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5 Ideas to Hosting a Successful Open House & Get New Clients

Written By Shya Beth

The leaves are changing, families are home from summer vacations and kids are back in school. Now that the summer rush is over, this is the perfect time to host a fun, inviting open house (perhaps “open barn” would be more appropriate!) to invite potential clients to see your facility, meet you, your horses, staff and see what you have to offer while getting a taste of the atmosphere.

While open houses can be a lot of work, if you plan and give yourself enough time to work everything out, you’ll find it can be a stressfree way to connect with potential students.

Outline Your Target Audience

You need to grab a pen and paper or your online planner and decide what your goals and objectives are.

• How many new students can you realistically handle? • What kinds of students are you looking for? (youth, adult, beginner, English,

Western, hunter/jumper, etc) • What days/times do you have available?

For example, perhaps your barn is geared towards beginner riders and your weekends are packed. With that in mind, you do have some time slots available during Monday through Friday during the workday and after school. Why not try and add a few more clients, if you are available and can handle it?

Open House Checklist

1. Clean From Top to Bottom

From the horses to the stables, arena and tack room and stable grounds, everything needs to be spotless and organized. Fall decorations would be a great colorful and personal touch to spruce up your stable.

2. Gift Certificates

It would a mistake to not have them available for single or (preferably) lesson packages at the open house. Either online or physical gift cards should be available for purchase at the open house so that you can close the sale right then.

3. Student Demonstration &

Interaction

A great way to showcase your skills, training, and method is by having a student or two give a demonstration of a lesson with an instructor. Make sure to have some sort of interactive experience - grooming a horse, learning the parts of the horse or tack if you are looking for beginner students.

4. Food & Drinks

Make sure to have tasty food and drinks on a table in the barn or shady area available for people to enjoy. Horse shaped cookies, or equine themed cupcakes would be a highlight and personal touch to add.

5. Offer Giveaways & Prizes

Everyone loves a giveaway! If you promote a giveaway along with your open house, you are sure to attract more people. Consider partnering with local businesses, offering a free lesson as a prize, and perhaps a discount on lesson packages to attract people to sign up that day. Raffles are a great way to keep costs down.

Have a table with brochures, business cards, and more info on your training and sales, preferably next to the refreshment’s table so people can browse while they munch. Make a sign or form for a “special” holiday or seasonal riding lesson package that they can purchase. Last but not least, make sure your insurance covers this type of event. As you know, with horses, anything can happen, and it’s best to know you are covered by sharing your event with your insurance agent to ensure that the policy you have covers an open house.

Where to Look For New Clients

There are countless locations to advertise to new clients! Below are a few known and not often used avenues that can help you connect with people in your area.

Word of Mouth: The best way! Start telling your current students about your upcoming open house and ask them to give their friends stable brochures.

Connect with Parents: While you should always keep a line a communication open with parents of your students, take a few minutes to chat with them before or after a lesson to let them know about your open house and ask if they would share the information with their friends who have kids who might like horses. If the kids are all friends, you might want to let them know that carpooling for lesions might make it easier on them, too!

Local Paper: Contact your local paper and ask about running an article on your open house, what your stable offers, etc.

4-H or Pony Club: Look out for local horse related clubs and invite them and their members for a day of fun at your barn.

Girl or Boy Scouts: Same as above!

Homeschool Groups: Contact local homeschool groups. A benefit of having homeschooled students is that they may be able to schedule lessons during the day, instead of after school.

Online Groups: There are many equine-related groups for local areas on Facebook, and if you offer beginner lessons, be sure to go further and join local event groups that allow you to share upcoming events. You never know who might be looking.

Vet Clinics/Feed/Tack/Pet Stores: Both large and small vet clinics generally have bulletin boards and allow you to post events there, and anywhere else you can think of!

Email list/Social Media: Don’t neglect your own social media and email list - connecting with people who are already familiar with you is a great way to continue to build those relationships.

Hosting your own open house can be a lot of work, but with proper planning and enough time before the open house date, you’ll be breezing through this list in no time. If you host an open house once a season or a few times a year, you can keep connecting with potential clients and continue to grow your foundation of loyal supporters and clients, which can only help your stable in the long run. Have fun!

About the author:

Shya Beth is a rider, artist writer and all around horse lover based in New Jersey, USA. Whether creating horses in art, riding in the fields on her farm or writing about horses, horses are a huge aspect of her life and inspire her every day.