How To Make Success As A Horse Trainer

[Welshies]

So I just recently set up my contract, insurance, and website in order to train horses for others. I have considerable experience, but I'm young (college student), so I'm really worried that will put people off. I've had 150 page views already, as well as posted a variety of ads here and there.
This is my website. theviewhorsemanship.weebly.com
How can I get people to look past my youth? I look quite young for my age. How can I make it successful? There is lots of demand here. I have two people lined up to potentially put in a booking for springtime. I have another person who might bring their horse up this weekend, and I had someone lined up but they backed out.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Unfortunately I wouldn't trust a young person either unless they come with successful references. Generally you need to earn that good reputation one person at a time. It's best to not charge as much as others in order to draw in folks willing to try a cheaper alternative. It can take years to build a good reputation, and business.

 

[Percheron chick]

This is going to be long winded but you asked.
I have read the entire post and it has left me a little empty.
It is great that you know what direction you want to go professionally but you appear to be taking the " Jack of all trades, master of none" approach.
What are your best skills? What do you excel at? Where do you have you the most recognition? What are your short term and long term goals? What are the greatest needs in your community? Horse training is no different than any other job. You pay your dues to get where you want to end up.
As a potential horse owner looking for a trainer, I want to know who you are. How many horses have you trained, how long have you been doing this, who did you ride or study under, what have you accomplished.... Next I want to know where I am sending my horse. What type of facility do you work out of? Own, rent, rent a stall...? Do you have an indoor, RP, trails...? Where will my horse be kept? What will he be fed?
Next on the services offered, there is too much fluff. I want tangible skills my horse will be taught under your care. On a green horse just being started, I would expect him to come home with certain skills such as WTC (basic nothing fancy), back, halt, LR turns, stand to be saddled and mounted, walk past scary objects, ride out relaxed on a trail... Depending upon the skill set the horse arrives with as well as his ability to learn and progress this list will be shortened or lengthened. What does 30 days mean? Is that 30 rides? What is the contingency plan if the horse or you comes up lame? Bad weather?
30 days of ground work? You will end up with a tone deaf horse. What skills are you addressing? Basic leading, tying, space, standing for the farrier, trailer loading... Too much sacking out, despooking makes for a dull horse. I would offer this on an hourly rate or no more than a week at a time. This is also a skill set that the owner needs just as much as the horse or he will revert back to his old ways. There are such subtle cues when working a horse on the ground that the only way to learn them is to do it one self and have you correct them.
Restarting horses. What's your deal breaker? When do you walk away? Your health is much more important then your reputation. You will get horses that want to kill you if you don't have boundaries. You didn't make him that way and not all can or should be fixed.
Lastly, I am troubled by the finishing. You and I both know that it takes years to finish a horse. You seem to imply that you can make a child proof horse in a mere 30 days. Again state what you can accomplish with an additional 30 days but don't promise anything as bold as that.
I would focus on what the greatest needs are. Groundwork and starting under saddle. Get 50-100 horses under your belt and the other jobs will come either through repeat customers or word of mouth. Limit yourself to 3 horses at a time tops. That's 3-5 hours of saddle time a day. It will be exhausting but you also need the time to do the extras the first year to figure out what works. That will mean additional hands on time as well as saddle time.
Continue to perfect your long term goals with your own horses.
Good luck. There is always room for quality horse trainers in this world no matter her age. Your skills are what will set you apart.

 

[dainerra]

not in horses but I work and breed GSDs. I don't look at the age of the person but experience. What have you done with YOUR animals? What titles, ribbons, etc have you won with your personal animals? Have you helped a friend or family member work their horses? What accomplishments have they achieved?
Those are the things that matter. I would take a teenager who has put multiples titles on various animals over an older person who hasn't.

 

[Kusanar]

Some of it might be fluff yes, but this is for the OWNER to contact me about. They'll ask questions. Too much info at once can turn people away.

I disagree with this. When shopping for ANYTHING, I want all of the information available to me NOW, if I have to call someone and ask questions about something that should have been on the website, they have lost my sale as I will just move on.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Everything worth having in life takes time. When I started my grooming business it took 2-3 years to build a clientele, and for there to be a general knowledge of my skills.

Horse training can be seasonal as well, so you may just have to wait a few more months.

 

[kwhites634]

Word-of-mouth and favorable results in various disciplines are the best advertisements you can get; save your advertising $$$.
If you're good, you'll be turning people away, just like farriers.

 

[Kusanar]

I'm going to pretend I'm a potential client. I visit your website and this is my conclusion: You need to have more information on your website. It says "4 different services" but doesn't go into detail what exactly those services are. What training are you offering? What training do you have? Do you still train with someone? What level are the horses you have trained at now? As a client, I'm going to want to see what results you've had in the past before I dive in and send you a horse. I wouldn't worry about your age at all, you will find bias throughout the horse world for many different reasons. Your best bet is just to do your thing and keep your chin up! Good luck to you and I wish you much success!

I agree, I just checked out the website and it shows a pole bending horse, so it's a safe assumption that they train in games, but doesn't show anything else hinting at what they train in.

Also, I personally would take babies in and do ground work, etc, rather than having the 3 year old limit. Maybe put the under saddle stuff at 3+ years old, but, 3 years is a long time to deal with a horse that has no ground manners if you don't know how to train your horse.

 

[driver]

I think you might have more credibility if you specialize in one or two things, instead of selling yourself as someone who can train any horse to do anything. For instance, I really don't believe you have skills I'd want to pay for for English training. Your pictures are primarily gaming, so If I were you I might focus on that, and starting young horses in the basics. People generally feel better about someone who is a specialist in one or two things, not someone who claims to be able to do it all (whether you can or not).

 

[casportpony]

I loved watching this ride: