Making it easier for horse owners in need of hay, bedding material and other products to find sellers within a specific geographic location is the concept behind Jenn Reinford’s LocalEquineServices.com Web site.
Reinford, of Boyertown, PA, launched the site as an experiment in October 2006 under the name LocalHayPrices.com. “My blacksmith retired suddenly and I had to scramble to find a new one,” Reinford reports. “Losing a blacksmith is as bad as losing a hay provider. Instead of looking in several different publications and phone books for someone new, I decided to use the Internet. I couldn’t find any sites that would give me exactly what I wanted, so I created a site myself. Since hay, bedding and blacksmiths are among the most valuable resources to a horse owner, I decided to focus on those resources when I started the site.”
When initial response to the site was positive, Reinford decided to add more services and change the layout. She also changed the name of the site to reflect the new features. Unique to the site, according to Reinford, is a radius-search function. Potential buyers enter their zip code, then select a mileage radius of where they’d like to conduct the search. The search engine generates a printable list of sellers within the radius almost instantly. “There are lots of directories on the Internet where hay is bought and sold,” she says. “But buyers get tired of searching through list after list of data trying to find exactly what they want in a specific area. With this site, they do a few keystrokes and within seconds they have the information they’re looking for.”
Reinford continues building site name recognition. “We’re still getting the name out there,” she says. “While the majority of listings so far are in the mid-Atlantic area, the possibilities are limitless for every state,” she says. “We’re using horse publications, tack stores, feed stores, horse show sponsorships and email word of mouth. It takes some time, but we’re getting there.”
Sellers pay $40 for a one-year listing on the site. Along with a description of their product, sellers can create a link to their Web site and email. They can also track the number of hits generated by the listing. “It only takes one or two sales to pay the listing fee for a year,” says Reinford.
To learn more, visit www.LocalEquineServices.com or phone Reinford at 610-906-6235.