Rolex - Up And Over

After two days of watching horses competing in the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event in the micromovements that make up dressage, it was a great thrill today to watch the same horses galloping down the cross-country course. They jumped hurdles higher than most of us are tall and sometimes nearly as wide.

With only an occasional refusal, the horses went where they were pointed and at top speed. And they loved it! If a horse could smile, most of them would have had a grin from ear to ear on their face today.

We would have been able to photograph the grins in full sunlight. Today was the first day of the competition that was completely sunny and devoid of rain. The course was packed with spectators -- some said perhaps as many as 50,000 -- who brought picnic baskets and blankets and made a day of it.

It wasn't a good day for everyone. Most of you who follow eventing know that Amy Tryon won the dressage competition yesterday. She wasn't as lucky today. After a finishing a good run, her horse, Le Samurai, came up lame and ended up being treated at a local veterinary center.

Could there be anyone in the game who better represents what riding is all about? While a thorough professional and top in her sport, she also maintains a pleasant demeanor, smiles almost continuously and is full of jokes. Contrast that with the dour and downer "dressage queens" who for so many years were the faces of English competition. Things have definitely changed for the better.

Going to the Dogs

The organizers of the Rolex event are going to have to give serious consideration to holding a dog show in conjunction with the competition. Almost everyone brings Fido or Fluffy or Bischou or Butch to the Kentucky Horse Park to enjoy the outing along with the rest of the family.

There are tiny dogs, resembling rats on leashes, to large -- even HUGE -- dogs like St. Bernards and Afghan Hound crosses. Mostly the dogs are well-behaved, but there's always one or two dog owners who think it's so hilarious that their dogs act like idiots. I would guess their children act the same way.

Closing Curtain

Tomorrow (Sunday) the Rolex closes with stadium jumping and most of the competitors will head down the road to the next outing. Lexington will return to the sleep southern town it normally is and everyone will look forward to coming back next year.

Rolex IV - I Could Do That

Two days of watching world-class dressage competition and I'm finally able to think at least to some extent like a judge. Today, my personal score card has mirrored that of the judges, mostly.

Most of us watching these top-notch performers who also ride (but at an admittedly much lower level) find ourselves wondering at events like this: "Could I do that?"

Each of the competitors ar Rolex 2007 is a talented trainer and performer, but are they doing anything that some of us amateurs couldn't do given the time and resources these riders have?

I tend to think I could and if I had a million dollars, I would prove it. Most of us won't be coming into a million dollars anytime soon, so we just enjoy horses at the level we're at.

Most of us watch with admiration as these highly trained horses respond to every twitch and flick of the rider's leg. And then we take our dreams home, pull our particular version of the equine species out of the paddock, mount up and dream some more.

It's good to have dreams.

Rolex III - Horse Husbands

The rain has stayed away so far today. The wind and clouds actually make for a very comfortable day to be outdoors watching the competition, viewing any of the many side events, eating or shopping.

Like with so much of the world of horses, the bulk of those attending Rolex 2007 are women. I've never had anyone explain adequately why women are so drawn horses and particularly in the English events, like eventing. But here they are. In mass quantities.

There are a few guys here, other than working press. Most of them are young -- in their 20s -- and accompanying a similarly aged woman. In most cases, the woman is darting around enthusiastically or chattering on about one horse's capabilities over another.

The guys have a resigned look on their faces. Some seem to be saying, "I hope you know how much I love you for wasting my time this way." Others appear to be hoping for a sudden lighting strike to open the Earth's surface and swallow them up.

Despite its reputation as someone what of a women's discipline, there's nothing inherently feminine about eventing. It's just plain hard work -- and lots of it -- whether you are a male or female participant. Personally I think women are better with horses overall because they're more patient and willing to invest the time in a relationship. Guys tend to try once or twice and if it doesn't work, move on.

I was thinking to myself that if I had been doing video, I would use as my theme song "The Things We Do For Love." Remember that one?

To all the boyfriends and significant others putting up with being dragged through Rolex 2007 by the ears, buck up. It will be over soon! It could be worse ... it could be a flower show.

