Think Like an Entrepreneur, Not Just a Dressage Rider
- steve09484
- Feb 26
- 3 min read
Too often, dressage professionals find themselves at the end of a long, hard-fought career with nothing to show for it financially. The truth is that most riders don't fail because of lack of talent, work ethic, or even opportunity. They fail because they never treated their careers like a business.
If you want your life with horses to be sustainable, profitable, and professionally fulfilling, then it's time to start thinking like an entrepreneur.
Fools rush off to the barn each morning for that horse-sourced dopamine to avoid thinking about how they'll pay their vet bill. Then, against their better judgment, they take on that difficult horse, that toxic client, or travel to that clinic from hell to get through another fiscal month.
To "grow" their business, they simply work more hours each week. But any smart entrepreneur asks the question, "What is the best use of my time?" Not, "How many hours can I work?"
If you look at self-funded dressage professionals who have done well, you'll soon discover how many have answered that question. They've trained and sold horses for impressive amounts.
Your most valuable wealth-building asset lies in your ability to increase the value of horses you own. Remember, you're on the short list of people in the world who can bring a horse from green to the FEI levels. Top quality dressage horses trained to the FEI levels will always be in demand, and as such, will command big prices.
Your most valuable asset as a dressage professional is your ability to increase the value of top-quality horses.
Many dressage riders don't leverage that reality and instead squander it riding mediocre horses. Their businesses involve regional and national-level quality dressage horses. These classes of horses don't have the financial upsides necessary to balance out the expenses and risks.
Your lessons, training, and related services can help meet the short-term needs of your business's cash flow, but investing your skills in top-quality dressage horses can be a wealth-building strategy to add to your business plan.
To be clear, this only works if you are riding top-quality horses—ones that represent the top 5% of the dressage horse population.
Unfortunately, many professionals fail to leverage that unique capability properly. Worse, they spend years developing horses that don't have the talent or temperament to be sought out by wealthy buyers. A top rider on a subpar horse is not a business model—it's a burnout plan.
If you are a talented dressage professional, you most likely have the potential to produce an extremely valuable, real "product": a trained FEI-level horse with proven competition results and resale value. There will always be a strong market for the best horses, and even more so if they are trained well and prepared for an imminent FEI career. That's what will keep your much-needed co-investors interested, even over the long term.
While there are many obstacles to overcome—like finding the right horses, raising capital, and finding co-investors—training world-class horses is not only incredibly inspiring but also has an unmatched financial upside opportunity for talented dressage trainers.
Coaching Corner:
Did this article cause you to stop and think about anything in particular?
How effectively are you using your time as a professional for the most financial advancement? Do you have a strategy? A written plan?
If you continue to manage your business as you have in the last two years, what is the likely financial outcome for you - compared to getting professional coaching?
Choices:
Read next article: The Economics of Excellence
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Schedule a free 20-minute call with a dressage business coach
Copyright 2026 Steven Wolgemuth, All rights reserved.
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