Pegasus Podcast
@thepegasusapp https://www.thepegasus.app/🐴 Conversations with the movers and shakers of the global equestrian industry. Hosted by Pegasus founders Sam Baynes and Jen Tankel.
Pegasus Podcast
How to Be an All-Star Show Jumper and Equestrian Entrepreneur at Once with Gabriela Reutter
This episode is brought to you by Oughton.
On today’s edition of The Pegasus Podcast, we are interviewing the one and only Gabriela Reutter.
Gabriela is the #1 ranked female Chilean show jumper and is currently based in Wellington.
Jumping isn’t the only thing that Gaby is good at, she also has one of the largest social media followings collectively in the equestrian world.
When she’s not producing content for millions of people, Gaby works on her content and business, Lumiere Horses, and trains her lucky students.
Finally, and here’s the big one, Gaby is an ambassador of Pegasus. She’s helping us digitize the equestrian industry as we know it.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Gaby’s adjustment from Chilean show jumping to jumping at Wellington.
- How to fund your equestrian career using multiple revenue streams.
- What it took for her to grow a massive social media following.
- And more.
Before you listen, riders and horse lovers: carry your passion for horses beyond the barn aisle with equestrian-inspired luxury handbags from Oughton.
Handmade from luxury leather and high-quality canvas, Oughton handbags combine subtle, in-the-know equestrian detailing, patented halter hardware, and classic silhouettes that only become more beautiful with time.
Find your Oughton dream bag at Oughton.com and use code PEGASUS to save 20% off your first order.
🐴 This episode is brought to you by Pegasus, the first modern event management system that makes it easy to host and run equestrian events. Sign up for early access at www.thepegasus.app.
Be sure to follow Pegasus on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and subscribe to The Oxer, the #1 weekly newsletter for global equestrian industry happenings. 🗞️
Do you remember your first pair of riding tights? We're willing to bet they were from Carrots. Well, the brand you grew up with has grown up too. Carrots now offers a wide range of performance fur styles that inspire confidence in and out of the saddle. From britches and tights to technical tops and footwear, Carrots has something for everyone. Experience a revolution in cooling technology with the innovative Cool Core Tech riding tights. For the competitive rider, try the Carrots Affinity Pro Breach, designed with the high-end features you deserve at a show-season friendly price tag. Shop Carrots at your local tax store or online at Carrotscom.
Speaker 2:I posted this video of combing my horse's tail and then the fact that I purposely put shavings on my horse's tail to rush it off and I just put that on TikTok and I thought it was funny and it went super viral Like millions of views.
Speaker 3:Hi everyone, my name is Noah Levy and I'm the producer of our Pegasus podcast, hosted by our founders, jen Tangle and Sam Baines. Today, we are hosting Gabriella Reuter, who's one of Chile's most successful show jumpers, one of the equestrian world's most follow people on social media and a Pegasus ambassador. Listen to this episode if you want to learn about how to afford an equestrian career using creative income streams such as Gabby's. Alright, let's get into it.
Speaker 2:I'm ready Come on.
Speaker 1:Can I have?
Speaker 2:some. Oh okay, do we think I'm ready? I'm gonna look good Good rolling.
Speaker 1:Alright, gabby, they've seen you on the cover of Was it Folk? No, it was Pegasus's 65 questions, and they're stopping you in the arena. They're asking for it used to be your autograph, and now they're asking for more information about the technology that's about to come out. So who are you? Who is Gabby Reuter?
Speaker 2:Oh my god, oh my god.
Speaker 3:What was that? That's good.
Speaker 1:That's good, good, good I like it.
Speaker 4:It's out there, but it's different. Let's roll with it.
Speaker 1:That's it. That's it. She's a road cover star. She's a technology evangelist. She's from Chile, but she's wintering in Florida. Who is she? Who is she?
Speaker 2:Oh my god, definitely not this person. This is like 1% of the time. 90% of the time I'm full of shavings and horse shit, but okay, anyways, hi, my name is Gabby Reuter and I'm a professional show jumper and content creator. I spent half of the year traveling and touring in the US and then half the year in Wellington. Basically, my life revolves around horses and what I can do to ride more, compete more and, yeah, basically have fun in my day to day.
Speaker 4:You're from Chile, but you live in New Jersey now, right?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, I used to go up until like for the last 10 years I used to spend like half a year in New Jersey, but now I think I'm going to be spending more time in Wellington and kind of basing a little bit more in Wellington and touring around there, just because I have a house. I mean, my parents have a house here, so it's more convenient. I thought you were supposed to mute your phone.
Speaker 1:You know some people. You just got to hit them on the head a couple of times.
Speaker 2:Finally get the point.
Speaker 1:I mean, you guys said the list, yeah yeah, do as we say, not as we do. So when you left Chile was your first place Jersey. Did you go like straight to Jersey and then that you set up, yeah well basically, yeah, basically New Jersey and then New York, because I studied at NYU.
Speaker 2:So what happened was that I started training with Chris and Chris is based out of New Jersey, so I kind of like I was like okay, I want to be close to the barn, but I do not want to live in New Jersey, so what's kind of like the city option, and that was Manhattan, and I really like Manhattan.
Speaker 1:So then I applied to NYU and Chris Kapler not just like any Chris, this is like Chris Kapler's big name, I'm just like a tough compromise.
Speaker 4:New York City God, where could I live? That's kind of halfway in between New York City.
Speaker 2:Really not in between. It's like the most city like thing, which is great. It was great for four years with breaks of writing and seeing nature. But where in the city did you live? So I moved around a little bit, but usually more in lower Manhattan. So I lived in Washington Square Park for the first year. Then I lived in Soho and Battery Park Soho for the most of the time, Nice.
Speaker 4:So, guys, before we get into, like some of the hard hitting generalistic questions about the industry at large and this might be my ignorance in asking this question but what does the horse riding scene like in Chile, and how did you, as a young Chilean girl, get into horse riding and manage to get to that point that you're like, hey, I'm going to do this actually professionally and I'm going to take it on the road around the world?
Speaker 2:Well, it's funny because horse riding I feel like it's such you can go slower in this part, you know what I mean. Like in soccer, it's like everything happens so fast and then you're a professional at like 18 or less, even you know, and you're in big teams and then you retire at 30, kind of I don't know Soccer fans don't hate me.
Speaker 4:Is there physical requirement to it? That means that, like keep me at the top of your game when you're young.
Speaker 2:And move quickly. Versus with riding, it's like you can kind of start slow, and this is what happened, and it was kind of like a snowball. It like started with a little snowflake and then grew, grew, grew, grew, grew and then just kind of like snowballed into this big thing. And now I'm a professional With that.
Speaker 2:I mean like it started with my mom taking me to see horses and like petting the horses, to my mom being like, oh, like she should go to classes when I was four years old and then starting classes like super backyard type thing, like the ring was made of old tires, like the edges were made of old tires, like old polo ponies, you know, if we had to use a stick, we like broke a branch out of the Nickstore tree like you know. Very nothing special, but it was amazing, you know. And then it grew from that to me wanting to do it not only like every day, just when we had vacations, but to doing it at home in Santiago. And then it was like every day in Chile, like in Santiago, and then it moved to me wanting my own horse, and then it moved to me wanting more than one horse, and then it moved to me jumping, like my first competition at point 80 cross rails, and then doing more competitions and then setting my sights on like jumping grand prize, and then it just kind of like kept on slowly increasing.
