Social Media For Horse People

Social Media for Horse People – Who, What, When, Where, Why and How!

Have you ever felt that as a “horse person” who spends most of their time in the barn, that you are not as up-and-up on technology things? We were inspired to write this article, to help you have a great online presence, and also because AHA is having “Virtual Meet an Arabian Horse Month” this month of May which we’d like to continue to support.

We want to teach you a few SIMPLE things about Hashtags, and with Hashtags comes a little lesson about Privacy Settings as well. We want to help you connect with your community in very fulfilling ways. We also want to see more horses online and would like to make it simple for you to have more people see your horses. For breeders and trainers, there are even more reasons to learn how to build a following for your business. It is called “branding” and “saturating” the market by having a consistent presence. It very much works to have people instantly think of you when they think “______”. (Fill in the blank to whatever you do!)

Who can have a good presence on social media?

Kiddos, adult amateurs, instructors, coaches, breeders, trainers, and any type of Arabian Horse Enthusiast can create a community online!

What can and should be posted?

Any daily ins and outs with your horse or of your business
Anything “quirky”, funny, or unique about your horse/your barn
Artsy or professionally done photographs or videos, with or without inspirational quotes
Links to your website or other social media channels
Stories from long ago, or current, about yourself or your horses
Sales horses, breeding stallions
Show results
“Real life” horse things too! You’re trying to make friends, not have the image of perfection

When should I post?

We recommend posting something at LEAST once a week. It’s best to do about 3x a week. A photo, or a video of some sort!

Where do I make posts?

Facebook is deemed, by teenagers, for “old people”! Well, good, is what we say! We’re “old people”. Facebook is probably the best platform available for community growth. They also have “Facebook Pages” which makes it easier to create and maintain a business “page”. Facebook can have pictures uploaded, up to 80 in one post, and unlimited photos. You can also make “albums”, videos can be any length, and on Facebook, you can also post and share links of any sort: webpages, YouTube videos, articles from any source, etc!
Instagram is photos and videos only. If you want to post links, it has to be in your “bio”, which is your own page (aka, your “landing page”). Your “bio” is your info section right below your name and profile photo. The videos on Instagram can only be one minute long on your main page, but there is now “IGTV” or “Instagram TV” which longer videos can be uploaded with a preview posted to your page. Photo posts are limited to 10 pictures per post, and the character count is limited too. But this keeps Instagram VERY nice for scrolling without the very long posts, or the articles and links that make Facebook sometimes unbearable to scroll and stay in a good mood.
YouTube – Videos only! Any length! You create a “channel” and you upload as many videos as you’d like to your channel.
Other’s that we won’t go into too much detail here: LinkedIn, Twitter, and Reddit!

WHY should I make posts?!

Why is it important to have a good social media presence?

Well, its not… we admire privacy too, of course. UNLESS:
You want to sell more horses
You want more clients or more students
You need more people to buy your products
You’d like to build community and followers to watch your journey

HOW should I make my posts?

There are just two simple things we would like to teach you about!

The first is HASHTAGS! What are they? The “pound sign… #” followed by words with no spaces. The simplest way to think of a hashtag is to think of it as a “subject”. Anyone can click on the hashtag, and it will take you to a page full of posts where people have used that hashtag. This is used on many platforms. You can also think of them, and they are sometimes called “key words”.

You can use popular hashtags to organically get more views on your post. (See next subject for more ‘rules’ on this, and we’ll also give you a list of relevant hashtags.

You can also make your own hashtags to find certain posts. People who are really good at this, have a hashtag for each horse. Then when they want to find pictures of that horse, they will search for or click on that hashtag. This will also help your viewers to find “more of the same”.

We took two screen recordings from Instagram. The first one is of the popular hashtag on Instagram, #arabiansofinstagram – We clicked on the hashtag (which showed up in our regular feed), and we saw “more of the same”. It says that hashtag has 37.7k views and it shows that I am “following” that hashtag. We clicked on the chestnut dressage stallion, and then we saw another hashtag we were interested in, #breedingstallion. Then, on that page, we saw that there were 5000+ posts for that hashtag, and it gives us the option to “Follow” that hashtag if we would like to!

On Instagram, once a person likes so many posts with the same hashtag, Instagram will send you a notification and ask if you want to “Follow” that hashtag.

The second screen recording is of my own hashtag #sassyandharmony. I noticed how “organically popular” they were by me using popular hashtags like “#kidsandhorses” “#funnyhorses” “#jumpingpony” “#equestrianlife” etc! So, I thought a hashtag just for them, would help people see more photos and videos of them if they wanted to!

SECONDLY, WHO CAN SEE? (Privacy Settings)

My Instagram page “@lesliehorsetrainer” is public. I also have a private one where I will post more about my kids and “regular life” stuff. I know that anything I put on @lesliehorsetrainer can be seen by anyone, which is what I wanted to build a following. So, the hashtags work! In my private page, my posts with the same hashtags will not show up on the public pages. Only to me and my followers.

I set my Instagram profile to “Public” purposefully, and you can make the same decisions as you are setting up your Instagram, and you can also change it whenever you wish.

On Facebook, you can set the posts you made to “Only Me”, “Friends Only”, or “Public”. Then if you TAG someone (type their name and click on their name and then its BOLD), then their friends will also be able to see the post, and the privacy setting will turn to “Friends and Friends of Tagged”, but you can choose to switch it back to “Friends” if you wish!

You can change this setting on each post if you’d like! As you’re posting there is a “drop down” menu that usually says “Friends” if that’s what your settings are set to default to. You can switch it there to “Public”. Just make sure on the next post you do, if you want it to be “Private” that you set it back to “Friends”.

IF you want your post to be seen by MANY, set it to PUBLIC and use HASHTAGS!

Meet an Arabian Horse Month

The Arabian Horse Association normally would be pushing “Meet an Arabian Horse Day” that was set for March 17^th. Now, due to the current circumstances, they are doing “Virtual Meet an Arabian Horse Month”!

We see people making posts, but hardly anyone is using the hashtag they assigned! To have THEM see your post, tag @arabianhorseassoc and use the hashtag: #meetanarabianhorse. We also suggest using “#meetanarabian” and “#meetanarabianhorsemonth”.

This grows awareness and love for the breed of horse we love so much! If you have a “next step” for anyone interested, put it in your post! (Next steps like, going to your website, following your page, coming to a future event, or looking at your sales list!)

If you make a post with your Arabian and want to participate, use the above hashtags! And try to tag @arabianhorseassoc on both Facebook and Instagram.

As promised, here is a list of helpful hashtags!

#meetanarabian

#meetanarabianhorse

#horse

#arabian or #arabians

#arabiansofinstagram

#halfarabiansofinstagram

#arabianmare – #arabiangelding – #arabianstallion

#equestrianlife

#equestrians

#horseriding

And you can literally make up any hashtag you’d like! We have also used ones like #jumpingpony #jumpinghorses #englishpleasurearabians #funnyhorses #sillyhorse #chestnutmare etc! You can even become your own trend-setter!

Thank you for reading and happy posting!

Arabian Horse Exchange also offers farm, trainer and stallion listings and promotions as well!

Partnered with @LeslieHorseTrainer, we also offer social media consulting services, giving you advice or also creating and managing your social media presence.

For Lesson Program Building and Consulting Contact Leslie Cook at:

(253) 802-2342

featherequestrian@gmail.com

horselessonswithleslie@gmail.com

Arabian Horse Show & Presentation Halters

Arabian Select Show and Presentation Halters

Beautiful Arabian Horse Show and Presentation Halters. Ready and custom made available. Quality, strong materials combined with authentic beauty make the Arabian Select Show Halters a great choice to compliment the beauty of your Arabian Horse. Find these and more on Etsy today!

