We were lucky to catch up with Jamie Loveridge recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jamie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Soft Hands Horseback Riding, LLC was chosen because I wanted something that worked for horseback riding and equine massage. The term “soft hands” is used in the equine world as a way to help riders learn to be gentle on the horses mouth and to be kind in cuing the horse. In my opinion, it is one of the most important skills to develop as a rider. Many riders have bad habits of pulling hard on the reins either on purpose or because they haven’t learned to keep their hands quiet and their cues gentle which makes for a very unpleasant experience for the horse and rider. I start my riders on a soft hands model from day one. Because this is such an important aspect of riding, I wanted it to be apart of my company name. It also encompasses how I want to treat my students. I want to teach to their needs in a gentle manor that will allow them to succeed. And finally, as an equine massage therapist, I wanted a name that allowed me to swap out the “horseback riding” for “equine massage”. Depending on my client, I can operate as Soft Hands Horseback Riding or Soft Hands Equine Massage.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started riding lessons at age 11 after years of not growing out of the ‘pony phase” of life. It quickly became my passion. I competed at local shows for much of my teenage and young adult life. I found my nitch in helping others become better riders and equestrians as well as wanting to help horses feel their best and live a happy life. I received my CEMT (Certified Equine Massage Therapy) through Midwest Natural Healing for Animals in 2020 and was able to expand my knowledge of riding to include biomechanics of muscle movement and understand the “whys” when a horse is lacking in aspects of their movement. Over the years, I’ve shifted my approach of “problem” horses to understanding that behavior issues almost always stem from pain. Rathan than taking a training approach for horses poor behavior, I have taken the approach to find the source of the pain, address it, and allow the horse to perform pain free. This has had a very positive outcome for my horses and their behavior and quality of life. I’ve loved incorporating this knowledge into my riding school. My students are able to learn from the very start a healthy way to approach horse behavior that will benefit horse and rider.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The biggest pivot my business has taken is when we decided to move from Utah to South Caroline. It’s very hard to find land in Utah and an affordable price so I was teaching out of a barn I boarded it. I absolutely loved the barn and the owners/managers, but not owning your barn will always come with challenges such as sharing arena space, commute time, and barn operation times. We decided to buy a farm in South Carolina in August 2021 with an established arena, pastures, and a small barn. Home and land prices are much lower in this area and the weather is suitable for year round outdoor riding which means winters would no longer be brutal to work through. My husband has been my champion as he’s gone along with my crazy ideas and seems to enjoy adjusting to life on a farm.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I had been teaching a training for other barn owners throughout my riding career, but my own riding school started as a small side hustle to bring in extra money. At the time, I was a full time pool manager at a county recreation center. My lesson clients started to grow, so naturally I began to buy more horses. In January 2021, after a few months of running trial lessons, I established my business name and made it official. In August of that same year, we made the move to South Carolina with 4 horses, added 2 more horses upon arrival, and 1 miniature horse in 2022. We have also started taking boarders. We currently have 12 horses at our farm and have build a large student base and a wonderful barn family.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/softhandshorsebackriding/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/softhandshorsebackriding/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8oybxkOSZ6V-Kktamr8ZpA

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