Attachment
to your expectations only brings grief.
Let go of your attachments, and every effort is a success in itself.
The Business of Making Money with Horses
By
Don Blazer
Copyright
© 2002
Lesson
Eight
Look good, feel good makes money
I’ve
saved this make-money lesson for last, since it details the one sure method of
making money with horses. There are no
“ifs”, no “ands”, no “buts”, just income.
Train
horses owned by someone else.
Win,
lose, or draw, the trainer almost always gets paid. (There will be some hard-to-collect accounts,
but not many if you are alert and maintain good business practices.) If the horse turns out to be a champion, the
trainer gets paid, usually with a bonus.
If the horse sells, or doesn’t sell, if the horse lives,
or dies, the trainer gets paid.
You
may not get rich as a trainer, but you’ll get paid.
If
you have your own ideas, and you work hard, and you are dedicated to your
craft, you’ll make money. You might even
become very wealthy. It’s up to you.
Now
if you do want to make a lot of money as a trainer, then all you have to do is
play the game.
You
don’t have to be the greatest trainer in the world to make money. You don’t even have to be good.
But
you do have to know how the game is played, and the very best ways to
accumulate the big bucks.
I
wouldn’t presume to tell you how to train a horse.
There
are as many ways to train a horse as there are trainers. Every horse is an individual, needing special
care and attention in the development of his or her special skills.
You
may wish to train trotting horses, or jumpers, or race horses, or western
pleasure horses. You decide what you
want to train and how you want to train.
It really doesn’t matter, just as long as you know and follow the rule
by which horses can make a trainer a lot of money.
The one and only absolute rule: always make your customers “look good”
and “feel good”.
Trainers
who make money know they really only have two major functions. Neither involves training a horse. Trainers who make money dedicate the vast
majority of their time working on these two most important jobs.
1. A trainer must attract more
customers, increasing total income.
2. A trainer must find new and
better ways to increase the margin between effort
and profits.
Attracting customer—the ones who pay
the bills and provide the profits—is priority one.
A
key element of good marketing is distribution.
You must get the goods or services to the customer. Or, you must get the customer to the goods or
services.
If
you aren’t already in the middle of the market which wants a trainer for the
kind of horse you want to train, then you must find that market, and go to
it. If you want to train race horses, go
to the race track. If you want to train
jumpers, locate in an area where jumpers are the number one topic of
conversation. Sure, you might have to
pick up and move lock, stock and barrel.
But you’ll do it because it’s part of the make-money game.
Don’t
attempt to train dressage horses in the heart of cutting horse country, or run
Quarter Horses in a state where there is no Quarter Horse racing. Look for an abundance of the kind of horses
you want to train. And don’t worry about
there being too many trainers in the area already; few of them will know or
follow the “look good, feel good” rule to becoming a wealthy trainer.
The
customers of other trainers will soon be your customers because you will
attract customers, and you will make them “look good” and “feel good”.
Nothing
breeds success like success.
And
one of the best ways to “show off” your success and ability is to get an
education. You don’t have to do a thing
to impress potential customers if you have the “credentials to show you have
the knowledge.” There are so few horse
trainers with formal education within their field that you will stand head and
shoulders above most of your competition.
There
are more than 200 colleges in the
Survey
after survey has concluded that incomes increase
substantially for those with some sort of formal education.
It’s
easy to let prospective customers know about your educational background, and
when they do, they expect to pay.
Being
successful in school is one of the best ways a trainer can attract new
customers.
Your
education accomplishments are an image of success that carries over into all
facets of your business.
To
attract new customers you don’t have to be the world’s greatest trainer. You don’t even have to have a winning record
in competitions.
But
you must always be sure your customer “looks good and feels good” when they are
with you. They must “look good and feel
good” about the things they are doing, or learning or simply enjoying. You must be sure your customers want to be
involved in the activities you create at your training facility. One happy customer attracts others.
Look
good and feel good means never having a customer look bad or feel bad.
