Equestrian Professional Planner

Whether you are new to the Equestrian Professional Planner or a returning enthusiast, this simple and free series of templates can make your life easier and bring better organization to your business. The Equestrian Professional Planner is designed specifically for professionals in the horse industry, and includes a variety of templates you can use and customize to your liking.

Following are the templates you might want to use in your Equestrian Professional Planner.

**Updated for 2012!

  • Monthly Calendar: This is the month-at-a-glance template that allows you to keep track of major events, appointments, and other details well in advance. This should go at the front of your Equestrian Professional Planner so you can find it easily, and should include only brief, to-the-point details about your professional life.
  • Weekly Calendar: Here we’re getting a bit more complex. The weekly calendar consists of 54 pages that take you from December 26, 2010 to December 31, 2011. Each page has seven columns, Sunday through Saturday, with the dates pre-recorded at the top. In each column you can check off to-do items, keep track of your hour-by-hour schedule from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and jot down notes. Unlike traditional day planners, Saturday and Sunday have the same amount of room as Monday through Friday because us horse business owners often work as much on the weekends as during the week.
  • Daily Calendar: If, like me, you are uber-organized and you like to create lots of lists and schedules on a daily basis, the daily calendar is right up your alley. This template reserves an entire page for every single day, with space for half-hour appointments from 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., extended to-do lists, and plenty of room for notes. This template is not pre-dated, however, so you’ll have to record the date yourself in the space provided.
  • To-Do Lists: I’m a list-maker, and I assume some of you are the same way. The To-Do List template I’ve provided is divided into three sections: high priority, medium priority, and low priority. There is also a key at the bottom that allows you to indicate the status of each item at the end of the day (or as you go, whatever you prefer). This is great for setting up daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly to-do lists based on the tasks on your plate.
  • Address Book: What day planner is complete without an address book? I’ve given you a single page for every letter of the alphabet, though you can of course print multiple pages per letter depending on the size of your Rolodex. There are spaces for names, addresses, multiple phone numbers, and e-mail addresses. I’ve also given you a notes section for each entry so you can record additional information, such as extra phone numbers, fax numbers, and more. This is also a great place to indicate where you met the person, what company they work for, or how they prefer to be contacted.
  • Special Dates: I’m a big believer in honoring special dates, and you should be too if you want to maintain loyalty among your clients. In the special dates section of your Equestrian Professional calendar, you can record any dates you like. Birthdays, anniversaries, whatever. There are spaces for the date, the occasion, and any planned response (e.g. phone calls, cards, gifts, etc.)
  • Communication Log: When you listen to a voice mail, read an e-mail, obtain a fax, or talk to a client on the phone, just fill out the communication log. Record the name of the person or business, the type of communication, any relevant details, and your plan for follow-up. Everything will be kept in one convenient place and you’ll seem more professional to your clients.
  • Client Reference: This is a brand new addition to the Equestrian Professional Planner, and was requested by reader Ryan T. The client reference is a single sheet where you can record important information about your clients and their horses. There is a box for your client’s information and boxes for two separate horses. If a client has more than two horses, you’ll need two sheets.
  • Client Quick Reference: This simple document provides an at-a-glance view of each of your clients’ most pertinent data. You get the name of the client (and the names of any relevant family members), space for three phone numbers per client (home, cell, work, etc.), the names of the client’s horses, and a section for notes. Keep this in your Equestrian Professional Planner so you always have access to that basic data.

Other Templates for the Equestrian Professional Planner

The Equestrian Professional Planner is an easy, convenient place to keep all the documents and templates you use most often. So, depending on your horse business, you might want to use other templates in our horse business tools section, and that’s fine. Or you can create your own templates!

Personalize your Equestrian Professional Planner so it meets all your needs!

And make sure to check back on this page often to view new templates added to the Equestrian Professional planner.

About the Author: Laura Jane Thompson is the Chief Equestrian Officer of Riding Instructor University and the Feature writer for the horses section at Suite101. She believes that any horse business can succeed provided its owner practices smart strategy.