Speaker 2:Then I went to my first international show when I was 12. And then it was like, oh, there's this South American show and I went to that when I was 15. And it was again slowly moving, moving. And then someone said something. I don't even know how. We found out about Wellington when I was 16, I came over and I was like Whoa, I was like shook at this world. And then I was like, okay, I got to get my sights up, got to improve, because you know, it was a big shock for me to come here. I was like doing really, really well in Chile, being like the best in my category and all of that, and then I come here I'm like Well, that meant nothing.
Speaker 4:Really Is that big of an. It was that big of a change. Oh, it was huge huge, but why?
Speaker 1:I think it was like a big shock. Why do you think that that meant nothing, just because it was such a different structure and a whole different type of operation?
Speaker 4:No, I think she means in the sense of like the competition was so much higher, like she was like King of the Castle in Chile thought she was top shit, and then she came here and got humbled very quickly.
Speaker 2:It was crazy, because over there we aren't that many in Chile. Like the sport isn't that big, it's getting better and better and improving and like they're really trying, but it's small, it's centered in Santiago. To like these shows that you move around, you don't even stay at shows unless, like you know, they're doing a fi, which they only do, I think very few a year, and it's like one star events, like it's not even you know a big thing and again, it's improving and getting better every time. But it's a very small world when the competition is small, the categories, they aren't the same standard.
Speaker 2:I jumped at grand prix in Chile and then I jumped the low junior classic in the States and I thought that was way harder than a grand prix in Chile. Like the technicality, like they might put the same height but they don't put the same technicality. And that was when I was there. Like now it's getting better and they're bringing course designers in to like level up, but at that point you could not compare. So I was doing really well Like I was runner up national champion in my category.
Speaker 2:I had won, like the qualifiers for the South American games. Like you know, I was running on this high and I was like, okay, I'm going to go to Wellington, and then I couldn't even get around like a meter 20, you know, like with zero faults, like I couldn't, and then I it's just like everything. It was like a shock. So I came back and I was like I need to change everything I'm doing. And then I like took harsh decisions that I shouldn't have. Like that I regret. Like I changed my trainer. I was like, oh, it's definitely like everybody's fault. You know I was like this is not good enough.
Speaker 3:But this is a big change.
Speaker 1:I was misled, but this was when you say you went back. You went back to Chile and made these decisions.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because I just came. I just came to the, to the, to the yes, to Wellington that first time and I spent, like I think initially it was two weeks and then I ended up spending like two months. Okay.
Speaker 2:You were 16. Yeah, I was 16. And this was like the first year. And then I came back and I was like, oh my God, like I have to change everything. So I changed my trainer, which I think it, like, looking back, it was a mistake, because he was a very good trainer. It's just I needed, you know, more exposure out. And then I kind of had like a freak out. And then that's when I was like, okay, I want to go back to Wellington, like, definitely, I want to go there to train, find someone who was like amazing, like the best in the sport, that I can invest in that, and then find somewhere I want to go to school because I always want to study. So I was like, okay, and then I'll find somewhere where I want to go to school.
Speaker 2:So that was the time that, like, reed Kessler was going to the Olympics and I really looked up to her and I was like, okay, I'm just going to send her a message on Facebook and be like hi, reed, my name is Gabby, I'm a junior rider. Like I don't know anything, I don't know who to contact in Wellington. I really want to ride with someone that's very good and has good horse care. Who would you recommend? And then she recommended Chris Kapler. And that's how I sent Chris an email and I was like hi, I'm Gabby from Chile and I really want to train with you, cool. And he responded. What did he say? The email somewhere. But he was like yeah, like kind of like the same. How I'm like with somebody who reaches out now it's like hi, yeah, like thank you so much, but talk to the manager, because the rate here might be of a shock and just see if this is something you can do, because it's true, like people don't realize how expensive it is here and that's a big issue. Like in Chile, you can't compare to the prices in whole of South America with the price of Wellington, even Europe. It's just so expensive here in the US. But everything is at least like. The horse care and management with Chris is incredible. I learned so much about that and that's how I was able to transition to being a professional myself, because I experienced eight years of super professional horse care and management.
Speaker 2:That was a conversation with my dad and my dad was like okay, like we have to, we want to invest. We already saw that. Like we're behind and we want to get you better, like get your goals. My parents have always been super supportive. And then it was really funny, because then Chris just sent me another email, was like okay, can we just like hop on a call? Everything was set up. And he was like can we just hop on a call to chat? And I was like, yeah, sure. And then we just talked for like nothing like five minutes and then at the end of the conversation she was like yeah, well, I just wanted to check that you actually spoke English. It was like fair.
Speaker 4:Fair enough.
Speaker 1:So when you okay, this is 16, you have this shock in Wellington. You go back, you change things up. You're like I'm going to do this, I'm going to go and find someone and do this properly. You get connected to Chris, but at what point did you actually come back and start training with him?
Speaker 2:So this was all set up like at the end of the year for next Wellington season. So this was end of 2013, when I contacted Chris or mid to end of 2013, 2014, I started writing with Chris in Wellington beginning of January. So officially it's been 10 years that I've been writing.
Speaker 1:So were you in high school then, Like were you just splitting your time?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was in high school. I was in my senior year, so I graduated June 2014. So I spent three the three months in Wellington missed school, did all of that, and then I started keeping a horse with Chris and as soon as I graduated I took a Europe tour with Chris and then I officially moved to the US after the South American Games that were in Chile for junior young writers in 2014. So I think I officially moved to the US end of 2014.
Speaker 4:Before we get into more detail about like once you actually went pro and started training with Chris, just two things you said over the last few minutes I want to like come back to. One is you said when you were very young that you essentially like kept jumping higher and higher and higher and that's kind of how you basically got to the point of going to Wellington. Would you say that at your core, are you a bit of an adrenaline junkie?
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure, like did you were you like as a kid?
Speaker 4:were you like I want to jump higher and higher? You motivated to jump higher by like the adrenaline rush or by like the. You just enjoyed the sport.
Speaker 2:I think it's a mix of both, because I always loved horses, like I think that was like the main thing you know, the love for horses. And then it was like this is what you can do together. When you have such a good partnership with a horse, like you can actually jump crazy high, difficult fences. But you can only achieve that with a solid partnership. The power of the partnership, I think, is what was in my core. The fueled everything you know right, that's a good way to put it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's a great way to put it Again. My second question was when you got to Wellington and you were like holy shit, I'm not at this level. This is a whole cut above right. I suppose it takes like it takes a certain sort of personality that like experiences that shock and leans into it as opposed to pulling back. So was there any hesitation? You ever at that point of like holy shit, maybe this isn't for me, because I've been working my ass off and I'm not even able to scratch the surface at this high level, like I can't, I don't fit in here? As soon as you had that realization, were you like I want to be as good as, if not better than, these people. It's time to go home and take it seriously and really lean into this.
Speaker 2:No, there was never a doubt in my mind.
Speaker 4:Do you think that's common amongst like? You've? You've reached the top levels, right, you've reached the top level of riders. Have you experienced whether you've met riders who don't have that character trait which you said? That character trait is, like, common across all the people at the top level, but you've met riders who, like, don't have that character trait and, as a result, you can kind of tell you're probably not going to make it to the top level because you don't have that, or they might have imposter syndrome. Where you don't have imposter syndrome, you're like no, I am as good, if not better, which is what you kind of hear in other sports, right, which is the best, want to be the best, and they lean into the challenge as opposed to being scared of the challenge.
