HORSE SPOT: Transforming The Horse Show Experience
- Juliana Chapman, The Tech Equestrian
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
As an equestrian, competing in horse shows is the culmination of training and dedication. Riders prepare with specific goals and expectations for their experience well before arriving. Horse Spot aims to enhance this experience through its cloud-based horse show management platform, created by co-founders Michael, Christopher, and Lindsay Lenard.
A Family Affair
Brothers Michael and Christopher grew up around horses, thanks to their mother, who embodied the stereotype of a horse girl. Michael, the older brother, became enamored with horses early on through Pony Club and eventually competed in the Hunter/Jumper arena. While in college, he took on a summer job at horse shows, prompting him to involve his younger brother Christopher since the shows always sought extra help. “Following in my brother’s footsteps, I worked as an office secretary and took on various roles, including in-gate assistant,” Christopher explained. He quickly noticed that the technology solutions used in horse shows were inadequate, which motivated him to pursue a master’s degree in computer science from DePaul University. “I enjoyed the challenge of learning everything I could about software development,” he shared.
"Riding has been a significant part of my life, and it's how I met Lindsay. We’ve continued riding together and are now pursuing it as a career. I recently left my job to focus full-time on Horse Spot," said Christopher.
Lindsay, Christopher’s wife and co-founder of Horse Spot, is a lifelong rider and worked as an assistant trainer in college. With experience in design for major companies like McDonald's and various startups, she manages the platform's user experience (UX) and is a Webby Award nominee.
Choosing the Right Path
After graduating from college, Michael remained active as a rider and continued to be involved in show management.
“I balanced my full-time job with managing horse shows, often taking vacation days to cover the time spent at those events,” Michael explained.
He added, “Over time, I chose horse show management roles that would align well with building awareness for the Horse Spot platform.”
Michael has turned his hobby into a successful business, allowing him to collaborate with various horse show management companies. His journey has taken him to Montana, Georgia, and Texas, where he has managed several A-rated horse shows—opportunities he credits to leaving his full-time job. He has also worked with Nona Garson, a former U.S. Show Jumping Olympian, at The Ridge in Wellington, FL, and in Asbury, NJ. Recently, Michael received his USEF 'r' Jumper Judge License, adding further expertise to Horse Spot.
“I’m living my dream of being a horse show manager who gets to take things to the next level and give the exhibitors a great experience.” — MICHAEL LENARD
Developed by Equestrians for Equestrians
The team launched Horse Spot in March of 2023 at a schooling show in Chicago.
“We had the basic features built out at that point, and it taught us what show managers and exhibitors wanted to see in a show technology platform,” said Michael.
With Christopher’s extensive knowledge of technology from the corporate world, 100% of the Horse Spot platform has been developed in-house.
“We speak with horse show managers, secretaries, and staff directly, and in our case, we’ve got the skill set to design software to solve real problems.” — CHRISTOPHER LENARD
As of 2025, Horse Spot has successfully supported over 350 horse shows across 28 states and three countries — the United States, Canada, and Bermuda. Additionally, they have worked with more than nine different equestrian disciplines and have received a 100% recommendation rating on Facebook.
How Does Horse Spot Work?
Horse Spot is a web-based solution that can be accessed through a browser.
"Many equestrians who use Horse Spot can manage their daily tasks by saving the Horse Spot page to their phone's home screen, allowing it to function like an app," Michael explained.
Show Managers & Staff
The Horse Spot solution is designed to simplify show management through a streamlined process. This software manages all entry data in one central location and includes payment functionality to handle show fees. Users can create new shows that duplicate past events for easy updates. It features a dashboard that integrates with Stripe and offers a self-checkout option. Users can quickly search for entries by entry number, horse name, or rider name.
Additionally, the solution allows for role assignments, enabling in-gate staff, office personnel, and teams to have personalized permissions. Reports can be easily customized and automated to organize classes and monitor financials efficiently.
Exhibitors
As an exhibitor, you can submit your online entry by visiting the login page. This page allows you to access details about your entries, including any additions or scratches for your classes.
