[New] Celebrating the global culture of horses

TAUSEEF QADRI has seen plenty of the world but when it came to setting up his business, there was only one location he had in mind.

Tauseef Qadri has been travelling all his life. His early, formative years were in Saudi Arabia and he has been taking in the sunny climes of Dubai, Portugal, Singapore and the USA for most of his life –but, it seems, he’s found his spiritual home in Warwick.

And not only that, he’s basing his new business venture, which has the potential to be a global game-changer in the equestrian industry, in the region.

His love for the area began in the late 1990s when he came to the UK for a visit and ended up being drawn by Warwick School and set his heart on attending, which he did a year later.

“I loved everything about it,” he said. “As tourists, we took a day trip to see the castle and there’s a beautiful park close by. The school was adjacent to it and I asked: what’s that building?

“We got a tour and coming from an international school in Saudi Arabia which had an American curriculum, Warwick felt like Hogwarts!

“I needed to study there. I was also playing a little bit of youth cricket with Warwickshire at the time so the stars were all aligning and I ended up coming over for what you would have called fifth and sixth form.

“It was great to experience the wonderful English summers, attending the school and playing cricket but also I had to put up with the winters too. I wasn’t prepared for those!”

His affection for Warwick and fondness for cricket were outweighed by only one thing – a passion for horses. It has driven every decision in his life and is the motivation behind his business, Cavago.

The concept is to mirror the likes of booking.com and Airbnb but for the equestrian world, giving equinebased businesses a shop window and giving customers the chance to discover what’s available either on their doorstep or further afield.

“I was one of those kids where the parents said: he really loves horses!” Tauseef remembers.

“They nurtured it. I rode at the national equestrian centre and competed across the country. Then, as we moved around the world, I would seek to continue my horsemanship wherever I was.”

By the age of 11, he was a subscriber to Arabian Horse World – a weighty magazine that Tauseef describes as the ‘Facebook for the industry’ before the days of the internet.

Thanks to this growing encyclopaedic knowledge, he could hold conversations with breeders about specific details and it was clear that this passion would ultimately become more than a pastime.

After finishing at Warwick School, he read management sciences at Loughborough University but continued to play cricket (including a stint with Pakistan’s under-19s) and also ride horses.

His first job was with Xerox in Reading and doubled up with an MSC in sustainable development at the University of London.

“There was always a love of horses and I was trying to fit things around it. I tried to do my Masters in how horses help the rural economy but I couldn’t get the data – even in the UK!” he said.

Tauseef then headed over to Dubai where a stint in investment was followed by a role with a real estate company that specialised in building equestrian projects.

“I became the de facto managing director because I was the first person to join the company,” he said

“We aggregated a team of around 30 people from around the world including equine architects – people who specialise in building barns – through to the person who headed up the Household Cavalry.

“I built the organisation and we sold around $1.2 billion worth of assets – houses, essentially – and then it came crashing down during the recession of 2009.

“Dubai was over-leveraged and so I thought I should get a real job!”