Speaker 2:I think there's definitely everything, and a big reason of why they can be a mix of everything is because, unfortunately, a lot of the sport is pay to play. So I think a lot of the people that did not necessarily have like that super, super drive to be the best are like yeah, I could do this, like I can pay to get a great horse and do this and then be done with it. Versus like I feel like true horse women and horsemen a care about the horses and then care about the sport and being better. And yeah, I think it's definitely like a specific trait that not everybody has, but maybe not everybody in every sport. Like I feel, like some other people in other sports like reach the top and then they're like goal accomplished, done, let's do something else. Versus other people are like reach the top, is there more? Can I break a new barrier?
Speaker 1:I can also see, on the flip side, too, the average person going and having that experience and then thinking to themselves oh, I'm not good enough, I live in another country and that's a whole other world and it just being intimidated by it and then letting that be the excuse to not plow through which is one of the things I think sets you apart and that's why we love you is like you saw that and we're like no, I'm going to be back, that's not going to stop me, and I think that there's a lot of people that would just again see that in bulk.
Speaker 1:And you went back, totally changed the plans reached out to people, which I think is an underutilized thing. We've talked about this with other sports, which is, if you're trying to get a hold of the best soccer player, the best basketball player, good luck. Like LeBron's probably not going to answer your DM, but in the equestrian world, we're so fortunate that you can reach out to people and they probably will get back to you, or you can meet up with them after a ride and ask them the question, and they're so gracious with their time and they'll reply. So I don't know if enough people do that, and I think you are probably one of the few that reached out to Chris and like hey, you know, I sought you out, how do we make this work? And he saw that and that's how you are where you are today.
Speaker 4:Managing point, which is, you know there is a lot of pay to play in the sport. Do you think that people that are the best of the best, can you be one of the best of the best in this sport if you're a pay to play and you don't have the other character trait, which is the desire to be the best and push to the top and be a great horsewoman or horseman?
Speaker 2:Do the people who pay to play they?
Speaker 4:naturally just hit a ceiling.
Speaker 2:I think they do, because they don't make your saying like. There's a point where I don't know you can see the difference between the top of the sports. They actually have an amazing connection with their horses. Their life revolves around the horses. It's not just wanting to do it, being able to do it, doing it and then being done with it.
Speaker 4:Can you spot that from a mile away If you go to a competition? Let's say, for example, a rider shows up and they're on a really beautiful horse. You like, get that. That's an expensive horse. Yep, they're in my class, they're obviously they're going to be like good riders. But can you tell quite quickly this person has the X factor, which is that drive, and this person is just here for the fun of the experience.
Speaker 2:I think with some people you can tell immediately and some other people you just either see something and you're like, well, I wouldn't do that if I really cared or knew about horse care or about how horses work.
Speaker 2:I think it's more like sometimes you get like telltale signs about you know, what is a good sign is how people talk about their horses, about their horses and about the sport. It's a good tell sign how you talk about how your round went, all of those things. They give you a different mentality on how the person is. If the person tells you about your round and they're like yeah, but my horse did this and my horse did that, and then that's why I had the fault down. It's very different about if someone talks of like look, I could have done this better, like maybe this was my horse's error, but in the next time I could help them by doing this. Or you can tell if a person is like a true horsewoman, men and has taken the time to spend time with their horses and do their research and see how they, how their horses, learn, how they're like, how to be better for them, versus people that are just using it as a means to an end.
Speaker 1:Hey, are you an equestrian event organizer looking to put on your next clinic or horse show? We are excited to announce that the Pegasus Event Management System is now live. Pegasus is the first modern horse show entry system that makes it easy to run an event from start to finish. You can accept online entry registrations, receive digital signatures for your event paperwork, as well as manage the logistics, scoring and scheduling of your events. We even built features for vendors and sponsors so that brands have much better visibility than just being a banner on a fence. Writers will love receiving real time notifications so that they never miss a schedule change or an event update. Gone are the days of running your event through old software from the 1990s. Run better horse shows with the Pegasus Event Management System at wwwthepegasusapp. That is wwwthepegasusapp.
Speaker 4:Yeah, like the true horseman, and horseman understands that this is a partnership and if one of us makes a mistake, then we both made a mistake, as opposed to seeing your horses a tool and if the tool fails, as they say. I'm not sure if it's common in expression in America, but it's a common expression in Australia. Which is a bad tradesman blames his tools.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think it should always come back to what did you do? Like you, the rider?
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Why did the horse knock the rail? What did you do to make the horse knock the rail? Yeah, Did you set the horse up properly, or you can obviously speak way more in detail about why a horse knocks its rail, but I totally second that.
Speaker 4:All right. So coming back to your point about you come to train with Chris, and this comes into a large bulk of the questions that we sent you in advance that we want to talk about, which is the reality of the sport and the pay to play situation, which is there are those riders that have money and therefore can basically throw cash at the problem and participate in the sport, and there are those that don't have money and they have to find creative ways to basically find things. So our experience I first was learning about how money affects the sport when we were living back in Virginia and a lot of our close friends out there were eventers and three day eventers, and so it's obviously a bit different, but the one of the key challenges that they brought up regularly was in the eventing world, essentially, you have the best riders at the top who have sponsors, and those sponsors being wealthy individuals who basically decide, hey, I'm going to buy you horses, I'll pay all your bills, I'll pay for you to travel and enter competitions, blah, blah, blah. And then you've got those that are like really dedicated up and coming riders, but they don't have the sponsor and they don't come from family wealth themselves and, as a result, they had to work in a barn, like all the time. They spend the majority of their time training other people's horses to earn the money they require and then, in their spare time, train their own horse to then go on the road and compete.
Speaker 4:But there was always kind of this challenge which made it really really hard for them to basically jump into that top bracket was that, in order for them to be able to compete enough to get noticed enough, they needed more money to be able to travel. Because while you are saying you know you can have money to have a buy horses and have a trainer, you will. Logistically it's expensive to get around the country and around the world to travel. You need to get around the world, you need to travel, and that in itself is expensive. And so, as a result, they competed less, they traveled less, they got seen less. And then the best riders, who had all the money, who had the sponsors they traveled more, they competed more, they get seen more. So they get more of the brand's support, they get more attention from the sponsors who are willing to pay them and put them on their roster, et cetera. So the gap gets wider and wider and wider and harder to jump for those who are trying to break into that top tier.
Speaker 1:So, especially, you missed a key point, which is especially because the riders don't age out like other sports. You can be 60 years old, and so go to the Olympics.
Speaker 4:Yeah, exactly, and so that only just makes the problem even worse. So in your experience and that's more the eventing world that we're talking about, specifically in the hunter-jumper world does that sort of same challenge and that sort of same reality exist, or is it more diluted in the jumping world?
Speaker 2:No, I think it's the same reality. I think it's hard because you go and jump the grand prize and it's like you're jumping against people who have horses that are worth millions of dollars and that, for me, is not even thought, like you know like I could never.
Speaker 2:So in my case what I've had to do is either get horses that are talented but more affordable because they're harder to ride, or getting younger horses that you develop or horses that are not super flashy horses, because it's just not like I can't, I'm not even gonna ask because it's not in the realm of possibilities.
