Promotional Feature with Whickr
An equine teammate is crucial, and with Whickr, your perfect partner could be closer than you think
Dressage is all about training, and that powerful relationship between horse and rider. For grand prix rider Lucy Amy, finding the right dancing partner is key to success in the sport. Finding her current top horse Rudy as a youngster was what set her own career in motion. Since then, she and Rudy have gone on to reach the highest level in the sport, finishing as the highest-placed Brit at the 2022 under-25 European Dressage Championships along the way.
“As well as the time and patience required to do well in dressage, you need the right teammate, the right horse for you,” says Lucy. “Rudy is basically my best friend.”
But finding your perfect equine partner is easier said than done. After all, not every horse suits every rider, and many buyers find themselves pursuing a stressful, time-sucking – and often fruitless – horse-hunt.
What should be the most exciting purchase of your life can often become a chore, whether that’s down to inaccurate adverts, uncommunicative sellers or lost hours spent scrolling unsuitable horses. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
For Lucy, her experiences of both buying and selling dressage horses have been transformed since she began using Whickr, the modern equine marketplace, that’s designed specifically to make buying and selling safer, and free from hassle.
The growing Whickr market gives Lucy access to a huge range of potential buyers, as well as horses for sale, meaning it becomes easier to buy horses closer to home.
“Since Brexit it has become harder and more expensive to import horses from Europe, but with Whickr’s ability to connect you to horses for sale in your area, it becomes easier to find the right horse without all the additional import costs,” Lucy explains.
“With Whickr, my horse sold in a week”
As a busy professional rider with young horses to sell, Lucy has struggled to find time to advertise her horses in the past. Sitting down at a laptop, gathering photos into the right place and answering phone calls from buyers – it all amounts to time she can’t spend riding and training, and often doesn’t result in a sale. But since using Whickr, Lucy has felt as though she’s on the home straight from the word go.
“I recently sold a lovely four-year-old using Whickr and it was so easy,” she enthuses.
“I could upload all the photos and videos directly to the app on my phone, and it took about five minutes to create the advert. The buyer was able to see everything they wanted, and mentioned to me how easy the process was for them, too. The horse sold within a week.”
As well as the user-friendly app allowing sellers to quickly create an effective advert wherever they happen to be, Whickr has also helped Lucy feel confident that her horses are going to suitable homes, which is her first priority when selling.
“It’s so important to me that my horses go to the right home, and that the person knows what they are buying,” explains Lucy.
“I find being able to easily upload videos to the Whickr app really helps, as people always want to be able to see how the horse moves and behaves.
“And the Whickr app makes it so easy to quickly and safely communicate with potential buyers and answer all their questions quickly, while maintaining privacy,” says Lucy.
So, buying and selling horses doesn’t have to be daunting – as long as you do it the Whickr way.
Browse or list horses with Whickr and follow Whickr @equestrianmarketplace and @whickr_app
Lucy Amy’s top tips for buying dressage horses
● “Look for kind eyes and a good brain, because dressage is all about trainability. Good conformation and strong feet are also important, to help a horse stay sound as they train up the levels.”
● “Try to be patient, and wait for the right horse. You have to gel as a partnership and often over many years, so don’t rush into buying the wrong horse.”
● “Be as honest as possible about what you want, and be open about the level you ride and compete at. That helps the seller work out whether their horse will be right for you.”
Pictures by Oli Lees, taken at Woodland Farm Stables
