Software to Take Equine Businesses into the 21st Century

Natalie Reinert | January 18, 2011

Does the equine industry need to step into the digital age?

Marie Taulbee, founder of the farm software program LaRaedo, thinks so. She spent years playing the frustrating games of the lesson mom and the boarder: phone tag with the barn manager, seeking out the answers to questions that could make or break her day. Had the farrier shown up? Had the horse been turned out that day? Did their show entries get posted?

It was in response to these constant gaps in communication that Taulbee formed the idea for LaRaedo software. The web-based program is accessible from anywhere. A farm manager can sit at the barn computer and enter in the day’s instructions to the grooms. A boarder can sit at an office computer half the country away and access information on her horse’s care and status, and enter requests. It all seems so simple, and common-place, in our digital, connected age.

But do horse farms really need it? How does all this technology really affect a business that is, after all, still based upon oats, hay, and the weather forecast? Farm owners have traditionally been slow to embrace change, but Taulbee thinks it’s time that horse farms embrace technology.

“Even though the horse farm business is fairly unique in that is main focus is on the sport,” Taulbee says, “It must also keep up with changes. People want to work with businesses that are open and upfront. Innovation and technology are a big part of that.” LaRaedo’s web-based system means that it can be reached from any internet connection. “It creates a singular location for both farm owner and customer to obtain horse history,” Taulbee says. “Everyone will have the same information.”

Farm management software, then, has been designed to give the owner peace of mind, and to give the farm owner both credibility and an extra layer of customer service.

It might even give a farm owner something that every horseman and –woman has wished for: more time in the day. The LaRaedo program is designed to cover nearly every need a horse farm owner could have, from billing and invoicing to scheduling events and tracking horse care. Taulbee explains how farm management software grants farm owners the gift of extra daylight: “If a farm owner isn’t spending five hours a week tracking, billing, and updating, because software does that for them, then they just gained five hours to spend with the horses and the owners, making their business even more personal than it was without the technology.”

There’s also less time spent in phone tag. Taulbee designed the software to handle barn-wide events like a farrier visit to inform as many customers as the user requests. “You can inform [boarders] of upcoming events and ask if they want the service. Then, schedule it as an event so they will be notified when they log in that they are scheduled, and whether there will be a ‘holding fee’ in that upcoming month’s invoice. No surprises, no phone calls. It’s all taken care of in a matter of a few clicks.”

In the end, Taulbee argues, horse farms really aren’t any different from any other business, and they should market themselves accordingly. “Every business, large or small, wants to stand out as being one that is moving forward and providing the best customer service available.” When attracting business, she says, “It’s about marketing your farm as being one that is open to using the best methods to keeping customers informed.”

Keeping customers informed might just be the key to building and keeping business in the 21^st century. “In any business,” Taulbee notes, “There has to be an element of trust with customers.” The ease with which customers can seek information on the Internet has created a demand for transparency and open access to information. “Transparency is key because it builds trust,” Taulbee says.

And trust may be the cornerstone of any equine business, when owners are leaving their investments, and their friends, to be cared for by others – in this digital age, or any other.

LaRaedo Farm Management Software can be found at http://www.laraedo.com

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Written by Natalie K. Reinert. Follow Natalie on Twitter!