Speaker 2:So I think a big thing in the hunter, jumper world and honestly in the jumper, because I can't say anything about hunters, because I don't know anything about them but in the jumper world, like it makes a big difference how good your horse is, because you can have an amazing rider with a horse that isn't the most super talented and it's going to have a few down no matter how perfect you can ride, versus there's the other end that you can have a super, super talented horse with a talented rider, but maybe not the best rider and it's going to make a few mistakes and the horse is going to take care of it. That's like a mix. I bet you can have so many mixes, like you can also have a horse that, just with one person, is like extremely talented, just because their partnership is amazing. But over the overarching theme is the more valuable and expensive your horse is, the better it's going to jump. So if you put a talented rider in a talented horse, it's going to do better. So the dedicated like.
Speaker 4:the money is basically like guaranteed yeah.
Speaker 1:And that's why you continuously see them at the top.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then, like you're saying, like those riders then get seen more, so then people want to sponsor them and give them chances, but there is less of that for up and coming. Like you kind of have to be there already to get seen. Like it's not likely at all that people like our sponsors are just looking of people who just ride well and they're like, oh, buy you. Like it's less likely, it's much harder, and because that top tier is so small, there's the whole rest of us are trying to like get there, but there's like limited amount of people that want to sponsor riders and all of those usually go to the top, that stay at the top, like you're saying, for a long time.
Speaker 1:At what point? I mean, this kind of goes back to your journey, but like, at what point do riders start to have those conversations with brands and think about sponsorships and maybe talk to high net worth individuals who would want to buy our horses or subsidize or whatever that might be? What's that threshold? But was that for you and what do you think that is just across the industry?
Speaker 2:I think it depends on each person. At least I've always felt and you know, maybe I'm wrong that I always felt like I had something to prove before I was able to ask for stuff. Like I have to prove myself without help to be able to go and ask and for people to give. But I think part of that is wrong, because maybe some people just believe in you and then they can give you a chance and then you can do all these things. So I think it depends on the person. What when they like start reaching out to people and some people are lucky and then they just know someone and then they're like oh, you know what, I'll buy your horse. I've heard those stories too, but it's, I mean, like owners are so rare, like it's very, very rare. It's not like all of the people that if you look at the Grand Prix list, most of those people don't have owners. They're doing trying to do it on their own, but yeah, anymore owners that support the sport.
Speaker 4:So how does that two tier system affect the sport or affect the people in the bottom, in the second tier? So I mean, logic would tell you that the end result of all this is that the people who are in the second tier, they get fed up with the fact that, like this reality is something that you can, it's almost impossible to overcome and therefore they would lose interest and they would drop out until eventually that second tier of people disappear. Now that obviously hasn't happened. So how does that reality affect the lower riders who are trying to make that gap? How does it affect their I don't want to say mental health, because that might be an extreme phrase to attach to it, but how does it affect their motivation, how does it affect their attitude towards what is achievable, their desire to continue with the sport, etc. And does it have big systemic ramifications on the future of the sport?
Speaker 2:I think there's a lot of things here, but I think some of them just accept it, you know, accept that this is where they're going to get and if they get lucky in the future, like they might find a young horse, that's amazing and get them to the top that they can afford, or just simply accept that that's where they're going to stand.
Speaker 2:They might move a little bit higher, might move a little bit lower, but they're just going to stay there and then the people at the top are going to keep staying at the top and then you have unique individuals that are just fighting their way up. But you just get a few of them going up. So I think it's just that, and because the sport is big and a lot of people practice it, people keep coming up and then reaching a point. But you can see, I mean a lot of people stop riding after they they or like stop doing it super competitively after they age out of being a junior or a U-25 young rider. When you have to choose, like either you go professional and go into this really, really tough life because you have to fund it yourself and don't really have like the super mega means, or you find a job like a normal person on like some people's parents also like okay, like you're old enough, like it's time.
Speaker 2:If you want to do it, you have to find it yourself, if not, you have to get a job.
Speaker 1:I've heard at 18, where most kids have to make the decision between riding in college at the 1st and 5th age.
Speaker 2:Most kids make it at 18. But then with the category, the U-25 category, sometimes, like we have riders that are under 25 will get people sending them horses to jump them in those categories. So it kind of leads a little bit more of a gap. But yeah, definitely 18 is like the first drop off point.
Speaker 4:How much? I mean, how much are we talking here? If you, if you decide at 25 years of age, god damn it, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna go ahead with it, I'm gonna try and compete, I'm gonna continue my passion. But they also don't have an owner slash, sponsor and they don't come from wealth. How much do they realistic? They want to try and compete at like a five-star level, right, or they want to get to a five-star level. How much, realistically, are they having to figure out how much to afford each year to maintain that lifestyle and that competitive quality? Are we talking like $60,000 a year? They need to figure out how to spend on just the logistics and then at least $200,000.
Speaker 4:So $100,000 a year to participate and then not even to do like.
Speaker 2:I would say that's not even to do like FEI, like that's just to jump in the A rated shows. I mean there's so many ways you can do this sport too. Like you can have a farm in the middle of nowhere and go to like specific shows, or you can rent the farm half the year in Wellington and then go like there's. So like there's a huge range of possibilities that you can do. It just depends on what you choose to do. But I would say I mean, if you want to maintain a horse, it's a doing shows. It's at least $100,000 a year for one horse, and that doesn't include the purchasing of the horse.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and your own lifestyle cost to keep a roof over your head. So for riders like you at your level, is there a? Do you live with a constant stress of like how am I gonna get $30,000 for like the next month? I guess what I'm getting at is for your average person who's in their 20s who has a normal job. They spend like their entire 20s being like how am I gonna save up $70,000 so I can get a mortgage right?
Speaker 4:Yet people in their 20s who ride as a sport it's not even their lifestyle. I like how do I get $200,000 a year? That's an insane amount of money to constantly be thinking about. How do I earn this much money when I don't have a full-time job, like my job is? Unless you can't say all my goal, my strategy is I'm just gonna win grand prize and get big prize purses, because hardly anyone does that and it usually goes to the person who's got a million dollar horse. So how do riders in your position who aren't in that top bracket, how do you guys like think on an annual basis about how you keep the trains running? And do you live in a constant stress of like how am I gonna afford this?
Speaker 2:In all honesty, right now I don't afford it by myself. Like my parents are still supporting me and luckily I have a few, a couple more years that I've given me until I have to do it all myself, but I am. That's like. That's what I've been working on for the past two years since I left, like out of college, is how do I make money to be able to support this by myself? And it's been a mix of having some sale horses, but it's also a lot of investment.
Speaker 2:When you have sale horses you also lose a lot of money. Having clients that's a big, big help, because when you have a client, like, not only do they help you get training fees, but you also they help you with the costs of having a groom, of the groom's stays, because in this part we basically pay for everything for the groom except for their, like, daily food and sometimes even that at shows. So it's like a lot. You're like supporting a whole other or two people's lives, or more if you have more horses. So that's what I've been working on is like being more independent and now at least I can pay, like my own bills every month, but I'm putting back money back into the business, but I'm still not able to fully finance it myself.
Speaker 1:Maybe this is a good segue into the social media, because that was, if I'm understanding correctly, it was part of your strategy of going and investing in your social media and putting out really great content to grow your following, to attract brands and sponsors and just get more eyeballs. That could lead to subsidizing the riding.
