral
1:19:09 — Using AI in an equestrian business
1:21:08 — Building an AI-assisted newsletter
1:23:58 — Monetizing product recommendations

Connect with Jenny Schwartz

Jenny is the founder of Drop Your Stirrups, where she combines financial education, business strategy and her experience in the equestrian industry to help horse professionals and horse families build stronger financial futures.

Website
https://dropyourstirrups.com

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/dropyourstirrups2024/

TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@jennyiversonschwartz

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/dropyourstirrups

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-schwartz-b247455/

Email
jenny@dropyourstirrups.com

Jenny offers financial education, business consulting, coaching, speaking and educational programs for horse professionals, barns and equestrian organizations.

About The Equine Business Edge Podcast

The Equine Business Edge Podcast explores what it actually takes to build and operate a successful business in the horse industry.

Hosted by Jamie Birch, Founder & CEO of EquineRevShare, the podcast features conversations with horse professionals, entrepreneurs and industry experts about marketing, pricing, leadership, customer experience, technology, financial sustainability and building better equestrian businesses.

The goal is simple: help horse professionals build businesses that allow them to keep doing what they love—without sacrificing the financial sustainability necessary to keep doing it.