Digital & IT
Published: April 13, 2021 | Updated: 13th April 2021
A new online service connecting horse owners searching for grazing areas with landowners looking to rent land for livery looks set to shake up the equestrian industry.
Amazingrazing is the brainchild of Felix Newall-Smith and is using a similar format to an online dating site.
It is due to officially launch in June.
Born out of lockdown the professionally managed service makes it easy for reliable and trustworthy horse and livery owners to connect.
The interface and a search and filter system allows users to create profiles and get matched instantly to nearby owners in their area.
The site will be review-based to ensure all members meet high standards.
The concept for Amazingrazing came to Felix, 34, when he owned a horse and would often struggle to find livery.
He said: “I thought it was mad that, in this day and age, the main way people find livery is by word of mouth and Facebook groups.
“I knew there must be a better way.
“Amazingrazing modernises the way horse and livery owners connect, giving everyone a long-awaited place necessary to build great relationships before even meeting.
“No more stressed-out horse or livery owners will mean happier healthier horses – and humans.”
Felix, pictured, who lives in Boscombe, said many horse owners struggled when they looked for new liveries as often they encountered out-of-date or even non-existent websites.
Often livery and horse owners also clashed over the best way to look after the horse.
Felix said: “To the owner, the horse is an extension of their family and they want to make sure it is treated correctly.
“However, often the livery has different ideas on how this should be done, and this leads to disputes.
“The cost of livery is a lot and can be similar to renting a flat.
“A lot of the time, there are no contracts between either party, so when things go wrong, it can get messy quickly and there are so many horror stories from both sides.
“Neglect of horses, horse owners leaving the horse and not returning, unpaid field rent and bullying are just some of the issues.
“There are dedicated Facebook pages for both bad liveries and bad horse owners.
“Livery yards in general don’t struggle to find horse owners but they do struggle to find owners that are reliable and trustworthy, pay on time, aren’t difficult to work with and look after their horse properly.
“They want a service which allows them to ‘vet’ horse owners and their horses before they meet them.
“Equally horse owners want to be able to vet liveries before travelling long distances and committing to large amounts of money to a yard that does not have the facilities they are after.”
The Amazingrazing website will allow users to:
In the last year, Felix, a Design Engineer who studied at Bournemouth University, has conducted surveys with horse and livery owners and created a Facebook page which has so far amassed 1,400 followers.
He has also developed and tested a click through website with potential future users.
A limited company – Amazingrazing Ltd – was incorporated in February this year.
A Weymouth-based web developer is now building the site which is 80 per cent complete and is due to launch in June.
Felix has worked closely with Dorset Growth Hub on his new venture and plans to use Dorset Business Mentors to help get the business up and running.
In the meantime, and in order to get the word out about Amazingrazing and raise the business profile, he has employed guerrilla marketing techniques.
Social media, brand ambassadors and online influencers as well as targeting equestrian business networking events have all been utilised.
Among those welcoming the launch of Amazingrazing is livery owner and equestrian business consultant, John McDonald.
He said: “I work with liveries and meet horse owners every day and know that finding the right horse owners for your yard is critical.
“Liveries are a community and getting the right balance of personalities is important to help develop harmony on the yard.
“Amazingrazing allows livery and horse owners to get to know each other before making a commitment.
“This I am certain will help greatly to take the stress out of running a livery and owning a horse.”
Felix said: “With very little competition I believe that Amazingrazing will quickly take over the market.
“Once established, I plan to improve the service giving members greater benefits such as training on how to look after your horse and how to improve your livery as well as an Amazingrazing App.