Speaker 4:And before you just do a deep dive on your social media, because that is where most people who are listening probably know you from is because of your social following. So, zooming that out a little bit, if it is that expensive on a you know, an annual basis and people need to figure out creative ways to be able to afford it and they're not in that top category, they don't have an owner or a sponsor what are some of the ways, what are the strategies that people in your position are using to be able to earn the revenue they need to do that?
Speaker 2:So one become a trainer is an avenue. You become a trainer and then you get commissioned on horse sales, on horse leases, and you get training and all that. That's one avenue that many, many people take to an addition to or just doing sale horse business, buying younger horses or scouting horses that maybe just need some training and some results and then you sell them for more when you've put that work in. I think those are the two main ways that you can do it. The third is obviously like you just if you're doing super well and have like a great horse, and then you can somehow manage to do it with the price money and like live month by month hoping that you're going to win enough money to cover your fees. But that is very much not a stable job because anything can go up and down or your horse can go lame or you know that's just a zero stability.
Speaker 2:Other people get side jobs to cover it or maybe jobs in the same industry, like maybe a store at the horse show and you start working there or working with like a question Tax shops or stuff like that, like people also will do that. Or again like get a different kind of jobs, like as a rider for other people, flat rider or People will start grooming, you know, like trying to whatever they can do, to script by being a manager. If you want to stay in the business, I think there's definitely things you can do, but none of them sound super. I mean, not so many of them don't sound super fun. I'm sure they would want to just be doing 24-7 riding, because it's a sport and we want to be able to focus on it the whole time to be better, like others. Of course you focus on it the whole time and you're able to, but you don't have this huge expense of maintaining Big, big pet.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:They care of. You have vet bills. Now there's the social media Avenue.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so before you get into the social stuff, everything you just mentioned there, besides, for lack of a better term, flipping sources, right, flipping horses, so horse sales. The others, I can't imagine, pay that well, so is flipping horses the main way that most people afford it. It's like I'm gonna ride, I'm gonna get some training hours in.
Speaker 2:I think the main way people afforded is training, honestly, because then you get a little bit of bull, both, you know you get a little bit of. If you have a lot of clients, then they can kind of pays for the business and then you can have use your income for the horses and when you sell them horses or you gain commissions and all of that, I think that's the main way that people have done it. They'll horses. That just depends because one you have to like first make a name of yourself and like people need to know that you have sale horses and the sale horses you bring are good and that you are trustworthy in the business. And then you know it's a whole investment. You stuff to have some money to invest or like have partners. I mean, though, a lot of the riders and questions are hustlers, because they have this Desire to compete and be in the horse world, but the pressing weight of the fact that it's so expensive and you have to make a living. So everybody does what they can, I think all right.
Speaker 4:So that's the historic path. You are at the bleeding edge of kind of the new approach to how do we afford this? That isn't those typical paths. So you're well known for your social media account and being a content creator and influencer for lack of a better term to basically Create brand awareness, create a celebrity around yourself that then attracts attention. That then hopefully will attract Brand sponsorship deals. That will then give you a source of income that allows you to spend more time training and riding.
Speaker 1:So we can't tell a quick story from over the weekend that Gabby will like. So we went to a clinic. I was, this Olympic eventer was teaching outside Austin, so we stopped by and someone there so she's a friend of ours she was like, oh my god, I saw that you've partnered with Gabby. I love her. I'm a huge fan. I've been following her for years. I can't believe you know Gabby. It was like she was, and this is an event in clinic.
Speaker 2:Actually I've been stopped at the show three times now of people and like moms, of riders, and it's so cute and I was just like one of like just hang out with them.
Speaker 1:That's also a cool moment to really stop and appreciate of wow, when you first came to Wellington, right, that was think about then versus now. Like that's super special right now. All right, so you can jump back in.
Speaker 4:I just want to say so when you, so you obviously it's working. Right, it's taken some time, but your strategy is working, that you've created content, that content has worked and just only get some celebrity from it and that's bringing in some income. But when you first started out on this path, did you do it intentionally, thinking like maybe this is a way I can break out Proficient model to make some money to be able to supplement this income?
Speaker 2:or it was all kind of happy. No, it was a happy, I like a super, super happy accident, honestly, actually. Like I think a little bit it started before this when like blogging was kind of common and I Did some of it like I would do, like some. I was called ride and balance my blog, but no, it was more like like and I would just write about I don't know funny stuff, like things only question, understand or like Problems in the paddock and like stuff that now I would do and make a video though, but at that time I would write about it. I think a little bit people like follow to that, but it was more my friends, I just didn't do it.
Speaker 2:For when I started social media, I Like started it with just my professional account, thinking like, okay, I'm gonna this is what I'm gonna do to like show that I'm like becoming a professional and like Hopefully get sponsors for like clothing and stuff like that. And I think it was when I started my Instagram for my just my professional account. I think it was probably 28, maybe 2018, but I just posted like results and stuff like that, like nothing to Nothing more than just that. And then I think 2021 Was when I started with like all this, like tick-tock stuff. It's just like I'm just gonna like funny stuff that happens, I'll just post it. And then I posted this video of combing my horses tail. Like how do like comb your horses tail? And then, and then the fact that I like purposely put shavings on my horses tail to rush it off and I just put that on. Take that because I thought it was funny and it went super viral like Millions of views, and I was just like what I guess people like funny and I wasn't posting anything on Instagram. I was like I'm gonna keep my Instagram professional, it's just gonna be writing stuff like nothing.
Speaker 2:But then I started like this tick-tock thing on the side and I was like okay, like if you go find this funny, maybe they'll find other stuff funny, like I can be funny. But slowly I just started posting random videos every now and then, like not really with a purpose or anything, and they did well and blah, blah, blah. And Then I think it's like when I started to get like pretty serious was probably like two years ago that I was like Okay, but again I didn't have any like really brand things. I think a couple brands would like send me clothes that I'd wear and I just do a video. But I wouldn't. Nothing big or anything like that. But that's when a brand started to reach. I was like, oh like, I will pay you X amount for a video. I was like, oh wait, I can make money off of this.
Speaker 1:What is that where it started? So it was really the brand saying, hey, we want to pay you for this. Was that kind of the pivotal moment of you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think I had like one like maybe like a Of something, about like a treat or something, and then I was like, oh, okay, but it wasn't really like my Goal.
Speaker 2:I think I like making funny videos and I coming people off, and then I started making my Educational videos because, like, I was learning things and I was like, oh, maybe people will find it interesting and it'll be, and I know, I know that people don't know this about horses and they should and and then, two years ago probably, I started posting the same things on Instagram and then it started doing really well and I actually like Instagram better than I like TikTok, because I feel like it makes more of a community versus TikTok.
Speaker 2:It's like a hit or miss with videos and I think it just kind of like slowly started growing, growing, growing, growing. And then I was like, okay, like I have like this whole platform, how can I, if I'm not at least making money, how can I save money, you know? And that's when it was like, okay, like, if I get sponsors and I show them that I am an up-and-coming writer, but I also have this big platform, I can start partnering with brands that I've really wanted to work with and that I actually really genuinely like, and you know, be able to partner with them and give them the platform, while they give me the products that I can use for, like tech equipment, products for my horses, products for myself, like all this stuff that saves me a lot of money that I would have to either pay I mean, I am paying it with my time and my efforts and all of the stuff that I've been doing but it's just, you know.