Arabian Select Show

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The Heart Of Horsemanship

The heart of Horsemanship

The Heart of Horsemanship

This book is about what’s on the “inside” of you. It is equestrian focused, though its messages can be applied to any age and in any sport. Leslie understands the ins and outs of the heart and emotion of being an equestrian, and she hopes to inspire and motivate you to live from the heart in your craft. In the equestrian world, there are many how-to books on ‘horsemanship’, which is the skill in which you care for horses, but horsemanship is so much more. That’s what this book addresses. The Heart of Horsemanship is you. It’s WHO you are as a person. Explore in these pages the magical connections that horses can offer us, and learn to use that magic to find happiness and success in everyday life. Let’s explore ‘heart’ together. Let’s dive deep. The world needs you, the rising generations, to lead from the heart. Strong, sensitive, brave, tender—it’s all the same. We are different in how we show up to the world—but at the core—we are all heart.

By Author LESLIE COOK

Find your copy on Amazon today

We Could Use Some Good News and Focus on Good Things

We Could Use Some Good News and Focus on Good Things

What an unprecedented time! Emotions are high, and we all need some “happy” things to keep us motivated, uplifted and comforted.

This quote is becoming more well-known since the release of the Mr. Rogers movie, starring Tom Hanks. Mr. Rogers said: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

There Are Many Discouraging Challenges

Unfortunately, it is all too easy to see the “bad” sometimes. This can be especially true at horse shows, or in boarding and training barns too… not just our breed, and not just certain disciplines. It seems to be universal! Humans are wonderful and can also be horrible.

Just this morning, there was a run in with one of my clients and another border at our barn. There was even physical contact used! I couldn’t believe it. That was a first for me!

As a youth and amateur rider, I got burned out of the things I was seeing, hearing, feeling and experiencing. I got caught up in focusing on the politics, the gossiping and the backstabbing that goes on. It was horrid. Sadly, those things happening amid what my family was going through, outweighed my love of showing the horses, and I did not show horses for 11 years.

When I decided to come back in, I made a highly conscious decision to come back in and make the environment that I wanted for myself, my own kids, and my clients. I knew I could either leave my head buried in the sand and let people-problems interfere with my love of showing horses, or I could choose what to focus on and give my energy to, so that I could enjoy showing horses again.

This meant a few things: I couldn’t join in in any gossip type behaviors; I would have rules of conduct for my own barn family that we would adhere to as best we can; and above all, I would have to keep FINDING THE GOOD.

You Have a CHOICE on What You Focus On

When one CHOOSES to “find the helpers”, like Mr. Roger’s mother told him, you will find them! I chose to FOCUS on the “good” things. I wanted to “see” a different world at the horse shows and at the barn. It hasn’t always been easy the last few years. There have been plenty of incredibly serious situations that could have chased me off again. Not this time. I love horses and horse shows too much.

When I started focusing on something else… the GOOD… do you know what happened? That is what I started seeing. I see it more, and more, and more. The good can, and does, outweigh the difficult things for me. I can’t make drama disappear, but I can choose my level of involvement with it. What I chose, is to put my energy into the horses, and into creating a fun and positive environment for my clients, where they feel empowered even amid the struggles.

Making the determination to be cheerful and helpful at the shows has made me more horse show friends now, among trainers, than I ever had before as a youth and amateur rider.

Hearing from Some of our ‘Big Time’ Trainers

To help us all focus on the GOOD that can happen at horse shows, I asked a few trainers and exhibitors for some of their experiences where they were helped or supported by other trainers/exhibitors. The question I asked them was, “Do you have any examples of another time a trainer or exhibitor from a different barn was helpful and supportive to you?”

Wendy Potts answered, Yes, there are so many! When I was a young trainer in CA, I was shy and would never even talk to “big” trainers. Lucky for me, I had a boyfriend that was a very outgoing halter trainer. Unlike me, he befriended everyone. I got lots of help with my English horses from Brian Murch. David Shockly attempted to teach me how to drive. I am eternally grateful to them as I had never had anyone help me with English horses and not only were they incredibly talented, but they did it out of kindness.

LaRae Fletcher Powell shared this account with us:

Years ago, when I was a young trainer, I showed a Purebred Stallion, Adaanis, who I eventually won the Open Trail at U.S. Nationals 3 different years along with a Reserve Champion in Reining at Canadian Nationals and numerous Top Tens. In 1988, we decided to attend the Action Show in Tucson, AZ. This show ran in February before Scottsdale. It was a show just for Working Western Arabians and had added money. Was a big deal back then. I took 2 other horses to this show as well as Adaanis.

