As an equestrian we tend to collect all types of things from apparel to tack and everything in between, and when we go to clean out our closets or tack rooms, we want options for our outgrown and never used items. Luckily, Taylor Hall, Owner, and Founder of The Tried Equestrian answers the call to consign slightly used products and leave the worry of reselling up to her team.

The Tried Equestrian is an ecommerce and consignment shop plus a brick-and-mortar store based in Santa Clarita, California. Specializing in national and international sales, yes, they have international consigners, they make it easy to send and manage selling all types of equestrian products.

“For those that consign it’s a great opportunity to sell and for those that save, they can buy high quality items for less,” stated Taylor. An equestrian herself since the age of seven, her love of horses and the sport can be seen in the care and pursuit of high-quality products she delivers to her global equestrians. “I always have ridden the hunter/jumpers and I previously showed locally in addition to A-shows throughout the year in California,” she shared. After getting a scholarship to Fresno State for horseback riding, she looked at pursuing Pre-vet studies in college and took a break from riding to focus on her degree.

Part-time becomes Full-time
However, after college, she didn’t go to vet school but found a job working at a company called Vision Media Management. “I was an account manager supporting movie studios and the job played to my strength of managing marketing logistics which was a springboard to launching The Tried Equestrian in 2016. “When I first started my company it was more of a side project, a Poshmark style site where people posted their own items for sale.” She found however, after two years that people just wanted her to post and do all the work. “I was finally like, people want more help with this, and the consignment service grew from that need. We are very careful with creating the consigned accounts and we provide full transparency on inventory including sharing all the pricing.” As the model shifted – she created a new website to match the white glove service.

What’s Trending
“One of the trends we are seeing is that riders today are buying more technical clothing versus the traditional styles,” shared Taylor. When she started the business, the moto was ‘this isn’t your mother’s consignment shop.’ “We don’t have stiff old school breeches; wool show coats and we don’t carry the cotton brands.” What performs and sells are the technical legging fabric with a structured look but very athletic and for breeches the sock bottoms versus an ankle strap.

“We’ve also been noticing a trend in colors that are more tonal including beiges versus brighter colors and patterns.” Full seat for breeches used to be just for dressage riders, but now hunter/jumper riders love the full seat – including the trainers who are hacking seven plus horses a day. For seasonal or warm weather destinations, most riders prefer the long sleeve sun shirts for schooling. “We are even seeing full turtlenecks to provide maximum sun protection,” said Taylor.

Tech Savvy Shoppers
With 80% of The Tried Equestrian business online, ecommerce dominates the focus and Taylor has noticed that tech has changed over the years. “I see that people have become savvier online not only with their buying but with their knowledge base.” However, even with savvy tech buyers, Taylor feels there is a gap in providing an improved experienced with well-known horse retailers who have high functioning but low feature websites. As a discount site they find that customers do their research, and they attract a wide range of customers – from young kids to the women’s adult segment (ages 30-50).

User Experience
“There are many add-on apps (also called plug-ins) you can purchase to add more functionality to your ecommerce site. We use Shopify for our website, and we recently added a search feature.” This proved very successful because even if your customer misspells a brand or word; it will know to find the closest match. There is also a recommendation feature that uses an algorithm and learns your buying behavior overtime.

“We offer a loyalty program that counts two points for every dollar spent plus bonus points including 500 for when you sign up; 500 on your birthday; and for every 1,000 points you earn a $10 credit. “I’m a big fan of the text messaging marketing feature and it has been a big boost to the growth of the business.” Keeping the brand top of mind serves as a reminder in the noisy social media world.

Goal Driven
“Our long-term goal is to keep growing sales. We are heavy with consigners on the West coast – so we are looking to establish the brand with East coast customers and consigners. We need to get the message out there that the consignment part of the business is not complicated – it’s extremely easy,” said Taylor. She is also looking to recruit and partner with riders to showcase how the consignment program works.

The Consignment Formula
“The growth of our sales is dependent on getting in the high-quality, high-end products that our customer base is looking for. Increasing our consigners also increases our sales – that is the formula for success. Constantly finding new avenues to get new consigners and maintaining those relationships with them is always our top priority.”

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Facebook: @thetriedequestrian