Speaker 1:then I can, like use that money to go to more shows or stuff like that have you thought about kind of touching upon with like at the point of reaching out to brands and other people reaching out to brands and communicating with sponsors and stuff? What about the non-Aquastrian brands that do other athletics, so like Athletic Greens or Electrolyte Salts or any kind of therapeutic stuff for athletes that you see in basically every other industry, but the equestrian industry? Has that been on your radar? Or do you think on anyone else's radar? Because you know we obviously talk about this a lot, which is non-Aquastrian brands and look into the equestrian space like a slam dunk market. Mostly women, really passionate people, I think more than ever now are taking fitness and mental health and just overall athleticism more seriously than they had in years past. I just feel like it's a right market for non-Aquastrian brands. So is that something that you think others look toward or that you look toward? How do you think about the non-Aquastrian brands that should be playing in this space?
Speaker 2:I mean, I definitely want to work with more non-Aquastrian brands, especially like brands and stuff that I use and that I like day to day. But I think it's tough because I don't know if they realize how big the equestrian world is, but I don't know. That's a work in progress. Yeah, For me at least.
Speaker 4:So I don't know if you have any ideas at the top of your head, but beyond creating content and then using your platform to do basically products and services etc. Have you got any other thoughts about what are some other ways in which up and coming riders in your position can make money beyond the traditional ways? So you can create content, you can sell courses, you could train virtually rather than having to train physically. Have you explored any of those ideas and thought about how you could do that?
Speaker 1:Host clinics on Pegasus.
Speaker 4:Host clinics on Pegasus, of course.
Speaker 2:I'm working on trying to get a clinic soon. I just want to get a little bit more experience teaching so that I'm really good when I do it, because I have all the basics and I have all the knowledge, but it's like I've been practicing on being able to explain it and have that go through, but it's going really well. So I definitely have clinics in mind. I want to do that and I would love to do online courses or at least online tips and creating a little bit of a different community of people that can't necessarily either travel to train with me or just want to talk and get advice and ask questions. I'm definitely looking towards doing that because I love connecting with people and I get a lot of messages of people asking me like hi, can I send you a video of me riding and can you tell me what I'm doing wrong? Or they send me a photo and there's a lot I can do there and I think if it helps people, I would love to be able to put some time off, because I do like teaching a lot more than I thought I would actually, and I think it's really fun.
Speaker 2:It's nice to connect with the person, to see it, and I think it also really helps me in my riding because I kind of get to explain it to someone as well as seeing the fruits of when you teach someone to do something and how that is working. It's one thing when you're doing it yourself, but it's another thing when you can help someone else do it and that's super fulfilling. So I'd love to do that more and teach more, even if it's virtually or just giving tips and how I can help people with small details of things they can work on With a little bit I do in my videos. You know like some of the videos I do are like here's how you can get better at doing this. These are exercises you can do with your horse and I think people really like that. So maybe that's something I can do in the future.
Speaker 4:Cool, right, okay, so I think we've got to use an expression that I shouldn't use. I think we've completed that topic to attend. So the next thing I want to talk about is and by the time this podcast goes live, you will have announces publicly. So is that you are joining one of the new show jumping leagues. So do you just want to give people a bit of a summary of kind of what that is and what the situation is, and then we can go in deep about what these leagues are and how they get on a fixed spot and a thank you to giving us a reason to travel to beautiful places across North America with you.
Speaker 2:Of course, and me getting closer to you guys as well. Yeah, so this year I will be part of the eye candy team in major league major league show jumping. It is a league that started a couple of years ago and it's just improving every year and getting better and better Again. This is a league that I've seen from afar. For now I've been at a couple of shows where I've seen the competition but not really experienced it. So I can't really talk about experience yet. We're going to have to have part two of this podcast at some point with my experience in major league. But yeah, so you know how.
Speaker 2:In Europe they have all the GCT league and I think it's a little bit trying to do that here in the States.
Speaker 2:It's basically 10 events you have. Each event is run like a normal show, plus there is a team event one day in that week and you compete with your team. So this league again it started a few years ago it's trying to compete and get the level of the sport here in the US as it is in Europe. I think a lot of riders used to be here for Wef and then go to Europe, so this league and things like this are making riders that are based out of North America stay, because before major league there were only maybe four five star shows in the US and the year, and two of those were during Wef. The other two like one in the Hamptons, one was Gold Cup and that was pretty much it versus. Now, in addition to the five stars in Wef, there's 10 five star shows that are part of this major league and they move around in North America to our Mexico, fewer in Canada and then some in around the world like West and East Coast around the US.
Speaker 4:Right. So these are USCF licensed shows.
Speaker 2:Yes, USCF and FDI.
Speaker 4:Right, okay, so essentially so the way that, because I was wondering, like you as a rider, how, if you're going to participate in this private league, for lack of a better term how then do you plan your career or your season being like, well, I don't want to jump my horses too much in case they get injured, and if I have to choose between the private league and the USCF licensed shows, then how am I going to get the points I need to get to the Olympics slash but also compete in this league? But because these leagues are part of the USCF ecosystem, you can basically just compete in these to get what you require to qualify for the USCF point system.
Speaker 1:In that instance then is there an advantage to doing the major league over, say, the Long Genes Tour, because at least in the major league you get USCF points, whereas I'd imagine if you're competing in Monaco you might get FEI points but you wouldn't get USCF points. Is that a fair statement?
Speaker 2:I think in this, for this particular question, you're talking to the wrong person because I don't care about USCF points. I mean they mean nothing to me, like FEI points mean and I'm in the world ranking and that's basically it. But you set points doesn't do me anything because I'm not from the US and when they choose teams for certain things they're not going to look at my use of points like they're going to see how I'm doing with the world ranking and in comparison with other Chilean riders in my case.
Speaker 2:But I think, at least for a lot of people in the US, fei points for, like big, big competitions are a big deal and results then, and I'm not sure how much they actually use USF points. But again, I think that would be a better question for someone who is from the States. But yeah, you don't have to choose in this case, like you're going to get USF and FEI points because, well, the ones that are, you know, in the States, there's some that are in Canada and Major League and in Mexico, so I guess that you would only get FEI points anyways.
Speaker 4:I don't know if you have insight into this, because you don't care about USF points, but how do these, these 10 new shows that are now on in the US or North America? Has there been any controversy about how they've gotten dates based on, like you know, the zoning? The mileage rules and stuff, or because they are five star and therefore FEI do they kind of, and they sit outside that system and therefore they're able to go wherever they want, whenever they want.
Speaker 2:I don't know enough about this, but I mean, every you always have to work with the mileage rules and the stuff that they've had to work around, but I think, because everybody is focused on having more, or like the main thing of like having more FEI five star shows and like increasing the competition, and potentially, I think they also want to attract people from Europe and European writers to come to the US to do this major league stuff and other leagues that might show up after that. Yeah, I don't know how it has affected other shows. What happened, too, though, was because each of these shows is still a normal show. Like you don't have to be in a major league team to show here. Like in that show, you can still show and pay your entry FEI fees. You just won't be in the team event, because that's specifically for major league. Like you can still jump in the Grand Prix. Like you can still be in.