The last day, I was warming up Adaanis for my draw in the PB Stock Horse Maturity Class. As I was loping him around, all of a sudden he just slammed on the brakes and wouldn’t move. This was a horse that gave me 100% all of the time, every ride. It was so unlike him. I jumped off and didn’t know what to do. Two trainers came over to me quickly and told me that he was tying up. I had never experienced that with a horse before and had no idea what to do. The one trainer told me to get him untacked, while the other ran and got some meds. She came back with a syringe of some Ace (Tranquilizer) and a syringe of Banamine and administered them(as this was not a rated show and didn’t have an On call Vet), as at that time, I also I had never given an IV injection either, which of course, that is one of the first things that I made sure that I learned when I got home from that show.

Even though Adaanis didn’t get to show there, he did go on to the Scottsdale show and did just fine. It was a one time freak thing that day with that horse that was never repeated. I was very grateful for the other Trainers that jumped into help and have always returned the favor to any other trainers, especially young ones coming up in the business.

Erica Silbernagel, from Arabian Horse Exchange said:

Everyone in the warmup ring is usually pretty friendly with saying ‘good luck’ and ‘congratulations’! I feel like support comes from people you know in general, no matter what barn you are in.

BIG TIME Community Support!

One of the most outwardly obvious displays of support and community occurred just within this last month. There are several people in our Arabian Horse industry battling cancer right now. I was very moved to see trainers across the nation join in on shaving their heads, and doing an online charity event to show support and help raise money for these individuals. The video is VERY moving. Here is the link if you’d like to watch! https://www.facebook.com/ahtimes/videos/996833227385618/

Close to $50,000 was raised in our community to help these Cancer Warriors.

Due to the COVID-19 situation, there was also an anonymous donor to the Arabian Horseman’s Distress Fund, and many that applied for financial assistance due to loss of income were able to receive some.

There are mountains of great people in our industry. We might not always agree and being competitive is good and fun!

The moral of the story is, what you focus on, GROWS, and we would like to encourage all of you to focus on the good people, the good moments, and the good things. We can continue to cultivate kindness and inclusion and make the horse show world better and better for generations to come. We are family!

Here are some ideas of how you can join the positivity!

Ideas while we’re at home:

Comment compliments on people’s posts! This is a great way to make friends too.
Reflect on the “good” things and the good times you have had with your horse show family.
Check in on your friends and acquaintances. Sometimes all we need right now is a “how are you doing?”

Ideas when we get back to shows:

“Clap for everyone”. There should be cheering for all the placings from the whole stands.
Choose to look up and smile at people as you walk around the grounds.
Do not whisper and point while watching the warmup ring, classes, etc. Even if what you are saying is positive, the “vibe” it sends out isn’t helpful to the environment we want to cultivate at the show.
If you see a need, and you can help, offer your help.
Be patient with show commissioners and offer your help. Yes, you have paid a lot to be at the shows, but they are working for nothing or for pennies-on-the-dollar compared to the amount of work they do. Be kind!
Help new trainers feel welcome and supported. They are already doing the hard work of trying to establish themselves among people who have been a trainer for decades. The industry needs new trainers so please help them feel valued!

Thank you for reading! We look forward to seeing positivity, love, support, community and friendship spread like wildfire through our industry!

For Lesson Program Building and Consulting Contact Leslie Cook at:

(253) 802-2342

featherequestrian@gmail.com

horselessonswithleslie@gmail.com

Feather Equestrian Academy

Feather Equestrian Academy

Enumclaw and Bonney Lake, Washington

Our expertise and joy in life is helping people of all ages connect with horses! Horses are an incredible animal that can teach us, heal us and enrich us. Learning to do the same for them is soul-fulfilling. From casual riding to competing Nationally, we are committed to your experience with horses through our lessons, camps, clinics, classes and show team!

FEATHER EQUESTRIAN ACADEMY

LESLIE COOK

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24408 126th St Ct E, South Prairie (if your GPS says Buckley or Orting, all are correct!)

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