Michael stated, “We plan to enhance functionality for organizations of all sizes to manage their standings and division points. By supporting these organizations, we can improve the overall exhibitor experience.”
Trainers
Trainers can benefit from a customizable digital schedule tailored to each customer, covering everything from classes to billing.
"If you're a trainer and have ten classes scheduled, Horse Spot will consolidate all the relevant information for your day based on the classes you've entered. Trainers will have a single view to easily navigate and manage all their students."
What’s New – Check out the Latest Enhancements
Enhancements are being rolled out constantly and below are just the latest the team has released, with more exciting updates to come.
Horse Spot has introduced dressage scoring and is expanding to other disciplines like reining and pony club rallies. It is now used by The United Dressage and Jumping Club, which offers affordable, well-organized dressage and jumping shows based on European standards.
The platform includes ready-made tests from organizations like the FEI and USEF, as well as options to create custom tests. Secretaries can easily design tests by specifying the number of movements, choosing score types (either "Default" or "Collective"), and adding optional directives. More detail leads to a better experience for exhibitors reviewing their results.
Horse Spot has announced early access for organizations and associations that want to become early adopters and receive an exclusive deal in preparation for the Spring launch. Say goodbye to tedious spreadsheets and documents for managing memberships, awards, standings, and more. Horse Spot consolidates all this information into one platform for easy access and updates.
Horse Spot continues to roll out live scoring, moving from beta mode last year into fully supporting shows with this functionality.
“I’m excited that we're also putting together ringside live scoring views.” For horse shows that are utilizing Horse Spot in connection with some of the other setups, they'll have the ability to manage faults and times in the jumper ring and feature scoreboards and video boards.” “That data can also be captured and pushed in real-time to anyone who's watching on Horsespot.net and will provide a holistic view of exactly what's going on in the ring,” Michael highlighted.
Horse Spot is proud to partner with collegiate teams and is the official technology platform for the 2025 NCEA National Championships, taking place from April 17th to 19th at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Florida.
Additionally, Horse Spot will serve as the official tech sponsor for the 2025 IHSA National Championship, scheduled for May 2nd to 4th at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina. Division I and II riders will have access to all of Horse Spot's features. Horse shows supported by Horse Spot typically offer the same experience, whether they are local schooling shows or National Championships. However, this particular show will be slightly different. Parents, spectators, and fans will have the opportunity to see how the leading schools compare against each other.
Lastly, you can find Horse Spot at the AEE 2025 National Competition and Alumni Tournament of Champions presented by Alliant May 31st-June 1st at the Mount Holyoke College Equestrian Center in South Hadley, MA.
“Our team lives and breathes horse shows, just like all the stakeholders using the platform.” — LINDSAY LENARD
The Future is Now
As the dashboard functionality continues to grow, users can expect mobile checkout options, the ability to order feed and supplies and to view their schedule for the day. Another area of focus is the enhanced level of spectator viewership that hasn’t been available at other horse shows.
“Our flexible solution is ideal for horse show managers who would like to offer this type of functionality to their exhibitors and spectators, and can easily be integrated with other software programs a venue might be running to provide a seamless experience.”
“Our journey is just beginning, and all roads have led to this, and especially the show managers feel confident that we are not in it just for a quick buck. We are in it for the long run, and we want to make it successful because we know the needs of our clients and users,” Michael said.
To learn more about Horse Spot, visit: about.horsespot.net
Juliana Chapman
The Tech Equestrian
Juliana is a technology marketing professional and lifelong equestrian who grew up in Rhode Island and showed in the pony and children’s hunter divisions and later rode adult hunter and equitation in the Bahamas. She is the founder of The Tech Equestrian, a technology and lifestyle blog that provides insights on the latest technology solutions in the horse world. She currently resides in Florida and owns a QH appendix chestnut mare.
Juliana has written articles for Horse & Style, EQ Living, Sidelines, World Equestrian Center Magazine and other top industry publications.
To view the latest in horse tech, visit: www.thetechequestrian.com
Article is from the April issue of Equine Business Magazine
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