How do you answer the question, “What do you do?” If the answer is, “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. I’ve said it before: the horse is not your customer, people who like horses are your customers. They pay for the board, the training and the riding lessons.
So to take this idea a bit deeper, one of the things you do every day is teach. Now, if you give riding lessons it’s obvious you are a teacher. But, if you sell horses, train horses or board horses are you a teacher, too? I sure think so.
If you sell horses and have a sense of duty to the buyer and the horse, you try to do a professional job matching up horse and owner. This is true especially when the buyer is inexperienced in the horse world. This involves educating the owner about safety, temperament and suitability of horse to the intended purpose. The teaching process is necessary for the buyer to make an informed decision about the purchase. The education you provide as a professional horseman is often an unappreciated service. Thankfully, there is no “lemon law” for horses, but operating your horse sales business as if there was is a good philosophy. If you know that a horse is not the right match, do your best to educate the buyer about the problems and put her on a horse that makes sense. People want to buy fun, not trouble.
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 trained the horse, how to use the aids to get the most performance from their horse and why it is important to keep a steady program for reinforcement of the training. Often, trainers teach the horse exceptionally well but have no skill in teaching the owner how to take advantage of their professional training investment.
If you board horses, you may never consider yourself a teacher. But stop and think about what you are paid to do. You are charged with the responsibility of caring for your customer’s horse in their absence. You know when the symptoms of colic start to show up, 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 hands-on, 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.
Best of all, good teachers are the most Profitable Horsemen. Don’t give up filling the role of teacher to those who want to learn more, but you can forget about taking the summers off.