Digital Marketing · Equestrian · Writer
Orchid
Bertelsen
Twenty years building digital marketing and ecommerce operations at scale. Back in the saddle after thirty. Writing about the horse industry from both sides of the fence.
About
One foot in
each world
The equestrian industry is a $12 billion market that largely still approaches ecommerce and digital marketing the way most consumer categories did a decade ago. The brands that figure it out first are going to have a real advantage — and I find that gap genuinely interesting to write about and think through.
My background is in digital marketing at scale — from Fortune 5 accounts at Dentsu, to leading digital strategy across 40+ consumer brands at Nestlé USA, to running operations at Common Thread Collective, a DTC ecommerce growth agency where I built the financial systems and discipline that helped brands grow profitably across paid media, creative, and retention. I've spent two decades watching what actually moves the needle for consumer businesses — and what doesn't.
Now I'm back in the equestrian world, and I'm writing about what I see.
I competed in hunters and equitation as a kid, stepped away for thirty years while I built my career, and recently came back to the sport as an adult amateur. I lease a horse named Beau. That experience, returning to the equestrian world with fresh eyes and a marketing background, has given me an unusual vantage point on an industry I now see clearly as both an insider and a business analyst. The adult amateur community is the largest and most underserved segment in the sport, and almost nobody is speaking to them seriously. My writing and content are built around changing that.
Featured In
Perspective
The
vantage point
Most people who write about the equestrian industry are either deep insiders or complete outsiders. I'm neither. That's the useful part.
The Rider
I competed in hunters and equitation as a kid, built a career, and came back to horses thirty years later as an adult amateur. I lease a horse named Beau. That gap — between who I was as a junior and who I am now — is the lens through which I see everything in this sport. The adult amateur is the largest and most underserved segment in equestrian. We spend serious money, we take the sport seriously, and almost nobody is speaking to us like adults. That's the gap I write into.
The Analyst
Twenty years in consumer marketing gives you a certain kind of vision — you start seeing patterns everywhere. Channel mix, unit economics, the gap between what brands say and what buyers actually do. I can't look at the equestrian industry without that lens. The loyalty is there. The underinvestment is glaring. The opportunity is real. That gap is where most of my writing lives, and I find it genuinely hard to stop thinking about.
The Writer
I write to figure out what I think. The equestrian world has no shortage of sponsored content and a genuine shortage of honest analysis — gear that costs $5,000 with no real buyer's guide, an industry worth $12 billion with almost no rigorous consumer journalism. I'm trying to change that in a small way: writing pieces that treat riders like adults, take the economics seriously, and don't pull punches on whether something is actually worth the price tag.
Writing
Industry analysis &
honest gear reviews
I write about the business of the equestrian world. Gear economics, industry dynamics, and what the horse market looks like when you've spent two decades watching consumer brands work. Some pieces are for riders making expensive decisions. Some are for anyone who finds the industry itself interesting.
Why Equestrian Brands Are Underinvested in DTC and What It's Costing Them
A $5.7B market with 61% still flowing through wholesale. An industry analysis of why equestrian brands are leaving DTC revenue on the table and what the fix looks like.
How to Win the Adult Amateur Equestrian: A Brand Playbook
Four frameworks for earning the trust and business of the equestrian industry's most commercially valuable and most underserved customer. Part 3 of 3.
Ariat Built Its Brand on the Horse. Now It's Betting on Everything Else.
Ariat sponsors Stagecoach, an NFL quarterback, and rugby clubs. Here's what the investment data says about where the world's largest equestrian brand is actually building, and what that means for the equestrian customer.
Contact
Say hello
Whether it's about horses, the equestrian industry, digital marketing, or just a connection — I'd love to hear from you.
hello@orchidbertelsen.co Get In Touch