I was in the feed store yesterday checking out the bulletin board.
There are a lot of trainers in my area. Lots.
They like to put up flyers.
The first thing I noticed is that a bunch of them have really kicky names.
Whispering Winds Ranch
Serenity Dreams Farm
Fantasy Horses Ranch (so is this a video game?)
Peaceful Prairies Equestrian Center
Wild Flower Haven
And so on.
The next thing I noticed is that every single one of these places had a NH trainer running it.
Is a fru fru name a certification requirement?
I truly don't get it.
I'm not judging, I swear. I'm just saying.
I don't have a flyer. I've thought about it. I'm more of a "That gal over the hill rides. I like the job she did on my colt." kind of trainer.
I'm the first to admit, I'm a crappy business woman. I just like to ride horses. I prefer to get paid if I'm riding one that's not mine. Otherwise, I think it's considered horse stealing.
So maybe I will get that flyer.
I just have to think of a name.
As soon as I see a fru-fru name, or a web site with any of the following, I know the person cannot ride their way out of a paper bag:
ReplyDeleteButterflies
Unicorns
Winged horses (bonus for animated!)
Leprechauns
Rainbows
In short, the more the farm name and web site resemble the horsey dreams of a 13 year old girl who likes to buy a lot of metallic stickers, the more likely the only training you're going to find there is reinforcement of bad habits and creation of new ones.
Good trainers have farm names that are either based upon their last name, their brand, or a landscape feature (that actually exists and is not rainbow colored) ;-)
Agreed. Sure, name your farm Waterfall Stables...if you have a waterfall on the property.
ReplyDeleteMy last name being McHorse (really), some might look askance at me if I named something McHorse Farms!
Maybe you should name yourself Mugwump Training ;)
Mugwump Acres!
ReplyDeleteI am sure I’ll come up with more, but the mind is a blank at the moment.
Mugwumpaunicornababblingbrookaleprechaunrainbowpot O'gold Farms.
ReplyDeletehaha, I agree, mugwump farms sounds amazing. It makes me want to ride there.
Farm owners do think of really stupid names for their farms sometimes.
I can think of a few farms around here that have been named totally inappropriate for what goes on there.
"No BS Equestrian Training Centre"
ReplyDeleteWhadda ya know, truth in advertising. lol
Cdncowgirl - we have been joking about naming a rescue Sanity Farms since the entire prospective BOD are...you know...actually mentally stable non-hoarders. :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I prefer to just let my reputation do the talking. I am bad at advertising my dog training business too...
ReplyDeletePersonally I kind of like Chocolate Horse Farm for a name, since it combines two of my favorite things -- chocolate & horses. (Although I'm not exactly sure where the "chocolate" part of the label derived from, since they're breeding Gypsy Vanners... And the GV x Arabian cross on their sport pony page sort of made me blink.)
ReplyDeleteMugwump, here's a thought -- do you need more horses to ride? If the world is already beating a path to your door, perhaps you should ask some of your clients how they refer to you when they're recommending. Maybe your place has a good name already :-)
FHOTD -- your rescue slogan: "Sanity Acres: we're Stable people." Too cutesy?
I went out to lunch today, and we were carrying on about the name thing.
ReplyDeleteMy friend is going to name her place "Whack Em and Ride Em Ranch."
I'm going for "If It Sticks Out, Poke It Acres" Since that covers my training technique in entirety.
Good thing I'd already swallowed my water -- just about fell of my chair laughing, though!
ReplyDeleteOff my chair -- cat is helping type. She can't spell.
ReplyDeleteFHOTD -- your rescue slogan: "Sanity Acres: we're Stable people." Too cutesy?
ReplyDeletelol I actually have a little wooden bench in the entrance of my house. It is the kind where the seat flips up for storage. Anyway, there is a picture on the back rest of a few horses with the words "Stable Folk Gather Here"
This is great!
ReplyDeleteLast year I did a correspondence course on Equine Business Management. Our end of term project was a complete portfolio with a mission statement and financial projections and pictures and blah blah blah. Of course we had to give our imaginary/ future establishment a name.
Here were my frontrunners:
Write Off Ranch
Ego Stroke Acres
Financedtodeath Farm
...I didn't end up handing in the project with any of those names on it...
I haven't come up with anything new yet.
ReplyDeleteI do have a slight hijack, though. If anyone here lives near Great Falls or Shelby in Montana, please contact me via my blog or profile. I will be traveling with horses right before the 4th of July and we need a place to overnight in that area. Looking for any and all recommendations.
Sanity Farms! Awesome.
ReplyDeleteYou don't need a fancy name to go with your flyer. You just need your name and the words "horse" and "training". That should about cover it. Oh, and put on some contact info. I've seen a couple beautiful flyers for fanciful farms that... lacked any kind of contact info whatsoever. I suppose that's because everyone around here seems to rely on word of mouth anyways, but it sure isn't helpful for those of us who aren't in the right social circles.
My neighbors have a sign over their stable entrance, Rancho Acostalota.
ReplyDeleteWe are Treasure Walk Ranch.....because it was like a treasure hunt around here trying to clean up the property when we bought it.
Love this blog.....this is Winema but I can't seem to get my identity to work today.
I get werid looks about my name "Partner N Crime Enterprises" I didn't want to have stable, ranch, or farm in my name because I don't actually own my barn, I just rent it.
ReplyDeleteSo Enterprises is was...then people wanted to know where the Partner N Crime came from, well that's the name of my horse that took me to worlds and nationals and pretty much gave me 90% of my career accomplishments, so I thought it fitting to name the business after him.
"If It Sticks Out, Poke It Acres"
ReplyDeleteROFL!
Thats great.
The barns around here, now that I think about it have the STUPIDEST names.
They either have a) a hill, valley or mountain in their name. The land around here is FLAT like there isn't even a hill to roll down near any of these farms (unless you fancy a roll down the cliff to the beach, ouch).
b) Have river, creek, stream etc in it, again this area lacking in them
c) Some stupid name of a tree, maple, birch, willow which I doubt have any of the trees on their property but maple.
I think just like bad horse owners shouldn't own horses, people who are too creative shouldn't name farms.
That's OK...I show at a place called Valley Hill. WTF? It can't be both...
ReplyDelete