Equine Tech Companies Form Collaboration

Wellington, FL – Equine technology companies BarnManager, Equo, Jumpfax, and StableGuard have come together to form the first equine technology collaboration of its kind, aimed at supporting one another, better serving the equestrian industry as a whole, and ultimately creating greater inter-operability between the equine applications and software.

Watch more on the equine technology collaboration here!

 

Launched by BarnManager founder and CEO, Nicole Lakin, the innovators working together on the equine tech collaboration include Lakin, Equo’s Steven Bluman, Alicia Heiniger of Jumpfax, and Alexa Anthony of StableGuard.

With the formation of the equine tech collaboration, the four companies are able to work together to develop improved solutions for the equestrian community, while also each continuing to provide a unique service and value to the equine industry. 

 For BarnManager, that service is a cloud-based software that offers digitized record keeping for the many facets of horse care, as well as intuitive and simple business tools to make small business management easier and more accessible. For Equo, it is offering what has been described as a “mix between Uber and Expedia for horses,” taking horse transportation to the next level by connecting riders, owners, and trainers with certified drivers through the Equo mobile app.

 For competitors, Jumpfax offers a complete, dynamic calendar of events, a comprehensive horse show guide that includes programs, start lists, results, key contacts, and more, as well as a sports data center updated daily with show jumping’s statistics. And StableGuard is often compared to the “Nest home security camera for horses.” Through the StableGuard mobile app, users can watch live-stream feed of the horse in their stall, receive emergency alerts, watch event play-back, and track human interaction. Unlike other equine monitoring devices, StableGuard constantly tracks the horses’ well-being without needing additional wearable devices such as smart blankets, Bluetooth halters, etc.

 “They are all very complimentary, and they all really could be used on a daily basis by any show jumping rider,” said Jumpfax founder Alicia Heiniger.  “I’m a rider myself, so I’m a natural user of these apps, and we all really share a vision, a passion, and a wish to make our industry better and stronger.”

 Lakin added, “We’re all trying to improve and advance our own specific area of the industry, but ultimately, we’re all using technology to help horse people have peace of mind at the end of the day and to allow them to focus on why we’re all really doing this in the first place: the horses.”

 Lakin studied entrepreneurship and received her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Babson College, and it was her experience there that sparked the idea for the equine tech collaboration.

 “At Babson, I was constantly surrounded by other entrepreneurs,” explained Lakin, whose BarnManager application is now the Official Barn Management Software of US Equestrian. “It was a really inspiring atmosphere, and we were constantly thinking of ways that we could help each other – even though we were in completely different industries. It was a really great way to integrate together and to support each other, and I find it extremely important to have community like that.”

 

Steven Bluman of Equo, Alicia Heiniger of Jumpfax, Nicole Lakin of BarnManager, and Alexa Anthony of StableGuard have partnered to form a new equine tech collaboration. 

Photo by Jump Media

In addition to forming their own community to help one another as equine technology start-up founders and better serving the equestrian industry, Anthony, Bluman, Heiniger, and Lakin hope that their collaborative effort will encourage equestrians to embrace how technology can help them navigate in their industry.

 “It’s really an exciting time,” said Anthony, CEO of Magic AI, the company behind StableGuard. “Now is a great opportunity for all of us to join together and create awareness surrounding technology in a traditional industry. I believe it will make the adoption a little bit easier if all four of us work together – we’re stronger that way.”

 Equo CEO Bluman echoed Anthony’s sentiments: “Just like in any other life aspect, when Uber came out and Airbnb came out, everybody said, ‘No way! I will never get in a car with someone that I don’t know,’ and, ‘I would never go in an apartment that I don’t even know who owns the place.’ Now, people are realizing they’re both great options. It’s the same with us. People are a little bit skeptical when it comes to using apps for whatever it is for their horses. By our companies coming together and acting as a force, people are going to begin to pay more attention to what’s happening. We’re trying to update the horse industry and really bring it into the 21st century.”

 In addition to collaborating to grow and improve together and to introduce equestrians to applications to simplify their daily responsibilities, Lakin hopes that the equine tech collaboration will ultimately lead to greater inter-operability between the applications.

 “We all are cognizant of thinking about how the applications are talking to each other, because at the end of the day, if we’re all making a million different products for people, and they have to have 17 apps on their phone, you’re not improving anything, you’re making it worse,” explained Lakin. “If we can work together and make our products work together, we’re not only better together for ourselves, we’re delivering better products for the end user.

 “When each company can focus on their own specific piece of the puzzle, but then we can all also put those pieces together, we’re really able to create something great for the consumer,” concluded Lakin. “It’s a win-win for everybody.”

Learn more about BarnManager, Equo, Jumpfax, and Stableguard by visiting each of their websites, and watch here to hear more about the equine tech collaboration.

To sign up for a free trial of BarnManager click here!

 The “Stronger Together” equine tech collaboration video was produced by the new Creative Studio by Jumpfax.

A Visit to The Peeps Foundation

On a recent trip to Lexington, Kentucky, all of my childhood dreams came true when I was invited to visit The Peeps Foundation. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this organization or its namesake, Peeps, it’s time for you to become familiar.

As I pulled onto the lovely Kentucky farm, I was immediately greeted by the Foundation’s fearless and talented leader, Josh Dolan; a free roaming dwarf miniature pony named Toasty; and a miniature fainting goat. Josh kindly let me step into his world and get a better understanding of the work that he and his team are doing to find safe and loving homes for these tiny equids and to put a stop to the abuse and neglect that has befallen so many of these adorable creatures.

The Peeps Foundation started in the spring of 2014 when Alex Granato of Mad Season LLC and Josh Dolan were on their way to a hunter/jumper show in Lexington, Kentucky.

Along their drive, they spotted a dwarf miniature pony out in a field. Josh was familiar with miniatures and with dwarfism, a rare genetic condition that causes deformation, weakness in the limbs, and many more long-term health issues. Feeling curious, they pulled over and found that the entrance to the property was locked and chained. Out of concern for the little guy in the paddock, they walked down a neighboring driveway. To their shock and distress, Josh and Alex discovered a field full of miniature ponies that appeared to be malnourished and in extremely poor health. Alex hopped the fence to find an additional mini starved in the barn aisle and many others in extremely dire conditions.

While working with the authorities to try to remedy this sad situation, Josh returned daily to find their condition worsening. Determined to do something, Josh left a note on the fence for the owner, who was nowhere to be found. To his surprise, the owner called that very night and offered to sell him the minis for a good price.

The Mad Season crew completely rearranged their nearly full show barn to accommodate the 35 miniature ponies that they rescued and nurtured back to health before finding them forever homes. One of the minis that they had rescued that day was the one they first saw in the field, Peeps. Peeps was diagnosed with Rhodococcus, a very serious and often deadly disease, but after four strenuous months of antibiotics, around-the-clock care, and a custom box stall to ship from Lexington to Wellington, Peeps was back to her spirited and sassy self.

Shortly after regaining her health, Peeps became an instant celebrity. She accompanied Josh on Chick-fil-A runs and regular visits to the WEF show grounds for Saturday Night Lights.

Since their initial rescue mission, Josh and Alex founded The Peeps Foundation to continue to help minis in need. Since its inception, The Peeps Foundation has helped hundreds of minis find loving homes. Notably, many of these adorable animals have found forever homes with some familiar faces, including actress Kaley Cuoco and riders Jessica Springsteen, Jennifer Gates, and Ben Maher, just to name a few.

During my visit (and while I fell in love and wanted to take every single one of the minis home with me), Josh spoke to me about some of the challenges he has in keeping paperwork in order for all of the minis coming in and out of their farm. They constantly have to dig through hundreds of file folders to locate various health documents, adoption records, and applications. He also has to spend a lot of time documenting all of the health treatments that they administer and instructions for new families to continue to care for their adopted minis.

Josh was hopeful that BarnManager could help him to simplify all of this work so that he could focus on the animals rather than the paperwork. Each time a new rescue comes to the farm, Josh can quickly snap photos of all of their documents and create a profile for them. As the new rescues are assessed and monitored, Josh and his team can keep records and store any reports from their vet or farrier in each pony’s profile. And when it is time for a mini to move to their new home, Josh can download and print or e-mail these records to their new family. He can also store copies of all adoption applications and contracts for his records and archive the adopted ponies so that their histories are saved, but they are no longer included in his active planning.

With the help of Josh, Peeps, and the rest of The Peeps Foundation team, we realized that we have a huge opportunity and a duty to support more organizations. That is why we have decided to offer Free Subscriptions for 501(c)(3) Organizations. All equine rescues and equine therapy centers with 501(c)(3) Charity Status are eligible to receive a FREE BarnManager subscription.

BarnManager was created to support managers and horse owners in providing the best care and management of their horses. And with Free for 501(c)(3), we want to further our mission to support all of the incredible organizations that work tirelessly to give horses a second chance, to improve the lives of others, and to bring happiness and well-being to people in need.

And there are so many other great equestrian companies who feel the same way!  After sharing our idea with Steven Bluman, CEO and Co-Founder of Equo, an instant collaboration was born.

Equo, the company that is redefining horse transportation, was founded with the mission of making the entire horse industry more reachable and accessible by connecting owners, trainers, and riders with shippers all around the country. With that in mind, being able to help those in need of a better home fits right in with their mission and core values. The Equo team is honored to help The Peeps Foundation to provide transportation for minis coming to the Foundation and then moving on to their forever homes.

If you own or operate a 501(c)(3) rescue or therapy organization and would like to sign up for a Free Subscription, click here for more information and to find out if you qualify.

For more information about the Peeps Foundation or how you can get involved, check out their website and follow them on Instagram (@mylittlepeepers) and Facebook.

And for all of your horse transport needs, head over to Equo to learn more about their services.