A couple of months ago I looked at my calendar. 2 free weekends between then and mid September! And more people contacting me daily to ask about booking more and more clinics. I'd love to help, but there has to be a bit of time for me in between, so I turned people away.
Then, a week ahead of time, one clinic cancelled. It was a distance away and I had a time booking dates with them. They decided they couldn't make the minimum and had to cancel.
This morning, another clinic from out of town - one of the first to book this season, cancelled. Not enough commitment.
That's 2 weekends I could have had open to give to another group who was interested and committed that I had to send away.
That's another show or three that I can't send my horse to, and a conference I can't attend, because the income is now not going to be there to provide for it.
The horse industry is a really tough one, no matter how you slice it. It's incredibly competitive and impossible to please everyone. When you have a unique service, you try to help as many people as possible. Unfortunately people have wonderful intention but often situations come up where life happens, someone is sick, a horse is lame, just crappy timing. So, instead, you start charging nonrefundable deposits to cover yourself. And people take offense.
Round and round it goes. It's very disheartening. It's frustrating. But that's the name of the game. Throw in the towel or keep trying. What I've learned from all of it is to simply redirect and keep moving forward.
Happy Horseing.
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