Community

Horse Spot's mission is to support equestrians in competition, celebrate the community, and foster growth in the sport at all levels. The company actively engages with its community to guide the development of new features, ensuring they align with the needs of both exhibitors and show managers.

As a horse show technology platform, Horse Spot is deeply committed to enhancing the horse show experience. Their dedication to being part of the community is evident through initiatives like horse show pop-ups, including a “friendship-making booth.” Recently, Horse Spot introduced an advocate program, allowing exhibitors to shadow professionals at shows. For instance, Michael has had young riders shadow him while judging jumper rings, teaching them how to count strides and operate the buzzer. These moments outside of the competition ring are key to shaping the next generation of equestrians.

Building Better Exhibitor Experiences

Imagine a horse show experience tailored just for you—complete with personalized profiles, the ability to update your own class schedule, and real-time results at your fingertips. Horse Spot has redefined horse show navigation with intuitive dashboards designed specifically for show managers, exhibitors, trainers, and even horse show photographers. Finding and following your favorite shows is easier than ever, thanks to a feature (coming in 2025) that allows you to track venues you frequent and save upcoming horse shows you’d like to attend.

Adding to the excitement, Horse Spot is rolling out its live scoring feature, offering real-time updates for spectators and participants. For jumper classes, this includes live timing, fault tracking, and the all-important time to beat. In hunter classics and medals, scores for both the first and second rounds will be displayed, including the top score to beat. This live scoring feature will also expand to other disciplines, like dressage, as Horse Spot continues to grow.

Looking ahead to 2025, Horse Spot will introduce customizable rider profiles, enabling equestrians to showcase their bios, accolades, and achievements. This feature will help riders—both professionals and amateurs—expand their network, build their following, and highlight their expertise.

Using Best Practices in Technology & Security

Horse Spot prioritizes the security and privacy of its users by implementing best security practices throughout its platform. The company encrypts all personally identifiable information, significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized access. Horse Spot adheres to high-security standards across every level of its tech stack, ensuring robust protection. By utilizing Stripe Connect, the platform empowers users to manage their payment methods securely while meeting PCI compliance requirements. Furthermore, Horse Spot collaborates with organizations to ensure the proper and safe use of its APIs, fostering a secure environment for all users and building trust throughout the equine industry.

Streamlining Workflows for Show Managers

Horse show companies can streamline their entire business with one tool, bringing together online entries, show operations, logistics, and payment processing to maximize productivity. But Horse Spot offers more than just efficiency—managers can enhance their marketing efforts with automated social media templates, generated print-outs, and leverage customer data analytics to strengthen relationships.

Horse Spot empowers teams with robust administrative features, allowing show managers to invite other staff to collaborate seamlessly on a single event. Our intuitive dashboards and workspaces make it easy to automate routine tasks, such as duplicating past shows. Managers can work smarter by swiftly handling entry changes and updating results in real-time. From managing small tasks to organizing an entire horse show series, Horse Spot gives managers the tools they need to handle it all. It’s everything you need to run the ultimate horse show.

Improving Financial Operations and Payment Processing

Horse Spot is powered by Stripe, enabling managers to centralize their payment data and access detailed financial reporting—all in one place. Setting up a Stripe account and processing transactions through Horse Spot takes just minutes. Stripe’s integration ensures fast, reliable payouts to bank accounts, with no setup or monthly fees—just simple, per-transaction pricing.

Horse Spot gives admin users the flexibility to customize their own transaction fees. And coming in 2025, managers will be able to streamline payments even further with mobile payment links. These remote links can be sent via phone or email, eliminating the need to visit the show office for payments.

Currently, managers can accept payments directly from their dashboard, where they can also view their account summaries, prize money, and outstanding balances—all in one convenient place.

Providing Exceptional Customer Support

The Horse Spot team of founders is there for you when you need them most. Horse Spot prioritizes and puts emphasis on ensuring its customers have the best experience. When onboarding new clients, they offer welcome packages, support with data migration, demonstrations, and video chat services to ensure horse shows are set up for success from the start. You may also find their co-founder, Michael on-site at some of these shows getting staff up and running as the on-site show secretary or judge while simultaneously getting the show comfortable with using Horse Spot.

Building Strong Partnerships

Horse Spot is dedicated to partnering with other equine brands that share their commitment to advancing technology in the sport and strengthening equestrian communities. Horse Spot is proud to collaborate with respected businesses, individuals, and organizations that celebrate diverse backgrounds and a mutual passion for horses. At Horse Spot, they believe this is how people come together and how communities thrive.

Growing up riding in Chicago, all founders felt their trainers and barn mates—both big and small—were like family, and that bond remains strong to this day. This sense of community never fades. As a family-run business, Horse Spot is built on the values they learned during their early days at the barn, and they are committed to working with partners who share those same values. That’s why we’re excited to partner with them.

Michael and Christopher began riding at a young age at Kinvarra Farm, under the guidance of the Sassmannshausen family, where they would hack ponies together and build forts in the hay bales. Reflecting on his childhood at the farm, Christopher says, “I’m proud of the work Ryan Sassmannshausen and his team at Questri has done to push equestrian technology forward. It’s incredible how our passion for horses has grown over the past few decades and shaped our careers." He adds, “I’m thrilled to be partnering with Questri. I envision a future where Horse Spot’s show technology integrates seamlessly with Questri’s platform, providing a holistic experience for its users.”

Always Being Transparent

Just like in riding, where a bit of "give and take" leads to the best outcomes, Horse Spot believes in collaboration and open communication—key values that contribute to their success. Their team values clear communication and actively seeks feedback and ideas from both customers and team members. While they continue to build and refine features behind the scenes, they are committed to maintaining transparency with their customers, sharing their product roadmap, and keeping them informed every step of the way.

By fostering an environment of trust and openness, Horse Spot ensures that their customers feel confident in the direction their heading. Transparency is not just a promise—it’s a cornerstone of how they operate, allowing them to build strong, lasting relationships as a trusted partner in the equestrian community

Obsessing Over Horses

Horse Spot wouldn’t exist without the deep love Michael, Christopher, and Lindsay have for horses. While they enjoy attending shows, at the end of the day, it’s always about caring for the horse.

As Michael puts it, “What can I say? We’re horse-obsessed.” It’s true—there couldn’t be a better trio of equestrians to lead the development of Horse Spot.

The entire team shares the belief that "talent only gets you so far." Lindsay adds, “To work with horses, you’re always learning. I think the same applies to working in the tech industry, where new advancements and trends constantly emerge. It’s a rapidly changing world, and we love evolving with it.”

Did you know our very own founder Ryan Sassmannshausen grew up with the founders of Horse Spot?