ESC Co-Founders to Sponsor Academy Horses & Assist Show Barns by Providing Pandemic Relief Guidelines

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted everyone’s ability to participate in horse shows, disrupted sales, halted academy programs, and it is expected to continue through the end of Spring 2020. Experts tell us that a vaccine is 9-12 months away, and we should conservatively plan for a 2+ year economic recovery period. Our horses, more than ever, are depending on everyone to make prudent decisions, plan responsibly, and take actions that will benefit our show horse industry long term. We also want to ensure the sustainability of our horse professionals, and most importantly, preserve our show horse family structure.

Immediate Financial Help From Horse Owners & Enthusiasts
Horse shows, sales, breeding and academy programs are what financially sustain our industry. This is also how our horse trainers and other equine professionals pay their mortgages, their employees’ salaries, their health insurance and take care of their families. Equine Sports Council encourages owners and enthusiasts who can afford it to help these professionals in a couple of ways:

1) Pay your Show Bill for any cancelled show. The Spring shows are a light at the end of a long winter tunnel for many show barns. Many trainers have depleted their winter savings and were “counting on” those first few shows to get caught up and prepared for the upcoming season. If your trainer has billed you for a show that was cancelled, tell them to “keep it” if you can. It may mean the difference between them surviving this period, or not.

2) Sponsor a lesson horse at your barn or a local Academy barn. Academy programs are the backbone of our industry and those lesson horses are now a liability instead of an asset. The monthly cost to maintain a lesson horse ranges from $350/mo – $500+/mo depending on location, but any amount will be appreciated by a local stable. If we can help cover the expenses related to the upkeep of an academy mount until lessons are allowed to resume, it will keep our stables financially sound and our retired show horses in good homes teaching our children.

Equine Sports Council Co-Founders will sponsor an academy horse for a barn in need. If you are a barn with a lesson or academy program and need sponsorship assistance during this pandemic, please contact us @ media@equinesportscouncil.org.

Immediate Financial Actions Farm Owners Should Consider
Call your mortgage company, car or truck lender, credit cards and utility companies and request a 90 day deferment in your monthly payments, set up a payment plan for your utilities, or offer to pay interest only for 12-24 months on an installment loan. Push back if there are fees or costs to do this. If you call and make these arrangements, your credit score cannot be harmed, and these loan institutions MUST work with you. Most mortgages in the US are owned by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and serviced by (payments collected) via commercial lending banks such as Wells Fargo or Bank of America. See the mandate and instructions from the Federal Housing Authority for getting mortgage help. By doing these things, most farm owners should be able to reduce monthly expenses by at least 50%. It’s important that you keep your farm service providers (grain and hay suppliers, veterinarians, and farriers) paid on time to avoid service disruption.

Begin Applying for Small Business Grants & Forgivable Loans
During this national pandemic disaster, the federal government predicts 40% of small businesses in the US will go out of business. To prevent this, grants and loans are now available through the Small Business Administration (SBA). All Show Horse farms are considered a small business (less than 500 employees), and qualify for up to $10,000 in federal grants and up to $10 Million in forgivable loans to be used to pay your employees’ salaries, monthly utility expenses and insurance. Go here for tools, resources and financial grants from the SBA; Coronavirus Resource Site. The National Chamber of Commerce is also here to help small businesses navigate these difficult times. Here is their quick reference guide; National Chamber of Commerce COVID19 Relief Guide.

Horse Farms Considered Critical Essential Infrastructure
The US Department of Homeland Security has classified which businesses are essential to our country’s infrastructure. These essential businesses will NOT be closed during this pandemic and include hospitals, pharmacies, grocery stores, utilities, transportation, police and agriculture. This means our horse trainers, farm employees, vets, farriers, hay and grain providers and horse haulers are all essential and will be allowed to travel to and from places of business. Should your state issue a “Stay at Home” or “Shelter in Place” order, then all essential employees and vendors should carry “Essential Travel Documents”. It is recommended that each farm provide a document on letterhead to all of your employees and vendors explaining they are essential in support of agriculture.

Navigating these unique times will require all members of the show horse community working together. Now, and over the next 24 months, it will be imperative that we support our breed affiliations to ensure their future strength.
– American Hackney Horse Association
– American Morgan Horse Educational Charitable Trust
– American Saddlebred Horse Association
– The United States Hunter Jumper Association
– Thoroughbred After Care Alliance