Speaker 2:The show is just less expensive if you buy, like, the package deal for major league, because when you're in a major league team, like you get those entries. Like it's included. Like you get two five star entry shows and two horses at the two star level, because there's always five star, two star in all of these shows versus if you're just doing the show, you have to. You know you have to pay for the show but you can still participate. So there's not really a conflict in the sense that, like, they're still like that. If I show, it's just now part of the major league and there's team events and then there's points for team and individual people that are competing in the major league.
Speaker 4:So they're not. So they're not new shows, they're just major show league classes within existing shows.
Speaker 2:Some are new and some are existing. Yeah, like now, gold cup that used to not be major league is a major league show, but it's also the gold cup show.
Speaker 1:There's the major league stuff in it so with the major league stuff in, say the five star, is it only people that are on the teams that can compete? Or anyone okay, so anyone can, but it's like the teams Are also competing for like, a separate like prize, if you will like, whoever one.
Speaker 2:yeah, they're competing over the course of the annual season yeah, and you also get like there's others like individual rankings for the major league, and you get like bonuses at the end of the year, depending on where you ended.
Speaker 2:Thank, you Point bonuses, bonuses cash bonuses okay, cool right who are the sponsors of major league? Yeah, I don't know all of them, but so the way the major league works is that there's eight teams and all of those teams have owners. Like they're owned by someone, and then the owner either has people pay for their spot or they invite you in and they take care of your spot for the team and, like, different owners do different deals for different like and I don't know all of them, because that's how each owner works. Like they either charge you, they invite you, they maybe they take some of your prize money, like there's. They just negotiate with the riders of how it's gonna work and from there there's eight teams and then there's six riders per team and then for the team event, only three riders compete of those six.
Speaker 4:How do they decide which three?
Speaker 2:whoever, it depends on the, on the deal that the owners have, but usually it's like whoever is doing better that we.
Speaker 2:whoever horses they're jumping better, and like then the owner and it just like hands like I'm sure some other people have, like different deals, but the way that at least I can be, it's like whoever seems like it's more fit that week to jump in the team will do it, but everybody will get to participate at some point. Who's on your team? On my team? It's bliss. Here's Roberto Teran, amy Miller, paul Shay, nicolette hurt.
Speaker 4:So okay. So if I can sum this up, so essentially the major show league is a new is basically the long jeans global champion tour for North America. They basically they have is 10. They have 10 shows over the course of a year that qualify for the points that ultimately goes towards the tally at the end of the year for who wins the league. So you can basically follow these riders and these competitions through these 10 events over the course of a year. At the end of the year they will announce the winners as Individual riders who have the most points, and they will announce the winners of which teams collectively have the most points.
Speaker 4:For the individual riders.
Speaker 4:If you do well and you get ranked high, you get cash bonuses.
Speaker 4:So there's a financial incentive for the riders to want to do well as an individual and then as the teams, they sub in the best three riders per event and then which team has the most points collectively after 10 events they get awarded the championship at the end of the year.
Speaker 4:So it's basically price and cash price for the team as well. It essentially is leveraging a lot of. It is leveraging existing events and, just like qualifying, make some classes and classifying them as show league classes, some of the menu events, but it's more just of an effort to get the fan base to be able to track a season in the way that other sports have a season and be invested in the storyline of which teams beating which other team and which riders doing the best of the course of the events, just to give it like some Mental structure that allows fans to engage in the sport yeah, definitely that is a big big part of it and, like you're saying, like it is weather sports, because usually for us is like One competition or like every now and then there's a championship that you follow, but it's not like a whole league.
Speaker 2:so that is A big big part of it and I think a big incentive is to hire up the standard of shows in North America and the visibility of these events. There's also the opportunity to be on tour and go show to show and that's what you do in your year. Not all the riders have to go to all the shows but in my case, like I'm going to go to all 10 shows and like live out the full major league experience and it means it's a lot of traveling still fun.
Speaker 1:Since joining the tour. How is that impacted what was your traditional riding, your show season?
Speaker 2:yeah, I think I haven't made my exact plan, but it definitely changes a lot of things, because usually I would stay here until the end of April and then travel to New Jersey, based out of New Jersey, and do the shows in the east coast and kind of stick to that and then back to Wellington, versus now, like the first show is in Canada, in Vancouver. So I'm going to have to like completely relapse to see if I ever go to Kentucky first and then from there go to Vancouver. Maybe I'll do like a week of spruce meadows, because the first show is in May but then all the other ones start like in August. It's kind of like I don't know why, but it's just like there's one and then everything the league officially starts like August to end of December. So it'll definitely change how I do my plan and my year, especially since usually my year would end like in October, early November, and now my year is going to end in Middle of December.
Speaker 2:So that's going to change A lot of things. Like I'm the between the breaks that I get my horses, because it's a lot of showing, so I have to make sure that they have enough time to rest and you know we all have enough time to rest. So it's just going to definitely switch my year into something different and different travel, because I'm not, I'm not going to stay in the east coast, I'm going to go to Vancouver, then I'm going to go to. I can, I can read you the tentative schedule, but I mean there's like shows then near Toronto and then there's shows that you go to Michigan and then you go to Like Mexico for two weeks and then you go to California. So it's like you're traveling like really all across Everything and I've never done anything like that. So I'm like really excited.
Speaker 1:And is it one of those things too that's similar to longings, where they really are trying to put on a spectacle and they're in incredible location, so like in Vancouver? It's not like, oh, it's actually In our own half outside Vancouver, but it's somewhere like in the city, in a really beautiful spot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like a big part of that is to get more and more like high locations and like make it super beautiful and like create like a whole thing of that week, like I I know this because of social media, but I think to get the start of the teams like they do like a competition between the riders of like a mini golf or something like that, and that's where you get like the team start list and, based on how they do, like the mini golf for the team. You know, like each team has a mascot. I don't know what it is this year. Are you in the mascot?
Speaker 4:You're on the team, and you've also got to be the mascot.
Speaker 2:I can be has like Miss I can be and she like travels to the shows and like wear shiny clothing and I get really close. I think that's a mascot. Maybe I'm gonna yell that, because I don't know this.
Speaker 4:Besides, besides, the carrot at the end of all this, which is the ability to win, like seasonal prize money I'm not a lot of money at all of these shows to points and a lot of the riders that can't like to get to five star shows in Europe.
Speaker 2:You have to be in super good ranking, like five hundred, up like in the five hundred, and you're competing with a lot of people and like sometimes the shows are so good that they're only take like in the top 100. And like if you're part of a majorly show you're immediately in.
Speaker 2:You know you don't need that right, so it's like right so last year for me wasn't a good year, like regards to ranking, because I lost a lot of my ranking points. So this is really great for me because I get to do all these shows and hopefully Re-damp my ranking again so for you?
Speaker 4:so, yeah, so that basically ends my question. So for you, as a rider who's, you know, approached and offered the opportunity to participate in this and you're thinking about, is this something worth doing? As much as the money is a nice to have, at the end, for you, it's more like the real draw card, is like basically guaranteed entry into these five star shows and allows me to like plan my year plan with some sense of consistency. It's a known constant in how you can plan your year, your budget and everything, and on top of that, it's also just like a very fun, glitzy social experience.
Speaker 1:That's also interesting to your point. So some shows they only allow a certain number. So therefore, if you're trying to up your ranks but you can't get into a certain show because your ranks are good enough, now you're like stuck. So this guarantees you getting there and now you have the ability to improve them because you're in the show. So how? I don't think we talked about this, but how do you Is a trial for it. I mean, I know there's like invites, but if people are like, oh, should I really want to get on to the major league, how would they go about doing it if they're not just automatically invited?
