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RIDING A WAVE OF SUCCESS

EQUESTRIAN BUSINESSES GET ONLINE

Local success stories thanks to funded training programme

Thanks to the Country Landowners Association and the Ride Welland project, it is now possible for equestrian businesses to take control of their own internet presence. Already in the first few months of this project, a number of organisations are now online.

Equestrian businesses qualify for support

Ride Welland project manager Sylvia Hull, and Rural Training Centre manager Andrew Pennill, have teamed up to put together a training programme that enables businesses to construct and easily publish their own websites, and then have full control of ongoing changes. The project is fully funded and this has proved to be an opportunity too good to resist.  Since the start of the project in May 2009, a number of equestrian businesses have taken the plunge and got themselves online.  Only a few months in, a stud farm, a livery yard, a tack shop, a saddler and a riding school have launched new web sites; many more are in various stages of development.  All those that have learned how to design their own sites have said they found it easier than they expected, and are now selling their services on the worldwide web.  The system used to create the sites is easy to use and affordable; the DoYourOwnSite system used for the training is accessible to anyone with basic computer skills and costs less than £60 a year.

Free training – big benefits

“Almost all businesses need a web site, we are able to help many to achieve what they previously thought was out of their reach,” says Andrew Pennill. “An added advantage is that Ride Welland are able to pay for local businesses to come on the training, so there is no cost involved in learning how to do it. Some businesses have published their websites after just spending five or six hours learning, free of charge! It is much easier than most people think. For people with equestrian businesses, the personalised, one-to-one training sessions, arranged at a time to suit, have worked very well.  It’s possible to learn either by taking half a day at a time or short one hour sessions, whatever fits in well with the businesses we are working with.”

As part of the training programme, attendees will learn about the pages that are needed, colours, design and layout of their site, how to incorporate images and slideshows as well a contact us form and links between pages and to other sites. It is also possible to learn how to build an online shop for those that would like to enter the world of e-commerce.

Local success stories

Karen Thompson runs a riding school, which is also a centre for Riding for the Disabled, and wanted a way to attract customers and show the facilities available.  She is delighted with her web site, and found the training really useful. “The course was very helpful in building my website, the event was great, couldn’t be better”.  The Paddocks Equestrian Centre (Hough on the Hill, Lincolnshire) www.thepaddocksridingcentre.co.uk. 

Kelly Watchorn, master saddler, is based near Melton Mowbray, and had some big ideas for an online saddlery shop that she was able to bring to life during the course. “The course and instructor were excellent…the course got me out there on the World Wide Web from learning how to build my own site”.  KW Saddlery (Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire) www.kwsaddlery.co.uk

As a the owner of a livery yard and stud farm, Louise Hodson wanted a way to advertise her business and share information on her breeding programme. “I am so pleased that I have been able to do this, I have tried before to take control of my website and now I have done it!” Laurien Hanoverians (Brigstock, Northamptonshire) www.laurienhanoverians.co.uk

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