Rolex II

The opening day of the 2007 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event was greeted with torrents of rain in the morning and the showers throughout the remainder of the day. Participants in the dressage tests performed with rain dripping off their hats and boots, adding another set of obstacles to the competition.

The resultant mud adhered to shoes and boots, as well as clothing. A shoe shine stand would be a God-send today as everyone hopes for better weather and drying conditions.

A number of us covering the event chose the relatively dry and warm enrivorns of the media center, where large-screen televisions show a variety of angles of the action.

Over the four-day run of the event, nearly 100,000 spectators are expected to walk through the gates at the 1,212-acre Kentucky Horse Park.

With yesterday's rain, the trade show (indoors and dry) was a good place to hang out. It appeared a number of vendors were doing good business, at least based upon the number of people roaming the grounds in the afternoon with heavy-laden shopping bags.

More to come.

Arriving At Rolex - Day 1

Greetings from Lexington, Kentucky, where tomorrow the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event will kick off, perhaps thee most exclusive English discipline competition in the country.

Flying into Lexington today was my first opportunity to see Kentucky from the air. The carpet of blue grass is already in full stage and you could see practice tracks and white fencing from 5,000 feet. This is, indeed, horse country.

This is my first opportunity to be at Rolex in the six years I've been on staff at Tack 'n Togs. There have always been other projects competing for time and resources. This year, the stars aligned and here I am.

Rolex is a big deal for the people we know in the industry, including the many vendors who are part of the trade fair. You wouldn't know it by reading the local Lexington daily newspaper though. I purchased one to read over dinner, thinking it might have a nice detailed story on activities and events surrounding the Rolex.

Well, there was a paid advertisement and that was it. Having spent 20 years in newspaper, I never stop marveling at how that particularly industry is hell-bent on marginalizing itself, and then complaining bitterly that people just don't read anymore.

By contracts, the daily newspaper in Las Vegas is filled end to end seven days a week with coverage of National Finals Rodeo in December. Maybe it's apples to oranges, but I just thought the Lexington Herald-Leader could have done better.

Over the next four days, I'll be bringing you daily blogs (or more often as time permits) along with images from Rolex in this space. If you don't have an opportunity to come, hopefully I can give you a small window on the event.

Going for the Bull

One of the aspects of my job as editor of Tack 'n Togs Magazine is to read as much of the material published both on the equine industry and the retail industry as a whole. About 200 magazines a month find their way to my desk, some are read cover to cover, some get a thorough skimming and some get filed without being opened.

The amount of material published on retailing is incredible. They almost unanimously ignore the equine trade industry, which is fine with me -- that means we're still the leading source for this information!

One of my favorite retail publications is Retail Today. Although their stories are generally about what's happening with Target, Wal-Mart and other "big box" retailers, I always find tidbits of helpful information that can be channeled to equine retailers.

The latest edition landed on my desk yesterday. Just a few pages in, I came across a full-color full-page advertisement for the Professional Bull Riders. Kind of odd to see in a national retail magazine, so I read further.

Turns out, PBR is pushing its licensed products to retailers beyond the equine retail sector. "As a retailer of the PBR licensed merchandise, you can profit from the skyrocketing popularity and broad emographic appeal of international tour events, televised broadcasts and high-impact promotions."

Licensed products includ accessories, apparel, banking, footwear, gift and novelty, health and beauty, housewears, outwerwear, sporting goods, toys and publishing categories.

There are two side to the PBR coin. Obviously, the organization believes it needs to reach beyond equine retailers to maximize profits on its licensed items. That's good for the industry as a whole because it sparks interest and has the potential to bring more shoppers into equine retail shops.

It also puts retailers in our industry who are carrying PBR licensed items in direct competition with the big box retailers, for a product that line that has a natural connection to equine industry retailers.

Of course, it's also good for those suppliers in our industry who produce the licensed items.

I don't know that there's a direct relationship, but I've been hearing more details every week about other bull riding organizations springing up across the country. Is PBR getting too big for its britches? Or as a good friend mine often says, "It's all good."

"We're retail ..."

I cannot count the number of times over the past few years I've heard this comment on one similar: "We're retail, we can't afford to (fill in the blank ... it could be just about anything)."

