Horse Trainer
As a lifelong equestrian, horse trainers are a group of people near and dear to my heart. Over the years they have
been some of my closest friends, confidantes, employers, and cared for my most prized possession- my horse. As I
grew older and entered the business world- it made me a little sad to realize that most horse trainers are barely getting
by financially. Why is it so hard to be commercially successful as a horse trainer? Why do you have to give everything
away? Is there a solution? These are questions that I asked myself. And the answers started to come.
The reasons why it is financially difficult
to make it as a horse trainer go on and
on. The overhead is through the roof.
The client pool is generally limited to
the top 1% of the 1% AND who are in
a close geographic proximity to you.
That’s not a lot of people. And when
it comes to finding a facility- you are
usually forced to pick two of the three
from the below list:
A. attractive to train out of,
B. close enough to a decent urban
population
C. inexpensive
Competition between other local
trainers can be intense. There is a
weird unspoken rule that you cannot
“solicit other people’s clients.” As if
clients are property that belong to one
trainer or another. You are generally
always trading time for money- most
horse trainers don’t know how to really
charge for the value they create, and
only for the time that they spend. And
in general- client’s want to ride on the
weekends and on holidays- so most
trainer’s end up working just about 7
days a week and in some cases almost
365 days a year. It is a tough life
There are only so many hours in a day,
and only so many horses a trainer can
ride and a limited amount of lessons
that can be taught. Sure, you can give
group lessons, hire assistants, but that
only compresses margins further and
the quality inevitably starts to come
down. Many trainers hit a hard ceiling
somewhere around only 10-25 clients
before they feel like they are at full
capacity.
I think it’s also challenging for horse
trainers because they spend SO much
time with their clients. A side effect is
that trainers usually end up becoming
close friends with their clients. And
in general- a trainer’s clients are in a
higher tax bracket. Trainers can become
drained even more financially by
subconsciously trying to keep up with
their client/friends financially. But most
trainers will also
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experience the inevitable heartbreaking
reminder when their client/friend
announces that they are moving to
train with the local ‘frenemy’ down
the street, and they are reminded that
these are not their friends. They are
clients. And this is supposed to be a
professional relationship.
I take my hat off to any trainer that
has succeeded in this industry, and
no doubt brought a lot of joy and
unforgettable moments to their clients
and dedicated so much of their life to
caring for our animal friends. Therefore,
I would love to see more great horse
trainers make great money... and get
their weekends back. For most trainers,
that sounds crazy and too good
to be true. But there is a small group of
trainers that have figured out business
models that scale beyond 25 clients.
Trainers need to find a way to “productize”
and supplement their core
business
model with something that scales and
still delivers an impact. I have found
that while there is no substitute for face
to face riding lessons, there is a huge
demand for quality online courses that
today’s technology makes increasingly
easier to implement.
Online courses can complement what
a trainer is already doing, and also provide
their knowledge and expertise to
a wider audience at a fraction of the
price. The trainers who have successfully
implemented this into their business
know that they scale much better than
the traditional model and can still have
a profound impact on their clients.
One thing that I have been marinating
on is that there are only approximately
100,000 USEF members, but approximately
2,000,000+ horses in the United
States alone. There is a huge market
and opportunity out there if you can
look beyond the traditional tiny pond
most trainers are focused on.
Here are some tips to get started and
test the waters.
1. Go low tech or no tech in the beginning
and make it live and interactive.
Just focus on understanding a handful
of horse people, and over delivering.
Could be as simple as a private Facebook
® group.
2. Be open minded about what your
course will be about. Allow the demand
to pull you where you need to
go. Don’t assume you know what you
will be teaching and building- rather
understand what your clients are struggling
with and then build a custom
solution.
3. Invest and lean into understanding
new technology and concepts. It is
tempting to ignore the new developments
around you- but it really is not
THAT hard to figure out new software,
concepts and apps. With proper use
they can make a huge difference in
your business, for your clients, and ultimately
for your horses.
4. Remember that your prospective
clients need to find you, and a search
online is not always effective. Print is the
best way to drive people to your web
site or Facebook® page. People need
to see your name or business name
multiple times in multiple places for
name recognition, branding and credibility.
Everyone knows the national fast
food and soft drink companies, and
they still promote themselves.
I think that there is
incredible opportunity
in the horse
industry- especially
for those who embrace
technology,
stay open-minded,
and remember to
always do the right
thing for the horse.
Trainers need to
supplement their core
business model with
something that scales and
still delivers an impact.
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