In Conversation with Jo Schneider

Jo pictured with Charlotte Dujardin's Valegro -  ©Jo Schneider

By EQ Life Staff

Jo Schneider, founder of Animal Therapeutics Online and Director of DVE Business Solutions was recently named 2014 South Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year. We talked to Jo about effective horse-based business and how to be successful within the equestrian industry without being a professional rider.

What inspired you to create Animal Therapeutics Online?

I had a lot of trouble with my own competition horse. I had a young mare that I had done a lot of work with and was ready to take her out to her first competition - with her working well at home - but then she injured herself, so initially it was really about finding something for my own use. I did a lot of research and as an engineer I am particularly interested in researching modes of therapy. When researching, I wanted to find the best system that I could, from anywhere in the world, that was accessible to me and for my own use. That’s when I came across the Activo Med Therapy System. I got one of the systems in for myself to use, and it was just such a good product that I just thought other people in Australia should have the opportunity to use the system. I imported it directly from Germany and then I ended up importing them and selling them and I really just began from that. I was initially an agent in Australia before becoming sole distributor for Australia and New Zealand. It became about providing a high quality product to the Australian market that they didn’t have available to them at the time. The product is used by the best in the UK and Europe - William Fox-Pitt, Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin just to name a few - and that’s why I brought it to Australia. We have some of the best riders in Australia using our product and we’re really about helping these riders reach their goals.

Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro with the Activo Med Therapy System

How did you go about starting the company?

I was a manufacturing engineer at GM Holden before I took a voluntary redundancy package, which I used initially to get going, investing the capital in the business and get the ball rolling on buying initial stock.

Can you give any tips to young people wanting to enter the equine business world?

I speak to a lot of stables, riders and riding schools that are run as businesses and I think that the ones that are really successful are the stables that really treat it as a business. For example, there are a lot of riders who want to be professional but to be successful you really have to learn, not just the art and skill of a professional rider, but the art of running a successful business as well. For some reason there is this perception that a horse business is run differently from another business but it really isn’t. It is like any other business and needs to be looked at in that way. In terms of general business advice, I encourage people to get out there and give it a go and learn as you go along. You will find people that are doing it well and learn from them. It really can become a journey of learning and continued ongoing development personally, as well as building a team and helping them learn as well. One of the things I’ve found really interesting from visiting overseas stables and discussing the use of our product in their training schedules, is learning about their programs, their training processes and systems they have in place to run a successful stable. At the end of the day we want Australia to be successful on an international scale so to do that we need to be running our stables the way these top professionals are running their stables. For the most part, we don’t seem to do it as well here. These top riders are running their stables as businesses and you can tell. The relationship with the horse is still there but there is professionalism and streamlining behind the working of the horses, the running of the stables and the relationship between the owners and sponsors. Our goal essentially is to help Australian and New Zealand riders and trainers to perform the best they can. That means on an international stage.

How do you balance your busy working life with your own horses?

It’s very difficult! I have my own stud with nine horses at the moment. It’s a small stud but it’s a lot of work and I’m also a competitive dressage rider, so it is a very difficult balance, but I do find riding a form of meditation. Riding is great to do in the morning, and I really push myself to make sure I keep doing it, because it gives me that mental space away from work and I think allows me to do a better job. Saying that, I am toning down the riding and the horses a little bit for the next couple of years and I’ve currently got my cousin managing the property and the horse business alongside me. She is really supporting me and we’re doing together so it’s good for both of us, but I have had to make a bit of a conscious decision to take a little step back so I can get the other businesses going and then I’ll get back into it a little more competitively. I still intend to be riding and doing some competitions but I’m probably just putting my focus on being around the businesses in the short term. Sometimes you have to make these choices, and they are not always the easy ones but I would never make a decision to not ride at all. I think it’s such an important part of staying sane in a crazy world!

Any words of wisdom for people hoping to build a successful business based on their love of horses?

I think that a successful business occurs when you are passionate about something. I think if you are passionate about horses then it is definitely a great opportunity, however you need to find the thing within the industry that you’re passionate about. You don’t just want to pick any horse product or any business because you think it will give you the opportunity to work with horses. At the end of the day it’s going to be hard work because these things always are – horse or no horse! You’ve got to be passionate about the thing you’re doing. The therapy systems we sell are the best in the world, and I get to show them to some of the greatest riders in the business. I believe in this system and I get to see them helping all of the top horses and riders. This has gotten me places I never thought I’d go – it’s been absolutely amazing – but above all I am passionate about this product and I believe in this product. I have the passion for the horses and the industry but I also have a really strong passion around therapy and I think that is important. You have to believe in it and want to do something with it.

Jo accepting her award for 'South Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year'

You’ve recently been named the 2014 South Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year. What does this mean to you?

It’s pretty amazing! I was surprised and I’m very excited but I guess above all it has put me in a position where I can help people. I love helping people and that is at the core of everything I like to do, and what this has done has been quite unexpected. I was not expecting to win so my acceptance speech for the award was not in line with the typical format of some of the other speeches, which at the time I worried about because I thought I had done the wrong thing, but in hindsight I’ve had a great response. People have been calling and emailing me, telling me that what I said really resonated with them and women telling me they were going to show their daughters because they feel they need someone to inspire them. I like mentoring people and all my businesses are about helping people as well. Animal Therapeutics Online is about helping riders and trainers to achieve their goals; it’s not about selling a therapy system. We help build their programs, we help get them to the top competitions and succeed and we help their top horses recover from injury. My business, DVE Business Solutions, is about helping people change their businesses so they can run more smoothly and effectively. If this award gives me the opportunity to do that and expand upon this, then that’s really when you can start leveraging that success to make a difference in the wider community.

Learn more about Animal Therapeutics Online at http://animaltherapeutics.com.au