‍We Consider Ourselves Tech and Business Experts

Christopher Lenard is a seasoned engineer with a decade of experience driving transformative technology at major companies, including unicorns like Relativity and ShipBob. Starting his career while still completing his Master’s degree, he worked with early-stage innovations like Kubernetes, which later revolutionized the tech industry. Christopher has led large-scale engineering projects, including creating systems that handled millions of daily tasks—at scales surpassing even industry giants like Netflix. He has also played a key role in modernizing critical infrastructure, making it more secure and reliable. Throughout his career, Christopher has guided teams through complex challenges, ensuring success in even the most ambitious projects.

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Michael Lenard is a CPA and Certified Forensic Examiner with both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Accountancy. Before co-founding Horse Spot, Michael established a distinguished career in public accounting and consulting, culminating in his role as Managing Director at a specialized financial consulting firm. There, he led high-profile international regulatory monitorships reporting to the U.S. Department of Justice, tackled complex accounting challenges, and conducted sensitive fraud investigations. Michael's experience extends beyond traditional accounting, as he has advised startups on roadmaps and financial operations, leveraging his financial acumen to guide new ventures. His expertise in accounting, audit, and forensic analysis is now integral to Horse Spot, where he is committed to embedding best practices into every aspect of the platform to ensure financial accuracy and transparency for all users.

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Lindsay Lenard, our product designer, brings a decade of experience as a multidisciplinary designer. She started her career at global ad agencies, working on household name brands, and has created design systems for large corporations like McDonald’s. Lindsay has also worked in-house with leading YC-backed startups. She holds a degree in Illustration from The American Academy of Art in Chicago and a certificate in Digital Design from The Chicago Portfolio School. Lindsay is passionate about her craft, often getting lost in her designs while putting herself in the customers' shoes. The users she designs for are at the core of every decision she makes.

We Are Obsessed with Horses

It’s true, we all ride and show. The three of us grew up riding and competing in the Chicagoland area.

Michael Lenard got his start watching his mom return to riding after having children. Intro lessons quickly advanced to Pony Club, which then led to frequenting the hunter/jumper show scene. For Michael, the riding never stopped. In college, he captained Northern Illinois University’s Equestrian Team, leading them to IHSA Regional team titles from 2007-2009 and IHSA National individual placings from 2007-2010, including Alumni National Champion in 2010. A seasoned amateur rider, Michael has competed up through the 1.40m level and has earned several noteworthy wins in the hunter, jumper, and equitation rings, showcasing a deep passion and commitment to the sport.

Christopher Lenard started riding under the influence of his mom and older brother, Michael (surprise, surprise!). Initially resistant, he was constantly dragged to the barn or Pony Club events. One day, he decided that riding would be more fun than being bored, and the rest is history. Christopher continued riding into college, where he competed on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s IHSA team. Following in Michael’s footsteps, he worked at horse shows during the summers. After college, Christopher remained involved with show management, doing every job from ring crew to in-gate to office secretary.

Lindsay Lenard started riding at 11 years old, inspired by the TV show The Saddle Club. After discovering her newfound love for horses and the camaraderie at the barn, Lindsay grew up riding in the hunter/jumper ring, earning time in the show ring as a working student. Lindsay was always the first one out to the barn and the last to leave, even jumping the locked fence in the morning to get in. Her life goal and passion have always been to work with horses. She is the epitome of a “horse girl.”

We Know What It’s Like to Manage Shows!

It’s a family thing! Michael and Christopher both got involved on the show management side as summer jobs during college. It started with Michael, who was initially recruited simply to be an extra set of hands during two busy horse show weeks. A few years later, Michael pulled in Christopher, who was newly in need of a summer job himself, to help out. During these days, Lindsay was working as an assistant trainer and attending many of the same shows with her students. College ended, and professional careers began, but Michael and Christopher continued to stay involved with show management on the side, maintaining an active presence in the horse show industry. Over the years, Michael has pursued opportunities to manage his own horse shows and has played many other roles at various shows, including office secretary, in-gate, announcer, and awards/presentation coordination. He is also a passionate horse show judge, currently pursuing his USEF judging licensures.

As a group, we saw firsthand the challenges that all stakeholders—competitors, spectators, management and officials alike—experience when working with outdated tech, limited capabilities, and on-site servers. If anyone can feel your pains and frustrations, it’s us.

As we continue to build Horse Spot, we have found that our show management experience has been a huge value-add for managers looking for features that will serve them and make their business operations run more efficiently. We frequently spend time on-site with new management teams, helping them run their shows for the week. It’s a great way to test drive Horse Spot with its founders right next to you! This approach enables show managers to ask questions they might not have otherwise asked and provides real-time constructive feedback that we can implement.

We’ve Heard Your Complaints

We’ve listened to your feedback, seen your comments on social media (and even in private Facebook groups), and we’ve heard a common theme around horse shows: “Horse show tech sucks, and we want a more modern solution.” As equestrians, we have collectively felt this pain point as exhibitors at horse shows of all sizes. Additionally, our community understands that all shows—not just the premiere events—deserve tech that’s working for its users and meets users’ expectations.

Since entering the corporate tech world a decade ago, we haven’t seen much change and decided it was time to do something about it! The timing couldn’t be more perfect, as we feel we have the knowledge and experience to build the best product on the market.

We’re Entrepreneurial—This Isn’t Our First Rodeo!

Although our team has spent a good amount of time in the corporate world, we have also managed our own client relationships, launching tech startup products for clients backed by major capital funding and operating in the fast-paced, professional services space.

We understand what it’s like to run a business and work closely with startups finding their product-market fit. Like in horseback riding, you have to strategize and be thinking ‘five moves ahead’—anticipating future outcomes, seeing moves and countermoves. It’s important to have a plan, commit to it, show up with confidence, and at times be willing to take risks. Sounds a lot like your plan going into the show ring, doesn’t it?

We know that successful outcomes often come from adapting when life doesn’t go according to that plan. At Horse Spot, we aim to take an agile approach with all our exhibitors and managers. What we build today may look different in two years, and that’s purposeful. We will continue to be ready to adapt in an ever-changing horse show space.

We Care About Our Community

We would not be who we are without the people at the barn who have shaped us. We have met some of the most supportive friends through riding, who have truly felt like family. We all share the same purpose and feel that we do what we do because we love horses.

Horse Spot is our opportunity to give back to the community that built us. We’re all working with the same goal in mind, and we believe the outcome will be even better than we ever imagined.

When It Comes to Tech, You Can Trust Us

We’re optimists who believe in our clients as much as we believe in ourselves. Hint: It’s a lot. The barn life has taught us a strong work ethic in and out of the saddle. And we bring this attitude to Horse Spot. Some call it discipline, some call it a bit of an obsession. We call it passion.