Never,
never tell a customer his pride and joy or her precious baby can’t win, can’t run or can’t jump. You never, never tell a customer a thing like
that unless you’ve suddenly developed a phobia about making money. If you want to make money, you must have
horses—so no matter how bad the horse is, you still have to make the customer
“look good” and “feel good.” Remember,
no matter how bad a horse is, he’s always better than
an empty stall.
Never, never fail to tell an owner the truth about his or her
horse. A customer who has been
lied to never looks good or feels good.
Every horse has plenty of positive aspects to talk about. Talk about how full the glass, not how empty.
You
know that only a small percentage of horses are winners at anything, yet their
owners love them dearly. So making an
owner look good and feel good about the horse he or she loves isn’t that big a
problem. It just takes some positive
thought.
A
trainer who is making money is thinking his or her way to increased profit
margins and increased income. A trainer
who is making money finds a way to make an owner look good and feel good. And there are lots of ways to do that without
seeking head to head combat in the show ring or other venues.
Study
each of your new customers or your potential customers.
What makes each of them look
good and feel good? It will probably be
a different thing for each, but for all, there are some basic steps to follow.
First,
be a good horseman and dedicate yourself to improving every day. Give horse training your very best
efforts. Your attitude and efforts will
be noticed and appreciated by your customers, and they will feel good being
associated with you.
Now
add some creative profit thinking.
Matching
stall signs, matching halters, matching blankets, matching name plates,
matching tack trunks give a “team” appearance to a shed row. It makes customers’ horses look good, and
customers feel good. And there is always
a little profit for the trainer when such items are purchased through regular
sources.
Being
a part of a team is very important to most of us. It is that feeling of “acceptance” which all
humans crave. So when your barn makes
everyone feel part of something important, they want to stay and they are
willing to pay. Don’t be afraid to
charge well for your services. It’s part
of the game.
Some
creative trainers are very well paid because they are very good baby-sitters.
Their
entire training service is really just baby-sitting
the horse owner’s children.
If
you keep the little darlings happy, impressively attired and on a flashy horse,
the mom, pop and the kid will look good and feel good, no matter the results of
the competition.
Now
if you really want to make a lot of money, and you are really thinking of ways
to increase profit margins and total income, you’ll find a way to take the child
to a level of competition at which he or she can win. Maybe on a horse you just sold to them…one
with potential. You know how to find
and sell a horse with potential, don’t you?
Wining
at the smallest backyard show makes mom and pop look and feel great. The kid’s a star, and you’re on your way to
the bank with a bigger roll.
Don’t
knock it. Baby-sitting trainers—and
that’s the majority—do extremely well with poor stock and no training
talent. They attract customers and they
increase income and profit by making everyone look good and feel good.
If
you are a decorating genius, you can get rich just by applying your
non-training ideas. The “status-ego” of
some horse owners can keep you in the chips if you dress the part and see to it
the horses looks the part.
A
friend once told me, “Customers can see the shine on a horse, but they can’t
see the time and training in one.” He
was correct. He was also wealthy.
Glossy
horses, standing in clean stalls, with personal rub rags and brushes in the tack
trunks with embossed name plates, impress the current owners and at tract new
customers.
Many
people will pay anything to be part of an exclusive club. Without doubt, they believe they look good,
and they know they feel good when they tell their friends how much extra they
have to pay just to be in your stable.
Some very profit-oriented trainers insist their clients buy special
saddles and equipment, for which they get handsome kickbacks.
It
costs plenty to join some private clubs, and there is almost always a waiting
list. (Waiting lists are another good
way to attract customers. I know one
fellow who makes everyone wait at least 30 days before they can get into his stable. He claims it gives him time to learn just how
much a prospective customer is willing to spend on horses and equipment.)
In
those kinds of barns, who cares about winning?
Those owners have the very best for their horse. And the trainer has the profits.
If
you are training competitive horses, but not winning regularly, you really
never have to make excuses for poor performances by any horse. If you think about it, whether it’s a race
horse, show horse, or pleasure riding horse, the owner will give you all the
excuses ever needed if you just keep quiet.
The owner will think of a hundred reasons to continue to pay you to
train that special horse.
