Before you get too upset with me, let me explain. I made the transition from professional equestrian to financial advisor for a bunch of reasons, but the most significant was that I failed to envision my ability to generate the kind of personal and family wealth that I pursued while continuing to operate in the horse business.
This, I strongly believe is common in the horse business and we’ve been operating this way for a long, long time. Thereby, continuing to do the same thing over and over again while expecting different results, which as we all well know is the definition of insanity.
I began to contemplate the question, why is it that professional equestrians fail to build wealth on the same trajectory as other service-oriented entrepreneurs?
My hypothesis is that it is purely psychological. Many professionals started with horses at a very early age. Most of us learned to post the correct diagonal before our last tooth fairy visit. Our only extra-curricular outside of school was related to horses. We were always in the barn and eventually, the barn was always in us. We established an unbreakable connection not only to the horse, but to the lifestyle, the people, the barn dog, the smells. You know that smell that only us passionate horse people love? That combination of leather, sweat, manure and at the perfect time of year, freshly cut hay drying on the field.
We love this sport so much and are committed to it beyond logic to the point that we would sacrifice almost anything for it. Most commonly for the professional the least discussed topic, least addressed challenge is the sacrifice we make to our future self in the form of our financial well-being.
Every day, normal entrepreneurs wake up thinking “how do I make more money today than I did yesterday?”
In contrast, every day we wake up, we think “Johnny’s left-to-right change is a little sticky, better call the vet.” “I need to get Suzy qualified for finals.” Or “I need to fix the fences in paddock 6.” We don’t think like normal entrepreneurs and I believe we take a little too much pride in that. We subconsciously embrace the “starving artist” mentality. We joke about it all the time. “How to make a small fortune in the horse business? Start with a large fortune”. And we all laugh, knowing it’s true.
But there’s good news! One thing I’ve learned in over a decade in financial services, is you don’t necessarily need to make a lot of money to build significant wealth. You just have to modify your thinking. I give a few talks throughout the year for Ontario Equestrians’ Stables and Young Professionals programs where I discuss this paradigm shift. I tell my story, highlighting the lessons I learned and how I waited too long before I “rewired my brain.”
One of the most critical mistakes I made as a professional in the horse business did not become obvious until after I retired.
My wife used to remind me that in the horse business, there’s never an end to the draw on your money. Surplus funds always found a priority, even before it hit the chequing account.
Sell a horse, buy a horse. Have a profitable weekend at a horseshow, buy new jumps. Run a successful camp, buy a trailer. You get it. You do it too. I know you do.
We did this for almost two decades at our busy show barn in south Florida. The business grew and we always had the best “stuff”. But when we decided — for family reasons — to retire, we were left with zero net worth.
My critical mistake was reinvesting every dollar the business made back into the business instead of building personal savings separate from the equine operation.
That said, I’m not suggesting you stop investing in your business. In fact, investing back into your business for growth should remain a priority.
One framework I’ve seen work for some business owners is allocating a portion of excess revenue toward long-term personal investments — for example, something in the range of 80% reinvested into the business and 20% directed toward personal savings and investments. The right mix will vary from person to person.
If this concept is new to you, it might be time to speak to a qualified financial advisor. How you invest will be based on a very thorough risk tolerance and investment objective analysis.
It’s also important to note that how and where you invest matters. Different options come with different risks, tax considerations, and time horizons. Working with a qualified financial professional can help ensure any strategy aligns with your individual circumstances.
The advantage of this strategy is the diversification it provides to your portfolio by growing an asset that is not correlated to your equine operations. This process by default, reduces your financial risk.
Excess cash flow?? What’s that?!
One of the challenges in our industry is that margins can be tight. For many horse professionals, “excess cash flow” feels more like an exception than the rule.
Over the past couple of years, I have been working with Ontario Equestrian to build a program that is designed to solve this exact problem.
The idea is simple: if your business becomes more consistently profitable, you have more options — to pay yourself appropriately, to reinvest strategically, and to set aside funds for the future.
How normal businesses operate
One important factor about entrepreneurship is that profitability is paramount from inception. Most businesses operate with margin in mind. Meaning, whatever service or product they provide, a profit factor is built into their pricing framework. A business owner will establish their costs, then add their profit on top. Traditionally that factor may be two times cost.
