As a child, you learned quickly about things that come in threes: three legs on a stool, three wheels on your tricycle and three French hens.

A perfect combination of three thoughts, words or things make for easy memory and understanding. Some people call the concept of combining three things the "magic of three". And magic is good enough for me for an explanation of why three is such a good number for combinations.

You think in threes all day long. For example:

1. Past, present, and the future
2. Faith, hope and charity
3. Walk, trot and canter

This week I want to encourage you to think about what you do in your business and how you can use the magic of three to come up with the three big things that you do best when you're marketing yourself and your business. You undoubtedly do more than three things in your horse business very well but, since people aren't going to remember more than three, come up with the three best.

A boarding facility operator might say: What sets our facility apart from the rest is:

1. Community - Your sense of community and camaraderie among our clients.
2. Care - Your horse's care in your absence and the quality of your experience while you are with your horse is our staff's mission
3. Peace of Mind - Your peace of mind every day about your horse's well-being allows you to focus on other important things in your busy life.

A riding instructor might say: What makes our lesson program special is:

1. Friendly - We agree your learning experience happens best in a positive and friendly environment.
2. Goals - Your individual goals, not others, are the most important for your riding development progress.
3. Excitement - You'll be looking forward to your next riding lesson with excitement' not worry.

A horse trainer might say:

1. Ability - Your horse will advance in his training as fast as he is able to learn; we want him happy, not pressured beyond his natural ability.
2. Future - We start your colts with a polished finish in mind for the future.
3. Your Smile - The smile on your face every time you ride tells us how well we did our work.

Use the power of three to build your marketing message. Your well crafted message of your three best advantages will make you "the one" go to person in your discipline.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, what do I do in my business? I help professional horsemen and horsewomen who don't have enough:

1. Time in the day
2. Money at the end of the month
3. Right kind of employees to get the work done

"For three days after death hair and fingernails continue to grow but phone calls taper off." -- Johnny Carson

"Work saves us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need." -- Voltaire

"It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech" -- Mark Twain

Time stopped for a brief moment last weekend while I was riding with our thirteen year old son. We were riding indoors since the spring time ground outside ranged from spongy to shoe-pulling muddy.

On a horse he was familiar with but had not logged large amounts of ride time on, he announced to me he would be cantering next. I eased my horse into a slow and lazy walk to pay attention to his riding.

The large arena door was open for fresh air and bright sunshine and in passing the opening, his horse could not help noticing the robin just outside the door opening hoisting a scrap piece of plastic from the ground to be recycled as nest building material.

Understandably, from the horse's viewpoint, a robin toting plastic could be a life threatening predator and fully deserves a defensive shy to the left to avoid danger.

I suspect our son has a deeper understanding of the law of inertia following his low orbit free flight to the right as his horse shied to the left.

From my mounted perspective, the flight went OK. It was the sudden landing on the arena footing that was troublesome to him and to me watching.

"Are you OK?", I asked.

"Yes", he replied softly without tears while sitting.

"Can you walk over and hold the horse until I get over there?"

"Yes."

"You know you have to get back on, right?"

"Right"

"By the way, spectacular dismount. Too bad there is no video."

Surprisingly, some of the proudest moments as a parent of a youth rider don't always occur at the rail of a show ring.

I was delighted to be included as a speaker at SUNY Cobleskill Equestrian Center's Horse Owner's Workshop last weekend. The faculty, staff and students organized and produced on a terrific variety of talks and demos for horsemen.

If you are shopping for an education in the equine world, put SUNY Cobleskill on your list of possibilities.

I work with Professional Horsemen who are struggling with the business half of the horse business.

Just like a top performing horse has a strong foundation, so does a top performing horse business.

If you've had enough with disappointment in your horse business, call or e-mail and we can talk about your business and how I may be able to help you.

A big Welcome to new subscribers this week. If you know other horsemen who would enjoy this newsletter, please forward it to them!

I appreciate your help !

Need a speaker about the horse business for your horse related organization? Talk to me about talking. Keynotes and workshops available. (716) 434-5371