"We can't afford to train our staff."

"We can't afford to pay good salaries."

"We can't afford to advertise."

More properly stated, the phrase should be "we choose not to allocate money to" whatever the topic might be. If training, for instance, is an important aspect of your business and you see it as an investment in logevity, you find a way to pay for it. Same for salaries, advertising and anything else.

The most recent edition of EquiBiz Now, published by the Center for Equine Business Studies, contains a feature story on National Roper Supply and its staff training efforts. One of their idea gems is a leadership training program, developed by the company's CFO Jeff Jones.

The 12-week course is open to any employee interested in attending the hour-long weekly sessions at no cost. The result: Employees tend to stay on average a year longer, longer for those in management. You can read the entire story at http://cebs.tamu.edu.

The program costs NRS some money and time, but the company looks on it as an investment.

So what is it in your operation that you keep making excuses for not doing? Where there's a will, there's a way. You just have to be willing to crack a few eggs.

The Power of Listening

I read a story recently about a young up-and-coming banker in the San Francisco area. Banking is highly competitive and the young exec was having a hard time establishing clients. He was chatting on the phone one day with a potential client who mentioned he was going to be arriving at airport later that night.

The young banker offered to pick up the businessman, thinking the ride home would give him a chance to sell his services to a captive audience. On the ride home, the banker had less opportunity to talk than he had planned since his passenger did most of the talking.

In passing, the businessman mentioned how much he hated coming home after a business trip and having to make an immediate trip to the pet hotel to retrieve his dog.

The young banker inquired as to where the man's dog was boarded and the next day he drove over to pay them a visit. He asked them to consider a home delivery service, but the boarding facility wasn't interested. Too expensive. Too labor intensive. Too much liability.

The banker didn't give up. "What if you could charge enough to cover all those concerns and still make a profit, would you do it then?" he prodded. The owner of the boarding facility finally relented.

The banker immediately called his business client to inform him of the newly created service, for which he immediately signed up -- without even asking the price. It wasn't long before the businessman and the banker were doing business together, and the dog delivery service was also a big selling point with a number of his other potential clients.

It's difficult to underestimate the power of listening not only to your consumers but potential consumers, as well.

Steve Ballmer, CEO at Microsoft, was recently quoted saying: "So much of what businesses do day-in and day-out is about asking the right questions."

What questions are you asking about your business today? Are they the right ones or do you need to start asking questions that may not seem to make sense at first?

If you could spend an hour in an automobile with a client or potential client, what would you hear that might make your business more successful?

The sky's the limit.

The Big Dance

We talk a lot in our industry about relationships between vendors and retailers. Last week's e-newsletter dealt with the Leegin Leather case, in which a retailer accused the company of wrongly cutting off its product supply when it violated a minimum pricing agreement. The matter is now before the U.S. Supreme Court and could seriously impact the way vendors and retailers interact in the future.

This morning on the way to work, I heard about another case that could eventually change the playing field in the vendor-retailer relationship game. A group of Minnesota sports vehicle dealers are lobbying the Minnesota Legislature to get their suppliers off their backs.

As you may or may not know, global climate changes have left Minnesota with little to no snow over the past few winters. You can't sell snowmobiles when there's no snow. Retailers have tons of product remaining each spring, but manufacturers want them to buy MORE for the following winter.

If a retailer politely says "no thank you" and then needs additional product come winter, the wholesale price is jacked up rather considerably in many instances. In other words, they're asking retailers to take the bulk of the risk. Retailers don't care for that one bit.

The retailer argument is that state law as it's written sides with manufacturers. The manufacturers, of course, say there's a reason for that -- many of them manufacture in Minnesota and if you want to keep them in business and keep those precious manufacturing jobs in your communities, this is how it's going to have to be.

Like most things in the political arena, the correct answer falls somewhere between the two ends of the spectrum.

Equine retailers occasionally face similar situations, but there are usually enough vendors out there willing to make a deal. So if a retailer considers one saddle manufacturer's pricing policies too restrictive, they choose another saddle line. With snowmobiles and ATVs, that's not always possible.

You can read the story about the Minnesota conundrum here. Let us know what you think.