Most equestrian brands are leaving significant revenue on the table because their ecommerce operations don't match the opportunity in front of them. The US equestrian equipment market alone generated $3.8 billion in 2024. Online channels are growing at 8.2% CAGR through 2030. Yet as of 2023, sporting goods retailers still captured 61.75% of horse riding equipment revenue. I've spent nearly 20 years in digital marketing for consumer brands, including building the financial systems at a DTC growth agency that managed eight-figure (tens of millions in annual) ad budgets. When I came back to the equestrian world as a rider and started looking at these brands through a digital operations lens, the gap between market potential and digital execution was staggering.
$3.8 billion is the total amount Americans spent on equestrian equipment in 2024 -- saddles, bridles, helmets, boots, all of it. 8.2% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) means the online portion of that market is growing by about 8% every year, compounding. That's fast. And 61.75% flowing through sporting goods retailers means most of that money never touches the brand directly. The brand sells to a retailer at wholesale pricing, the retailer sells to you, and the brand loses both margin and any knowledge of who you are. That's the gap this article is about.
This is an equestrian DTC strategy analysis aimed at brand operators, not consumers. I'm using the same Design / Function / Value framework from my gear reviews, reframed here for the business decisions equestrian brands face when building their direct channels. I'm developing the full analysis as a whitepaper with detailed benchmarks, channel economics, and a prioritization framework. This article covers the key arguments. The whitepaper is coming soon.
Design
Brand experience across digital touchpoints: site design, packaging, unboxing, content, and whether the online presence matches the premium positioning most equestrian brands claim.
Function
Ecommerce infrastructure: the technology, email and SMS systems, creator partnerships, and operational muscle required to run a direct channel profitably and keep customers coming back.
Value
The money math: what it costs to get a customer, what that customer is worth over time, how much more the brand keeps per sale versus wholesale, and whether the DTC channel actually makes money.
Design
Most equestrian brand websites don't match the product.
You're selling $3,000+ saddles and $800 helmets through websites that look like they were built in 2016. The disconnect is costing you conversions.
Equestrian brands sell premium products through sub-premium digital experiences. A brand charging $4,000 for a custom saddle should not have a website with stock photography, broken mobile navigation, and a checkout flow that requires six clicks. The adult amateur market -- the largest and fastest-growing segment -- is predominantly women aged 25-55 who shop online fluently. They buy from Glossier, from Vuori, from brands that have raised the bar on what a digital experience looks like. When those same consumers encounter an equestrian site that feels a decade behind, the friction shows up in bounce rates (visitors who leave without looking at a second page), abandoned carts, and lost lifetime value (the total a customer would have spent with the brand over years of riding).
Packaging and content are equally neglected. I've ordered from tack brands that ship a $500 product in a plain brown box with a packing slip. Every package that arrives looking like a warehouse shipment is a missed marketing opportunity. And most equestrian brand websites treat content as product descriptions and nothing more, when buying guides, fit guides, and editorial would position the brand as a trusted authority for research-driven equestrian buyers.
Function
Retention infrastructure is where the money is.
Most equestrian brands have no email program, no loyalty system, and no structured creator partnerships. They're paying to acquire customers they could be keeping for free.
The operational gap in equestrian ecommerce is not primarily about acquisition. It's about retention. Across DTC brands generally, 60% of revenue comes from returning customers. The average retention rate is 28%; a good rate is 35% or higher. One established equestrian ecommerce operation reported a 60% repeat customer rate with an average order value over $1,100. Those are numbers most DTC brands in any industry would envy. Yet most equestrian brands I've evaluated have minimal retention infrastructure: no targeted email sequences, no SMS program, no automated follow-ups after a purchase, no loyalty system.
Creator and affiliate channels are the single largest missed opportunity in equestrian ecommerce right now. The equestrian creator community is growing rapidly with unusually high audience engagement. Creator recommendations function as peer advice, not advertising, which means a higher percentage of viewers actually buy compared to traditional paid social media ads. But most equestrian brands treat creator partnerships as one-off sponsorships with no tracking and no affiliate structure. The brands that build real programs with commission structures, dedicated landing pages, and long-term relationships will have a durable acquisition advantage.
"Equestrian brands don't have an acquisition problem. They have a retention problem. The customers are already there and already spending. The infrastructure to keep them is not."