Speaker 2:I mean you reach out to the owners and talk to them and see like if they would want to.
Speaker 4:Did you reach out to you?
Speaker 2:for I can do. I think it's funny because Erica, with I can be, had been following me for a while and like responding to so for like stuff like that. And then, like I knew that she had this major league team and I messaged her. I was like I would really love to be on your team and this was not the end of last year but the year before. I wanted to see if I could be part of it and I actually messaged her to lay into the. We already have our teams. But, like, message me in the next year and then we can see. And I did and she was, like you know, like I love you are, love your content, I know you're an upcoming writer, I really want to give you a chance. And so that's how I, like you know, I met her and then I like actually, you know, met her in person and we talked and, yeah, I was invited to be on eye candy and I think, yeah, it's super amazing.
Speaker 2:So I guess this is another thing that I've Been able to achieve through social media.
Speaker 4:Yeah, exactly, I was gonna say like it just goes to show, like everyone goes with his life oblivious to everything, like you don't know what you don't know right. And so so often it's the people who put stuff out into the world that get noticed, and whether they're the best at what they do or they're not the best at what they do, but they're the only one who puts content out there. It's just being noticed that makes the difference. So in your case, you put content out there and it started to work and your first thought process was like, well, if I can do this, well, I can get some brand dealerships and that might be able to supplement some of my income and cut some of my cost. That's great.
Speaker 4:But the intangible that you weren't expecting that came out of it was that you attracted attention. The company that runs, you know, the one sponsor who runs this one team on the major show league Was like I, like Gabby, she's a good writer, but more than that, if I invite her that she's going to share her content social media, that's going to expand the awareness of my team, that'll expand the awareness of the major show league, that'll get more audience. And so you have become a good business asset to them, because you are most likely going to create great content about it and I'll get that marketing value for free through you. So it's just one of those things. It's like if you, if you listen to this, you try to figure out well, how do I afford this lifestyle? Just creating content and putting it out there means that you will get noticed, and if you get noticed, then you can't foresee what value is going to come from that down the road.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I slid into Gabby's DMs and here we are.
Speaker 2:It was actually for the podcast and then we started talking and then it was like it was whole other things. Yeah, I know it's crazy, two minute thing you're like I want to be part of this.
Speaker 1:Wait, wait, wait, wait. You're doing what?
Speaker 2:Another key lesson.
Speaker 4:If you don't ask, you don't get. Well, yeah, I mean some of those things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think people don't really utilize it to its potential or the or the creative photo, and they'll be able to create a new product or the creative photo and they'll post it because they feel like they have to. But there's just so much more. It's like if you put out there what you believe in and you find your tribe and you never know what's going to come of it. It's like we've met so many interesting people just from talking about the industry Forget, like Pegasus and the event management system, which is talking about things and challenges, and we say out loud what people think and then they reach out and just kind of spiral. So that's super exciting. Thanks for bringing us to Vancouver with you soon, that's a great trip you can come to all my shows.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can take us to some of those places like the Hamptons. You can get down to Florida, so kind of you.
Speaker 2:Maybe someday I can actually pay for your trips. I'm going to pay for my trips, that's on us, we'll pay for the trips.
Speaker 2:I'll entertain, I'll be your clown, no. But I think a big thing to highlight, though, with creating content and stuff is, at least for me, like it has to be genuine. The stuff that I post I actually care about. One I don't accept anybody I'm not like okay, I'm just going to pay you the money, can you post this? If I don't like it, if I haven't tried it?
Speaker 2:Because at the end of the day, I'm also a professional in the sport, you know I'm not going to advocate for things that I don't think are good or right for myself or the horses. So it's a little bit like you have this, yeah, influencer, content creator status, but for me it's about being genuine, being authentic, having me as a professional and, at the same time, educating and showing things to people that I actually care about, and not just doing it for the money, because, at least in my aspect, that's just not the way that I want to be remembered or portrayed, or I don't want people to just think it's like, oh, she's just doing this to make money. No, I'm doing this because I actually care about the industry and the sport. And then, yeah, there's people that I partner with that I do want to give them a voice, and I work hard to do it in the best way that I can.
Speaker 1:I think the people that do I don't want to say sell out, but the ones that just do it for the money In my opinion it just becomes like a billboard, like the brands that are promoted by influencers that I know have really vetted them I actually take that product seriously because I know they really like that and they stand behind it Versus the ones that it's a new day, a new company that they're promoting and there's no real attachment to it. And then, furthermore, there's instances where you as an influencer who attaches yourself to a particular brand that you haven't really vetted or believed in, and then something goes wrong with that brand, will great. Now you're attached to it. So if there's a scandal or it didn't work properly or there was some kind of problem, you, as a person that were advocating for it, kind of go down with them. So I think that when people can just so quickly collaborate or partner with someone without really doing their due diligence or believing in it, I think it's a sure sighted.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's a short term cash grab.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, yeah, I always try to connect long, sorry, Sam but I always try to connect and do like long term partnerships. Think about long term and not fast and just get by.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, now you can do your and.
Speaker 1:Thank you very much for joining us today.
Speaker 4:And you know that was awesome. There's a really good insight into. It's good for people to hear about the realities of when you are trying to make this sport work, so that not so that scare people off, but more so that people can be like, okay, like this is the reality, this is the situation, this is how you overcome it, what's my plan of attack and how do I get after it. So that was awesome. And then the show jumping stuff, school. I'm looking forward to watching it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm pumped. This is great Plan your trip guys. I know we gotta get down to Florida. It's 18 degrees here and perfectly sunny and well, I know it's raining a bit, but it was cold yesterday.
Speaker 2:I don't know what it was in Fahrenheit, but it was like I woke up and I was like, oh, is it gonna rain? And I was like it's eight degrees Celsius, it's really cold. I don't know what that is in Fahrenheit, but look it up later.
Speaker 4:I don't know, that is in Fahrenheit.
Speaker 2:I just, I just, I just.
Speaker 4:I just didn't learn the conversion. I just started. I just learned what 70.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's 46. It's 46 Fahrenheit, that's how it was cool.
Speaker 4:All right, okay, gotcha there you go.
Speaker 1:It's a high of like 40.
Speaker 2:No, wait Sam, why don't you know Celsius?
Speaker 4:No, I do know Celsius, but what I'm saying is I don't know what, so I didn't learn to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit. When I had to learn Fahrenheit, I just abandoned Celsius and I just learned what 70 degrees Fahrenheit felt like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what I did too.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm like I didn't find you 72 degrees Celsius is 22.
Speaker 2:No, 22 degrees Celsius is 72 degrees Fahrenheit, and that's the temperature I use for everything. That's all I know Amazing. Well, thank you very much.
Speaker 4:And we'll speak to you soon, no doubt.
Speaker 1:I will see you in Florida. I'm booking my flight now.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for listening to the latest episode of the Pegasus podcast. As you heard from our mid role, our equestrian event management platform is now available to use. Now it's easier than ever to host, sign up and sponsor for any equestrian event in the world, thanks to all the features of the Pegasus app. To sign up, go to our homepage at wwwthepegasusapp. That is wwwthepegasusapp. See you next time.