By Britney Grover
The equestrian world is uniquely capable of bringing people with different journeys together—like Tara Swersie and Natasha Sprengers-Levine. Despite living in different states and participating in different levels of the industry, they’re both passionate about horses and improving the sport for others. They came together with one common goal: make simple tasks easier for both equestrians and show organizers, so everyone can spend more time doing what they love.
Tara grew up as “your standard, run-of-the-mill horse-crazy kid” with “pages from horse magazines scotch-taped everywhere.” She began taking weekly riding lessons at 8, and while her parents supported her passion, they always focused on making sure her goals were realistic. “My dad would always say, ‘That sounds wonderful. Let me know how you’re going to pay for that,’” Tara laughed. As a result, she learned to work hard to compete and got her first horse—“a ‘free’ ex-racehorse who could jump the moon and tried to kill me daily”—in college. She learned as much as possible from him before moving to San Francisco to work in investment banking, where Tara eventually fell in love with eventing.
Natasha was introduced to horses through her cousins, who had ponies in Holland. “While growing up in New York City, I have been told, I would basically bust out of my stroller any time we went near a carriage or police horse,” Natasha said. On her 11th birthday, Natasha adopted an OTTB from a rescue, then joined Pony Club and foxhunted, and attended some local dressage and hunter-jumper shows—where she jokes that she rode “seriously badly.” Like Tara, Natasha was taught that if she wanted to do something in the horse world, she had to do it herself—which she did. She went on to be captain of an Intercollegiate Dressage Association team in college before moving to Virginia to work at an FEI dressage facility.
Today, Tara lives in Northern Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C., and actively competes in dressage and eventing with Chatsworth, her Canadian Sporthorse. Natasha is now a professional and operates her own dressage training business, Blue Wood Farm & Vineyard, in Millbrook, New York, where she also hosts dressage schooling shows. Together, Tara and Natasha are the driving force of STRIDER, an equestrian tech company offering tools to help grow the sport and connect the community.
How did you decide to create STRIDER?
Tara: I was juggling a packed schedule, working at the Defense Department and finishing up a graduate degree at Georgetown University while riding horses in the evenings and on weekends. I basically had no free time and found myself growing increasingly resentful about the hassles of mailing in checks to enter horse shows. I just wanted to be outside enjoying my horses! I realized that I didn’t want to spend my personal energy endlessly complaining about something that could be solved with some ingenuity.
I was very fortunate that Natasha, whom I had met previously, shared my sentiments! She had recently started her own training business and had reached out about supporting another project I was working on. After some long hours of brainstorming, we started STRIDER in 2018. Our vision was to create a platform similar to OpenTable or VRBO, with the most convenient payment options available, but tailored specifically for the equestrian community.
Natasha: Some of my favorite memories from growing up were horse event-related. Horse shows, hunter paces, Pony Club rallies—you name it—so I’ve felt pretty compelled to keep those events happening. Connection and community are really at the heart of what we do at STRIDER.
It shouldn’t take an advanced engineering degree to be able to sign up and pay for a horse show, and simple, digital tools shouldn’t be cost prohibitive for the event organizers who work so hard to make things happen. And let’s not forget—I was a professional rider doing annoying paper entries for multiple horse and rider combos by hand. And I didn’t even own a printer!
What role does STRIDER play in the horse world?
Tara: STRIDER is a bit unique because we’re a tech company with a mission to empower the community. The leadership team has a strategy session at the start of each year where we talk about the community gaps we see across the industry, and how we might be able to help solve them. For example, one year we were hearing a lot of complaints from top trainers that they didn’t have the skill sets or resources they needed to run sustainable businesses. It was impacting the larger community of show venues that we support. So, we collaborated with other companies to launch STRIDER’s professional development webinar series. We brought in experts in copyright law, privacy issues, accounting, insurance, equine law—you name it—to speak. It’s not normally something you see a tech company do, but we’re not a normal tech company.
Natasha: STRIDER’s software products enable the industry. Our team is always out there talking to organizers trying to sort out what problems they’re facing and what technology we can help develop to solve them. We have our user-focused, 100% mobile-friendly entry platform StriderPro that enables safe payment while protecting organizers from merchant fees. We also have our StriderPlus digital waiver service that makes release form signatures easy everywhere—from lesson barns to training venues to massive international horse shows. Then organizers get to spend less time chasing down payments and paperwork thanks to seamless integration (hello, digital waivers!) and riders get to cruise through entries so they can spend more time doing what they love with their horses.
What advice would you give to other women considering entering the business world within the equestrian market?
Tara: Focus on creating value and surround yourself with quality people. Be very mindful of how you spend your time: Let go of time-consuming tasks that don’t take you to the next level. Many equine professionals fall into the trap of thinking you can save money by doing everything yourself. Then they basically earn $0.17 an hour, and wind up frustrated. Sometimes it’s better to pay for the service than do it all yourself.
Natasha: Have a village and lean on that village. Ask so many questions, and get perspectives from across the industry. It’s fascinating how quickly you’ll find a pain point that you can likely sort out a solution for—while solving a number of other problems along the way.
What’s the best thing about your life?
Tara: Everything! No complaints. Truly—my husband, my family, friends, horses, the fantastic STRIDER team, our professional colleagues—I am grateful each day.
Natasha: Flexibility in my schedule to pursue what I’m really passionate about—riding, training and coaching—while also serving the greater equestrian industry through the work we do at STRIDER. I also love that I’m able to use this platform that I helped develop to open my farm up for schooling shows.
What’s the best-kept secret about what you do?
Tara: How seriously we take playing well with others. I think there tends to be a real “silo mentality” in the horse world—being unwilling to share knowledge with others. It surprises a lot of people when we actively seek out partnerships with other companies. Our philosophy is that collaboration—when done right—improves the landscape for everyone.
Natasha: People assume that we are involved in day-to-day horse show management. STRIDER’s best-kept secret to outsiders is that we simply provide the tools for organizers to save time and make more money doing it themselves.
For more information, follow @striderworld on Facebook and Instagram or visit info.striderpro.com
Photos by Q2 Photography
