– Pluvinel, is a digital solution specially designed to bring equestrians together, says the Norwegian founder and designer Camilla Næristorp
LinkedIn has since it was founded in 2002 acquired more then 313 million users from over 200 countries. The network is used for professional connections and business associations. Keep in mind that the equestrian sport is the largest sporting employer in the world.
– As a rider your desire to learn and develop your skills will never stops. That is why access to dedicated and skilled instructors, trainers and coaches will never stop, and pluvinel.com will be the equestrian equivalent to LinkedIn/Facebook, explains Næristorp.
Effective communication
The designer explains that Pluvinel, unlike any other platform, is purely bred for equestrians with transparency, quality and usability as important stepping stones.
– Pluvinel is relevant, professional, user friendly and global. I have missed a web application like this myself, and now it is here! Pluvinel will bring the equestrian community, and all its disciplines together online. This is big news for everyone in the equestrian world, because it means we can meet the digital demands of the future, says Næristorp.
– That horses are fantastic is something all equestrians agree on, as they do when it comes to the need for skilled instructors, coaches and trainers. By combining the two, we enable more equestrians to engage in a unique, diverse and meaningful sport by improving the communication and work methods, explains Næristorp.
Smartphone
The idea is that you will be accessible online without having your own website or knowledge about web design, nor is a Facebook profile necessary.
– I think this is an opportunity to show what a great diversity this sport has. There is something for every ability and every interest. If you want to learn more about your area of interest, or maybe you fancy trying a new discipline or maybe ride for an instructor you admire, Pluvinel will make this easier, she says.
Pluvinel is made with the equestrian’s daily life in mind and is super easy to use. Instructors, trainers and coaches can easily register on pluvinel.com and populate their profiles.
– It will take you around ten minutes to make a full profile, only a few minutes to make a minimum profile. You can practically create one on the go, waiting for your students to turn up. If you are thinking that your schedule is busy and you don’t need a profile, create a profile anyway, but just set your availability to “no”, then if someone contacts you they will understand that it can take some time before they get a reply. You never know if someone has been looking for someone like you, she says.
Early stages
The initiative is in its early stages, but Næristorp and her team chooses to launch early to create engagement.
– It is important to and get the web site out to the users, this way we can make a relevant product and add new features that our users want. We will focus on features that will digitise your work methods, and we will implement features and functionalities regularly, she says.
One of the functionalities that will come in the near future is riding school profiles.
Something relevant
The name Pluvinel is inspired by Antoine de Pluvinel, the first of the French riding masters.
– He taught several Kings of his time, and he discovered his own ways and firmly believed in humane methods to communicate with horses, in contrast to most of the methods used at the time. Antoine de Pluvinel is described as a man with a good and sound nature for which he has been held in the highest regard to this day, she says.
Næristorp continues to explain that the idea behind creating a digital solution for equestrians came to her when she herself after many years with no horse riding, wanted to pick up the interest again.
– I found it extremely difficult to navigate the web, to find something that was relevant. Basically, I could not understand why, in our time, it did not exist one platform where I could easily navigate and find an instructor, she says.
After mapping out the market, the decision to go ahead with business development was easy, but leaping to do it full time was a little scary.
– To everyone who is a dedicated instructor, coach or trainer, I know that it can be a bit “scary” to be the first to try something new, I am not exactly a “first signer-up myself”, even though I am very curious on different technological concepts, she admits.
– I am therefore very grateful for my team who have supported and believed in this concept, and I am very proud to have some amazing, and brave, instructors who wants to be trailblazers, they are writing equestrian history. Since the concept is based on diversity, and I am very proud that we already have polo, vaulting, icelandic, mounted games in addition to dressage and jumping represented. Just think about Airbnb, Tripadvisor and Uber - they would be nothing without the diversity and plethora, she says.
