Training horses to pen requires a lot of specific training in the herd… here’s a glimpse of what I do with my penning prospects to make them feel willing and free in the herd 🍀🤗
We get asked a lot what types of horses we’ll take in for training…We do prioritize penning horses as there are not as many trainers in Alberta with the resources and knowledge to serve that community. But we try to serve all the horse people in our area because it’s important to make horses an enjoyable pass-time for as many people as possible. That’s what keeps the horse industry strong 🍀♥️.
🍀 Tips for New Trainers - Marketing! 🍀
Sometimes I think we get caught up in social media as THE BEST tool for marketing our business - I get stuck there too - trying to post cool reels that will blow up the internet and fill my pens and lesson schedule for years! But after dabbling in it for a few years there are two things that work better for me than social media to market myself as a horse trainer:
1. Showing - this is my #1 promotional tool. Taking my horses to competition. My mom (mentor/business partner/super woman) always told me to always have a horse that is amazing to promote yourself with - which can be hard sometimes cause selling nice horses makes pretty good money…. But always have something to show that makes you look good, even if it comes out of your own pocket to own it and show it. And honestly you don’t even have to win everything for it to be affective. When people see how you conduct yourself in the show pen, how you interact with fellow competitors and how your horse works and is treated, that speaks volumes for you as a horseman and someone they might do business with.
2. Referrals - I very rarely have someone random off the internet ask for a lesson or to send a horse for training. They almost always come from someone telling them I did a good job. They might go check out my website or social media to see what I’m all about but the nudge usually comes from someone I’ve already helped. So do a good job and conduct yourself professionally and more business will come.
So those things being said, I’ve had two maternity leaves and a global pandemic disrupt my horse training career that made showing impossible so I have gone to social media to help myself out (it’s been a fun creative outlet too). I am not saying don’t bother with it. Not at all. Just don’t get hung up on the vanity metrics (likes, comments, shares, etc.) that at the end of the day, don’t fill your pens or fill clinics. Showing yourself off and doing a good job for your clients is always number
🍀 EXERCISE DIVERSITY 🍀Just like in training human athletes, horse training requires all types of exercises… these are the three types I focus on and how to decide which type to focus on depending on how your horses is feeling.Typo - by “relation” I mean “relaxation” 🤦🏼♀️. Reels are hard lol
