The riding world has been waiting for a real platform. Not a CRM bolted onto a calendar. Not a feed with horse emojis. Something built around how the sport actually works.
Founder
Islam Ragab
Egyptian-Belgian. Based in Gent. Rider, trainer, and after 35 years in the saddle, finally a founder.
My father placed me on a pony when I was one day old. He was a gold medalist at the Mediterranean Sea Games, and the man who taught me everything I know about horses, show jumping and polo. That’s where this whole story starts.
Six times national champion. Former member of the Egyptian show jumping team and the Egyptian polo team. International riding career across Europe and the Middle East. Top yards, top horses, the whole journey.
I have not only ridden in those yards, I have worked in them. Home rider for professional stables, groom, stable manager. I have clipped horses, given the shots, mucked out and swept the yard, and I spent every summer from the age of twelve doing exactly that in Germany.
I’ve seen how the world’s best stables run. And I’ve seen what they actually rely on to keep going: a whiteboard in the office, a WhatsApp group with the staff, one app for the schedule, another for finance, a separate one for the social feed, and sticky notes for tomorrow. None of it talks to each other.
I also hold a Master’s in Hospitality Management. That matters here. Hospitality is the original “complex daily operations with humans, premium service, tight margins” industry. The tools were figured out decades ago. Booking engines, schedule managers, integrated finance, CRM. The equestrian world has been quietly waiting for the same.
Horsebook is what happens when someone who’s lived both worlds builds the thing the riding world deserves. One platform. Professional grade. Built around how stables, riders, the professionals who keep horses going, the fans who live for the sport, agents and brands actually operate.
35+
Years riding
Groom & manager
Worked in yards, not just rode in them
6×
National champion
2
National teams (jumping + polo)
EU + ME
International career
Germany
Riding and working in German yards, from 12
MSc
Hospitality Management
Gent
HQ in Belgium
EU
GDPR-native, data hosted in Dublin
Solo
One founder, no investors, no red tape
Walk into almost any stable in Europe and you’ll find the same setup. None of it talks to each other.
Horses, vet records, billing. In its own silo, doesn’t know what’s happening in the rota or the chat.
Rotas, shifts, time-off. Lives in another tool the office manager maintains by hand.
Invoices, expenses, VAT. Disconnected from the trial that just happened or the boarding fee that’s due.
Where everyone follows the horses, the riders, the deals. But you can’t book a trial from a post.
Today’s tasks. Yesterday’s leftovers. Wiped clean every Sunday. Lost forever.
"Did anyone feed Bonita?" "Who has the trailer keys?" "I can’t come tomorrow." Buried in 4-deep chat threads.
Sound familiar? Yeah. We can do better than this.
If a feature doesn’t feel right to a rider walking into the yard at 6am, it gets shipped again. I’m my own first user. The product is what I wish I’d had for the last 35 years.
When you upgrade you get more capacity, not more ‘modules’. No separate Finance unlock, no separate Breeding unlock, no per-module add-ons at all. Everything is in the box from day one, because that’s how a stable actually runs.
Free tier is free forever. Roadmap features are clearly labelled as coming, never sold as shipped. Cancel anytime. Own your data. Walk away whenever you want.
Horsebook is live and open at horsebook.io. Yards, riders and professionals are running on it every day, and we are still adding to it every week. Want in?
Every workflow documented on Features is live and running end-to-end. Horse profiles, FEI passport, trial bookings, team scheduling, the Finance Desk, Health Hub, Syndicates, the Breeding Centre and the Arena. Tested across full owner, staff and buyer journeys before anyone relies on it.
Sign up free today, no invite needed and no card. The free tier is a real tier, not a countdown, and while we are still building you have a real say in what ships next.
Horsebook keeps getting better, shaped directly by the stables, riders, professionals and fans using it. Real features only, no “coming soon” placeholders on the live product. When something on the roadmap ships, you see it the moment it lands.
No ticket queues, no bot replies. Every user has a direct channel to the team. Bug reports get same-day attention. Feature requests feed straight into the next sprint discussion.
Whether you run a yard or just ride for the love of it, this was built for you. Early access costs nothing.