Business Matters

How to Answer “So What Do You Do?”

By Doug Emerson, The Profitable Horseman

You’re at a social gathering and are introduced to people who may be prospects for your business and you become engaged in conversation. How do you answer the inevitable question, “So what do you do?” If you answer, “I’m in the horse business” you are only telling part of the story. Because more accurately stated, you are in the recreation business for people who like horses. Horses are not your customers; people who like horses are your customers. They pay for the board, the training and the riding lessons.

To take this idea a bit deeper, one of the “lemon law” for horses, but operating your things you do every day is teach. If you give horse sales business as if there was is a good riding lessons it’s obvious you are a teacher. philosophy. If you know that a horse is not But, if you also sell horses, train horses or the right match, do your best to educate the board horses are you a teacher while doing buyer about the problems and put her on a that, too? I sure think so. horse that makes sense. People want to buy

If you sell horses and have a sense of duty fun, not trouble. to the buyer and the horse, you try to do a professional job matching up horse and future owner. This is true especially when the buyer is inexperienced in the horse “ “People want to buy fun, If you train horses for others, you’ve noticed that often your hard work and the horse’s hard work may go to waste if the owner is not educated in how you world. This involves edutrained the horse, how to cating the potential owner not trouble.” use the aids to get the most about safety, temperament and suitability of a horse to the rider’s intended purpose. Most likely you’ve seen too many situations where a novice buys a horse not suitable for their skill level and performance from their horse, and why it is important to keep a steady program for reinforcement of the training. You may know trainers who train horses exceptionally well, but lack the ” bad things happen. skills of teaching the owners how to take

The teaching process is necessary for the advantage of their professional training buyer to make an informed decision about investment. A horse trainer who is also a the purchase. The education you provide as teacher gets results. a professional horseman is often an unapIf you board horses, you may never conpreciated service. Thankfully, there is no sider yourself a teacher until you stop and think about what you are paid to do. You are charged with the responsibility of caring for your customer’s horse. You know when the symptoms of colic appear, you recognize stocked up legs and you know when the farrier is overdue for a visit. The owner looks to you for education for health issues, general horse care and guidance with all types of problems. After all, you are the expert and have an obligation to your customers to teach them how to have more pleasure and less pain with their horses.

Good teachers recognize the different types of learners: audio, visual and handson, and the best ways to help them. They read body language, listen carefully and sense frustration. Good teachers encourage continuing education and help those who want to be helped.

The next time you’re asked, “So what do you do?” you may want to respond that you’re a teacher. And the follow up question to you is almost always “who or what do you teach?”

The follow up question is your invitation to expand on how you teach and help your customers have more fun and less stress with horses. You’ll see fear begin to melt and be replaced with trust and confidence in your teaching skills. Then the prospect will engage freely with questions about how you can help them with their challenges.

About the author: Doug Emerson writes, speaks and consults about running a profitable horse business. His favorite method of helping professional horsemen is through one day workshops focusing on the business half of the horse business. You can find out more at: www.ProfitableHorseman.com

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➢ continued from page 9 likely to experience more unhappiness issues with boarders. For example, at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon, NC this year, the inclement weather forced the cancellation of the dressage freestyle, as the competitors did not wish to utilize an indoor space that was set up with footing for barrel racing. The footing was simply too deep for the safety of their dressage horses.

If your facility is being utilized across multiple disciplines, issues with footing, the presence or absence of show jumping fences, the availability of quiet space for dressage riders without barrel racers galloping around the ring, are just some of the conflicts that may all enter in to your world. It is a lot easier to manage a boarding barn with one or two complementary disciplines, than to work across a variety of disciplines.

In conclusion, it is easy to narrow down the areas of possible conflict by following these few simple suggestions. A conflict avoided altogether is always the best option. But if you do experience management issues with a difficult boarder, you will be in a strong position to alleviate any discontent if these protocols are in place.

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About the author: Nikki Alvin-Smith is an international Grand Prix dressage trainer/clinician who has competed in Europe at the Grand Prix level earning scores of over 72%. Together with her husband Paul, who is also a Grand Prix rider, they operate a private horse breeding/ training farm in Stamford, NY.

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Wise Words

“Competence means that we set ourselves, and our horses, up for success by adequately preparing before trying new things. Do we have the skills we need to perform the task we are asking the horse to do?

These may include simple things—like handling our tools in both hands with equal ease—which can help a lot when playing with horses at liberty.

Under saddle, competence still matters, because our riding skills can help or hinder our horse.”

From The Art of Liberty Training for Horses by Jonathan Field. Jonathan is featured in the new edition of How Good Riders Get Good by Denny Emerson, published by horseandriderbooks.com