How to: attracting product sponsors for equestrians

---

Photo credit by Victoria DeMore Photography.

​Before you even start reading this and rolling your eyes, I already know.

I know that you are up at all hours of the day and night.
I know that you’re awake and in the barn before the sun rises, you do hard physical labor all day, and you’re exhausted when you finally stumble into the house at night.
I know that half the time you shower with the water as hot as possible to pound on your tired and sore back.
I know the last thing you want to think about is more work when you finally sit on the couch with a glass of …. whatever your flavor is…. and a good television show.

​I know this, because I’m one of you. Well, the amateur-ish version of a professional.

As a professional equestrian, you are responsible for taking care of the horses you compete and that includes feeding them. Riding them. Dragging the arena. Cleaning the tack. Washing their bandages. And so much more.

If you’re anything like me, it’s a struggle to pay for it all.

One way many top riders get help is by attracting sponsors.

Sponsors will frequently give away product in exchange for the rider acting as their spokesperson. The philosophy being, if the professional rider is using the product, it must be awesome and everyone will want to use it because maybe they’ll ride like the professional. (We all can dream). Then the riders can reduce costs by getting some free or reduced-cost stuff.

---

Posts like this screenshot go a really long way for a company. Not sponsored by them yet? It doesn’t matter! Post about the product on your social media: rave about the product, add hashtags, tag the company, use emojis, take pictures of the product, and before-and-after’s. Keep going until you’re noticed. Don’t be afraid to reach out to a local representative, either.
​
Be clever with your hashtags. #pleasesponsorme #Ihavealotoffollowers #bestfeedever #Itelleveryone #TripleCrownFeed #PerformGold #makesmyhorselooklikeanOlympian…. oh wait, we aren’t on social media…….. you get the picture.

Shoutout to my feed representative, Katie Wentz!

Most of these companies want your following to become their following. If you scan the social media sites of riders with a lot of sponsors you’ll see that most of these riders have a large following. It’s all a numbers game, so you need to build the number of friends you have on Facebook, the number of likes on your professional page, and the number of followers on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter.

The best way to do that? Content. But that’s an entirely different blog post!

See you next time! In the meantime, go ride your horses!

Interested in finding out more? You can visit Emily at www.emilyholmesequestrian.com for more Equestrian Marketing Tips, Complaints about Competitors, and other Ocala based Equestrian stuff. You can also find Emily on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and her decidedly boring TikTok. @eholmes611