ROI is return on investment -- for every dollar you put in, how many dollars you get back. 5.2x ROI means $5.20 back for every $1 spent. CPA is cost per acquisition -- what it costs to get one new customer. A "low CPA channel" means you're spending less to win each buyer. Triggered flows are automated emails that send based on what a customer does (abandoned a cart, made a purchase, haven't bought in 90 days). Cross-sell means suggesting related products after a purchase -- you bought a saddle, here's a matching girth.
Value
The per-sale math favors DTC decisively.
When a brand sells through a retailer, it keeps 40-50% of the retail price. When it sells direct, it keeps 65-80%. The math is not complicated. The organizational will to act on it is.
When a brand sells through a retailer, it typically receives 50-60% of the retail price. When it sells direct, it keeps 100% of revenue minus shipping and operating costs, which typically means the brand keeps 65-80 cents of every dollar. On a $200 pair of breeches, that's the difference between keeping $100-$120 through wholesale and keeping $140-$160 through DTC. Multiply that $40-$60 difference across every product in the line, and it funds the entire digital operation.
DTC and wholesale are not mutually exclusive. The most successful consumer brands run both channels simultaneously. The key is pricing discipline (don't undercut your dealers), product differentiation (DTC-exclusive colorways, bundles, early access), and transparency with retail partners. And when you sell through a dealer, you don't own the customer data. You don't know who bought your product, when they might buy again, or what would bring them back. In a category where a single customer might spend $5,000 or more over a riding career, the strategic value of owning that relationship is at least as important as the margin improvement.
The Full Analysis: Market Data, Channel Economics, and a Prioritization Framework
This article covers the key arguments. The whitepaper goes deeper with detailed benchmarks, per-sale profit modeling, channel-by-channel breakdowns, and a step-by-step prioritization framework for equestrian brand operators. Free download, no email gate.
Whitepaper Coming SoonStart with retention, not acquisition. Build email and SMS infrastructure before scaling paid media. Most equestrian brands already have customers. They just don't have systems to keep them.
Audit your site experience against DTC benchmarks, not equestrian competitors. Your customer compares you to every other brand they buy from online, not just other tack shops.
Build a structured creator and affiliate program. Commission-based, tracked, with dedicated landing pages. Stop paying flat fees for one-off posts when you can't even tell which sales they drove.
Frame DTC as a customer data investment. The margin improvement is real, but the strategic value of owning your customer relationship and purchase data is the long-term play.
The online equestrian channel is growing at 8.2% CAGR through 2030. The total US market is projected to reach $5.7 billion in equipment alone by 2034. The brands that build DTC infrastructure now -- retention systems, creator programs, email automation, and a site experience that matches their product quality -- will capture a disproportionate share of that growth. The brands that wait will watch their wholesale profits shrink and their customer relationships get absorbed by retailers and marketplaces. That's the pattern I've watched play out across every consumer category I've worked in for the past two decades.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are equestrian brands underinvested in DTC ecommerce?
Most equestrian brands built their businesses around wholesale and brick-and-mortar retail. Sporting goods retailers still capture 61.75% of horse riding equipment revenue. Brands lack internal ecommerce teams, have underdeveloped systems for keeping customers coming back, and treat digital as a secondary channel. The capital and talent required to build a competitive DTC operation are significant, and traditional dealer relationships create organizational resistance to selling direct.
What is the market size of the US equestrian industry?
The US equestrian equipment market generated $3.8 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $5.7 billion by 2034. US equestrian apparel adds another $1.9 billion. The combined US market exceeds $5.7 billion annually. Online channels are the fastest-growing segment, growing at about 8% per year compounded through 2030.
What does a good equestrian DTC retention rate look like?
The average DTC brand keeps 28% of its customers coming back. A good rate is 35% or higher. Top-performing equestrian ecommerce operations have reported repeat customer rates as high as 60% with average order values over $1,100. Equestrian consumers are high-intent and brand-loyal. The economics of keeping customers in this industry should outperform general DTC benchmarks when properly invested in.
How should an equestrian brand start building a DTC channel?
Start with retention, not acquisition. Build email and SMS infrastructure first. Launch a loyalty or rewards program. Then invest in creator and affiliate partnerships as your primary acquisition channel. Equestrian creators convert at rates traditional paid media cannot match in this vertical. Paid media should be the last channel you scale, not the first.
Can equestrian brands run DTC without alienating their dealer network?
Yes. DTC and wholesale are not mutually exclusive. Maintain pricing discipline by never undercutting dealers. Differentiate the DTC channel with exclusives, bundles, early access, and content. Be transparent with retail partners about channel strategy. The most successful consumer brands in every category run both channels simultaneously.