(Unillustrated) "Trainer Training: 100 Tips for the Professional Horse Trainer" primarily concerns itself with the BUSINESS of being a horse trainer with sections on marketing, finances, client-relations & the conducting of special events. This is NOT a horse training book for the non-professional. I urge you to view the Table of Contents as listed below or via Amazon's "Look Inside" function to judge whether this book is right for you.
Topics include:
- Chapter 1: Marketing Yourself (General Promotion, Online Promotion)
- Chapter 2: Finances (How Much to Charge, Finding Your Niche, Offering Discounts)
- Chapter 3: Working with Clients (Their Horses, Client Relations, Teaching the Client, Making Money, Other Trainers)
- Chapter 4: Clinics, Speaking Engagements, Demos (Event Planning, Clinic Promotion, Clinic Finances, The Host, Student Relations, Your Presentation, Conducting Your Event, Making Money)
- Chapter 5: Survival (Contracts, Safety, Teaming Up)
- Chapter 6: Training Tactics (Explaining Collection and more)
- Chapter 7: Inside Jokes (Top 5 Emails I Purposely Forget to Return and more)
"Trainer Training" offers one hundred situations a working horse trainer might face (be they just starting out or a seasoned veteran of the trade).
Written specifically for those who have chosen horse training as a career, this is a compilation of one hundred "things I've learned" throughout my over thirty years with horses, sixteen plus of them as a pro in the equine industry. Some are listed quickly, some are placed in greater detail. (For each entry, to paraphrase Mozart, I used "only as many notes" as necessary and point the reader toward further resources when the subject matter threatens to creep beyond the scope of this book.)
This is not meant to outline "the only way" to do things or to look at things - it's simply one hundred profitable and quick pieces of advice I'd offer a compatriot were I asked. Every horse trainer reading this could easily make their own list - and, given our myriad experiences on the job, our disparate backgrounds, I doubt we'd overlap all that much. And, there, it's that "lack of overlap" that gives this book both its perspective and value.
My background (beyond "horses") is in marketing strategy, promotion, writing, and as a long-time computer geek. Hence, the tips contained herein focus - to a great extent - on those segments of our business (including mistakes to avoid). Note also that a great deal of the info also circles around special events (clinics, symposiums, talks, etc.) that a pro might offer - in large part, because this is where so darned many weird things can happen (and where much money can be made).
kdp-p3