The Equestrian Exposition

Equestrian and rural lifestyle businesses were really hit hard during the economic downturn. Many of these businesses simply closed their doors and quit the industry. They could no longer afford to buy merchandise, market themselves, travel to events and maintain the relationships they needed to stay alive. Trainers and training barns saw their income vanish almost overnight. The sold their properties and found other jobs just to make ends meet. Horse rescues are, even now, filled with good horses that could no longer be afforded by their humans. Many of these rescue operations closed too, because without support from the businesses –which were failing themselves - and equestrians in their community –who no longer had the “extra money” to donate - their operating capital dried up. Facilities of all types –from local “show” barns to mega-sized fairgrounds – all raised prices just to stay in business, which made it harder and harder for the “everyman” to rent the facility. The economy did major damage to the equestrian industry and the people involved with it. To date the recovery of our beloved industry has been painfully slow.

Those few businesses that have survived are still hurting. Gone are the days of being able to sponsor shows, travel to events and carry huge inventory. Gone are the days of donating to charity and doing big trades. Now they must analyze every aspect and detail of their business before making any choices. The risks are huge, even when faced with small business decisions. Money spent today has to be recouped tomorrow. The “think long term” game is a fading memory. The “sort term” is where these businesses, sadly, have to live. If not then the risk outweighs the reward and the business owner decides they “cannot afford” to do “it”, whatever that “it” happens to be no matter the size or scope.

The same applies to the equestrian expositions and shows we all love to go to. It costs REAL money to create, market and put on an event. The larger the event the more money it costs to put on. Think about that for a second. EVERYTHING you see and do not see (or even think about) at your favorite event COSTS MONEY! If there are big name Clinicians in the arena, it costs money! If there is toilet paper in the bathrooms, it costs money? Keeping the trash cans empty costs money! The climate controlled building or even the covered arena you enjoy costs money! The “entertainment” you enjoy costs money! That monitored parking area, which keeps your car safe, costs money too! Heck, the dirt in the arena and the arena itself costs money! All these expenses have to be covered BEFORE the first Attendee comes through the gate. This means that thousands of dollars (and some of the really big shows can cost close to one-million dollars to put on – seriously) has to be paid out up front before you ever grace their gates with your ticket purchase. Those exposition and event companies do everything they can to keep costs low and attendance numbers high. They offer the best deal they can to Exhibitors to come show off their goods, they get as creative as they can to provide great attractions and activities that you will find value in. They negotiate has hard as they can to keep parking and facility costs as low as they can. Still, some thing are outside their control…like the economy taking a nose dive, gas and travel costs going up, crazy tax laws and regulations that make it hard to sell or do business in other areas, businesses failing or “ageing out” or the fact that facilities keep raising their rental fees without offering other benefits to offset the costs. The simple fact is this: Shows and expositions are a business. They work hard to create amazing experiences for everyone. Yet, they still need to cover expenses. They are not charity organizations made of money. Everything they have to do costs them money –large sums of money –before YOU every buy a ticket. That expense has to be covered somehow. So most of these event/exposition companies try to cover these incredible costs through Exhibitor booth sales and ticket sales. So when you read someone say “ABC exposition is charging too much for their booth space” you have to ask “what did you Ms. Consumer, pay to get in?”  If the event/exposition company gives Exhibitor space away for free then ticket process need to go up drastically. If tickets are free then the Exhibitor spaces have to go up in cost. Welcome to Business Economics 101 gang. It is a trade-off. Everyone pays something in order to be fair.

So what can these companies do? They can downsize their events, look for more cost effective venues (California is REALLY expensive to do anything in as we all know), move their events out of the area (or state) and  do what they have to do to reinvent themselves. What this means is that the “mega event” you love goes away and something else more “grass roots” takes its place. How would that make you feel? It would means less of the “bells and whistles” you have come to expect at your event. Fewer of EVERYTHING. Think about it.

What can we, the Event/Exposition Attendee do? We can talk to our favorite equestrian/rural lifestyle companies and let them know we want to see them at our favorite show/exposition. They we look for them there because we save up all year to spend money them AT THE EVENT and if they don’t show up we will spend that cash with someone else who did show up. We can attend the event and shop with the Exhibitors and Clinicians. We can stop buying our stuff online so often and focus more on the local business. In short we need to stop “complaining” and do something positive instead. Here is a crazy thought….volunteer at an event. Offer to help staff your favorite business’s booth at an exposition. Skip Starbucks for a week and donate that money to a horse rescue, set up a small group lesson with friends with your favorite trainer. We can be part of the solution or part of the problem. And if we are part of the problem we cannot expect the industry to thrive or to care about our “wants” because we are one of the reasons the industry is hurting.

If you love the equestrian/rural lifestyle industry then you need to support it with positive action. Sitting back “blaming and complaining” is a waste of time because it helps no one (except the blamers and complainers who need to feel their words have impact). DO what you can with what you have and you can change this industry we all love for the better.

Thanks for reading.