Promotional Feature with Whickr
Natalie Quinlan’s life looks very different to the 12 years she spent working in the finance sector. In 2020, Natalie made the leap from the nine-to-five office grind to become co-founder of equine sales and livery business HQ Equestrian, along with her husband Mark.
“I always had horses as a hobby while I worked in finance in Jersey,” says Natalie. “When Mark and I moved to England, I started riding out racehorses to tide me over until I returned to an office job, but then I decided I wanted to work with horses, and we set up our business.”
Natalie and Mark spotted potential in a run-down yard on the Devon/Somerset border, and proceeded to transform it into their dream equestrian base. It’s now the home of HQ Equestrian, where they take in sales, breaking and training liveries as well as retraining racehorses, providing “an all-round service for the equestrian world”.
“People have to work out if they can trust us”
Such a dramatic life change hasn’t come without its challenges for Natalie. She relishes her days being spent outdoors with horses, but says that building a good business reputation has been the most challenging part of the journey.
“We’re asking strangers to send us their horses, and they have to figure out whether they can trust us,” she reasons. “A lot of our business comes from word of mouth now.”
Communication and transparency has been key to developing HQ Equestrian into a trusted brand within the equine world. This has been made easier by Whickr, the forward-thinking equine marketplace that Natalie says “has really helped us forge a successful business”.
The Whickr platform not only gives customers confidence in who they’re buying from, through its seller profiles and instant messaging service, but it helps sellers match horses to the right buyer, which Natalie says is her number one priority when selling horses.
HQ Equestrian offers an all-round service to the equine world, and much of its business comes via word of mouth
Ensuring the perfect match begins with an effective advert. Luckily, Whickr makes it simple, with the app allowing sellers to easily upload information, images and videos, and buyers to see – and save – horses that match their exact criteria.
“There’s nothing worse than seeing your ideal horse online, then never being able to find it again,” says Natalie. “But the ‘love’ button on Whickr means you can easily save horses to your ‘stable’.”
When it comes to creating an effective advert, Natalie recommends including as much detail as you can to “save you a lot of time dealing with queries about things that could have been listed in the advert.”
“Good, eye-catching pictures that show the horse doing the job you are selling it for are essential,” she adds. “Try to include a side-on image of the horse standing up in-hand, to show off its conformation, too.”
“Whickr has helped streamline our sales”
In fact, Whickr has proved so fruitful for Mark and Natalie that it is now part of their standard sales package.
“Every time we advertise a horse for sale, we use Whickr. It has really helped streamline the sales side of the business, and it gives us good access to buyers, including through the dedicated Facebook page and public group,” Natalie says.
Whickr makes listing or browsing horses for sale easier for both buyers and sellers
And because Whickr has been created by horse people, for horse people, it’s ideal for those who are always on the go, like Natalie.
“I can manage my ads wherever I am,” she says. “Recently, we had a lovely ex-racehorse in. We took him to his first competitions before advertising him on Whickr. He was viewed and sold within 48 hours. It just shows how quick and slick the selling process is with Whickr.”
Of course, plenty of work goes on behind the scenes preparing horses for sale. And with up to 20 horses on the yard at any one time, life is full on for Natalie and Mark.
“Working with horses is more of a lifestyle choice than a job,” Natalie says. “But it’s so rewarding, too.
“My greatest satisfaction comes from selling horses and matching them up with the right person. I love to keep in touch and see horses turning out to be just what we hoped and more.”
And it all starts with Whickr.
