It has always been my dream to gallop along a windswept beach on a horse and a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to do just that. I guess you are wondering what on earth my dream has to do with marketing, well as it turns out quite a lot…

I was on a break with the family in Northumberland, somewhere we hadn’t visited before.  So before we set off to our holiday home for the week, I did some research and found out that there was a riding stables just down the road that offered beach rides for the experienced rider.  I learnt to ride about 10 years ago it was a challenge I set myself to learn something new when I turned 30 and within a few years I had become an OK rider, by no means stylish or accomplished, but I could control the horse, go on hacks and do some maneuvers in the menage. Then I took my hobby one step further and took some horse management and riding exams in anticipation of owning a horse in the future. I was riding at least once a week, learning the theory and mixing with people who knew a lot about horses. I was, I suppose riding fit, and ready for the next challenge my riding school teachers threw at me. Then just over three years ago I found out I was pregnant,  and decided that riding a horse, no matter how sound it was, was a risk too far and I hung up my riding boots. 

I kept meaning to go back, but work, family life and other commitments just seemed to keep me away. I lost touch with the friends I had made at the riding school and my riding gear kept getting moved around in the under stairs cupboard. So when I saw the opportunity to gallop along a beach, the temptation was just too much.

When I called to book the ride, they asked me if I was an experienced rider, to which I answered yes I had around 7 years riding experience and was able to control a horse at speed. So the beach ride was booked and I recovered my riding gear from the under stairs cupboard .

I turned up at the riding school, got on my horse, Blaze and it felt as if I had hardly been away. Myself, the instructor and the other riders got down to the beach after some gentle walking and trotting and and we had a quiet walk along the almost deserted, very windswept beach. Then the time came to move things on a bit and we did a canter, which coped OK with and enjoyed. We then did another canter and another one, and by this stage I was feeling kind of tired, my legs and arms ached, as I was using muscles hardly used in three years. Then the rain started to come down, and we decided to turn around, great I thought, at least we are heading back, this riding is taking more out of me than I thought.

Then came the final challenge, something I had always wanted to do, the gallop along a deserted beach…I could feel the horse getting excited and I knew that there would be no holding Blaze back. I was supposed to be an experienced rider, but the wind, the rain and the aching muscles told me otherwise and I was petrified, I just wasn’t riding fit. I had the knowledge, the experience, but I just hadn’t practiced it every week, for over three years. So what did I do, the only thing I could do, cling on for dear life.

Then suddenly I remembered what a riding instructor had told me years ago,

“if a horse bolts or runs away with you, grab some mane for stability, go with it and relax into the ride, it can only gallop for so long before it becomes tired and you can regain some control”

I think that one bit of advice that came flooding back, saved me it gave me just enough knowledge to keep myself from falling off. I went with the horse and began to pull him into a canter, when I could feel him tiring. He finally slowed down to a walk and I joined the rest of the ride to walk to the edge of the beach, my legs and arms were like jelly and I could feel the adrenaline wearing off. Then just to remind me that things don’t always go to plan, my horse spooked at something reared up and moved sideways as it saw something it didn’t like in the long grass. I stayed on, just about, but by now my nerves and muscles were in shreds but there was a mile or so walk back to the stables which seemed to take for ever. When we finally got there and I dismounted, I was suprised I could stand up as my legs had turned to jelly. When I got back to the holiday home though, I felt very alive, more than I had in a few months, I had scared myself and in some respects that was a good thing, it made me realise that I need to get back into the saddle and get some practice. I also ached for days afterwards and it took me a week to get back to normal.

So where is the marketing moral in this story? Well it’s pretty simple…

• You can have all the marketing theory in the world, but if you don’t practice marketing on a weekly basis you’re not marketing fit and will find it harder to react to challenges
• Marketing can be a scary ride, sometimes you can find it hard to cope when things don’t go to plan, but if you keep your marketing knowledge fresh it can be much easier to work your way through the marketing maze
• Sometimes you need to take a risk in marketing, go with a campaign that doesn’t fit the norm, it might be scary, but it it works out you will feel exhilerated and it should have an impact on your bottom line
• Expect the unexpected, and don’t be complacent, marketing isn’t an exact science and sometimes when you least expect it things can go wrong, make sure you practice and are ready for those spooky moments when things don’t quite go to plan
• Keep your marketing muscles in good shape, if you don’t use them, they will become weak and it will really hurt when you have to start using them again.

As for me, I have learnt my lesson and have some riding lessons booked so that I can practice all the theory that is still in my head and get my old flabby muscles back into shape.