Shuffle
your feet and kick the dirt, or continue grooming the horse, but don’t
speak. The owner will provide an
explanation soon enough for why the horse misbehaved, or didn’t win. Then all you have to do is agree with the
owner, and the owner looks good and feels good.
If
I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it hundreds of times. A dirty, rotten, no-good spoiled horse will
dump, kick, or somehow hurt an owner, and the owner will immediately explain
why it wasn’t the horse’s fault.
Want
to make money? Just listen, don’t argue
and don’t criticize. If you let the
owner look good and feel good, he’ll be happy as a clam, continue to pay, and
probably buy another dink for five times what he’s wroth. And if the trainer sells that new dink, it’s
even more money for the trainer.
Be
cool. Let the owner enjoy his or her
horse, and the money will come rolling in.
It
takes no horsemanship ability at all to be a wealthy trainer. Anyone who follows the rule can be a very
wealthy trainer. Horses can make you
rich.
Now
don’t misunderstand. There are a lot of
wealthy trainers who have loads of ability and horsemanship talent. It’s just that they didn’t become rich on
training skills alone. In addition to
being gifted, they know and follow the plan.
They attract customers—on skills and winning records, too-and they find
ways to increase profit margins and boost income.
For
trainers, there are many avenues to a pot of gold.
Trainers
have more opportunities than anyone else to take advantage of the other methods
you’ve already learned. It’s simply
because trainers are more often in the right place at the right time.
For
example, training facilities are an excellent way to “land bank”, and make
money.
Horse
facilities are usually located in an area not really suited to other commercial
ventures. The land is normally less
expensive. So while you are making money
practicing your trade as a trainer, the
land you are utilizing is appreciating in value. Just as every horse you have is for sale, so
it the land.
You
would be surprised how many horse-owning customers will be interested in
purchasing your gold mine if you just suggest to them that it is for sale.
Just
as there is always another horse, there is always another place—especially if
the profit margin will help make you rich.
If
you don’t wish to, or can’t afford to start a land bank, then lease the
facilities needed for your business, or go to a public stable. The advantages of doing this are many.
First,
most of your new customers are already there.
Horse owners love to switch from a trainer who doesn’t make them look good
or feel good to a trainer who does. It’s
a fact that you’ll take your good customers with you and pick up new ones every
time you change locations. (Some
trainers do change locations every time they want to add new customers.) Make our section of the public facility the
fanciest. You’ll have people stopping by
just to smell the roses. And it
shouldn’t surprise you when they decide to join you.
Second,
your income generally remains constant with your costs. If you need 20 stalls for paying customers,
your costs are proportionate. If the
number of stalls needed goes down, so do your costs.
Third,
you’ll have more time to practice your craft, which is attracting customers,
making customers look good and feel good, and thinking of new and better ways
to make more money. After all, at a
leased facility, you don’t have to spend your valuable time fixing and
repairing all the little problems so common to a training stable.
Remember,
the only three ways of making money with horses is to “win purses”, “sell
horses” and sell your potential to make the owners look good and feel good.
Don’t
be afraid to call on every horse owner that is the kind of person you want in
your barn. Yes, you will step on some
toes taking customers from others. But
believe me, the guy who protests the most about you won’t hesitate to accept
one of your clients. And no matter how
hard you try, you will lose some customers.
Smile as you wave good-by, the potential for your success is unlimited.
Horses—what
a great way to get wealthy!
You
can start with very little money, and get sizable returns on your
investment. You can start with a lot of
money and still get impressive returns on your investment.
You
can participate in one, or any number of facets of the horse industry, and get
wealthy.
You
can do the thing you love best, and make money doing it.
But
everything isn’t always roses. Life
doesn’t work that way, and neither does the horse industry.
I’ve told you how to make money with horses. The surest way to lose money with horses is
to own more than you should. If horses
are your business, then make something else your hobby.
Winning
and selling make money.
Owning
a horse for the pure pleasure is an expense.
Own
one, maybe two. But own many and you
will be “horse poor”. I guarantee it.
Those
are the rules. Following them is
certainly the toughest part of being successful.
Following
the rules means lots and lots of study, effort and dedication.
But
you can do it.
And
you can make money with horses.