In my Wealthy Equine Entrepreneur program I instruct young professionals and stable operators, their first homework assignment is to thoroughly determine their per unit cost. Take all your operational expenses and divide it by the number of horses you have in your care. That tells you what each horse costs — say on a monthly basis. If that number is $1,000, then base board package may reasonably start at $2,000.
How about that same expense number divided by the number of lessons taught. If that number comes in around $50, your lessons may be priced at $100. You can do this across the board to establish your base line pricing model on all services provided. The goal is to ensure that your pricing meaningfully exceeds your cost base.
Another factor business owners often evaluate is how frequently they review and adjust pricing.
I could speak to you for hours about inflation. Where it comes from, how it impacts everything around us. It’s an invisible, involuntary tax. Discussing the details of it here, would act as a sleeping aid and bore you to death. So, the quick version is: In normal economic environments, inflation runs anywhere from 2 to 3.5%. Meaning a dollar today would only buy 98 to 96.5 cents worth of goods a year from now.
Costs tend to change over time, including feed, labour, insurance, and facility expenses. Many businesses periodically review their pricing to reflect these changes, though the timing and size of any adjustments should be carefully considered in the context of your clients and local market.
The point is that most businesses raise their prices annually to reflect the impact of inflation. Some stable owners choose to build structured pricing review periods into their agreements. If you explore this approach, it’s important to communicate clearly and plan thoughtfully to maintain strong client relationships.
In one of my talks with Ontario Equestrian, I describe many ways to add value to client relationships that can help reduce attrition, even when implementing significant price increases.
In an effort to ease your mind and for the sake of comparison, I took my sons go-karting a few years back. It was $17 for 10 minutes. That’s $102 an hour for a glorified lawn mower, that doesn’t have weekly glucosamine injections and aluminum shoes. Many stables are still charging half that amount.
If you’re considering rate increases, take time to carefully plan and review your clients’ statements first.
The Wrong Mindset
When finances are tight, usually the first thought is “where can I cut expenses?” In my experience, expenses running too high is not the issue. Horses are expensive and if we’re doing it right, they’re really expensive. The care for our animals is non-negotiable. Once you accept that as absolute truth, your only option is to increase revenue.
You can increase revenue three ways: Add more clients, add more products and services that you sell to your clients or increase rates. We go into more detail on these methods in the Ontario Equestrian Stables and Young Professionals programs. Shameless plug.
You could argue that increasing (revenue) is a lot easier — and a lot more fun — than decreasing (expenses).
Don’t be so quick to start reducing until you’ve determined your ability to increase your revenue first.
The Silent Wealth Accumulator
If your business begins generating consistent surplus cash flow, you have more choices. Some of that capital may go back into the business to support operations or growth. Some may be directed toward personal financial goals, depending on your priorities.
Many Canadians, including some of your clients, may have access to a pension plan through their occupation. These are often structured as savings plans and may include employer contributions to support retirement security. Because these plans handle much of the administrative work, many Canadians don’t feel the need to engage deeply with them.
Unlike some professions, equestrian business owners typically do not have employer-sponsored pension plans — which makes intentional planning even more important.
The Ultimate Goal
You may love what you do and you’re decades away from a traditional retirement age. Why do you need to address this now? One of the most important factors when it comes to growing wealth is time. The longer your investments have time to compound, the stronger the growth engine. And you may want to continue as a professional for as long as you’re breathing air, but this gives you the option to continue on this path because you want to, not because you need the money. Consider being independently wealthy enough to only work on your terms. That’s the potential power of becoming a Wealthy Equine Entrepreneur.
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Sean Jones is an advisor with Sun Life who works with individuals and families in the equestrian community, focusing on estate planning, succession, and tax-efficient wealth accumulation and transfer. He collaborates with Clients and their existing advisors to help structure plans that preserve both financial value and personal legacy.
This commentary is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute professional independent financial, tax, or legal advice. Every individual’s situation is unique. Before acting on any of the information presented, please make sure you seek advice from a qualified professional, including a thorough examination of your specific legal, financial, and tax situation.
Mutual fund business is done with your advisor through Sun Life Financial Investment Services (Canada) Inc. Advisors and their corporations conduct insurance business through Sun Life Financial Distributors (Canada) Inc. Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada is the insurer and is a member of the Sun Life group of companies.
© Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, 2026.
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