David Simpson: Hard graft and dirty hands *H&H VIP*

Twelve months ago I was capering around the paddock at Chaddesley Corbett celebrating my second win as an owner. This time around, I’ll be leading up one of the horses in Gina and Tom Ellis Racing’s Ice And A Slice Racing Club.

That’s because trainer Tom and jockey Gina have employed me as a member of their yard staff, so I’ve swapped the corporate world, as business development manager at AGA, for a barn full of point-to-point horses.

Early starts, hard graft and dirty hands are par for the course, and I now understand just how much effort goes into getting a horse to the racecourse.

There’s also another important element to my role, something that I’m equally passionate about: social media. It’s a fantastic tool for a business of any size, and something that every point-to-point yard could use to engage with their owners and with followers of the sport.

It’s also a great way to attract new owners — and everybody would like more of those.

A few simple rules I follow are to make the content valuable to the audience, ensure it is relevant with daily updates, and to go for quality over quantity. I use lots of photos and video clips (and a bit of humour) to give followers a flavour of life on a point-to-point yard, and hopefully encourage them to get involved.

Ref Horse & Hound; 15 December 2016