In Indiana, we haven't had a week without some form of precipitation since October 2006. It has been painfully wet here, and this really stinks for us horse people. I ride my horses in the pastures; I don't have a riding arena, covered or otherwise. When the ground is sloppy, I don't get to ride.

I went to a Softer Side of Horsemanship clinic this weekend with my trainer Linda Black. The other women there said the same thing—few of us could get anything accomplished with our horses so far this year because we don't have a place to ride. Maybe the ground will dry up enough to do something today, but tomorrow we can be assured a down-pour. We can't work with them consistently.

Consistency is big in communication, too. It's nice that you placed an ad in a magazine last month, but what are you doing the other 11 months this year? And have you considered the other 1,111 communication tools you could be using in conjunction with that ad?

The more people read about you (and the more your horse interacts with you) the deeper your message will be ingrained. Consistency builds brand recognition. When people are pelted with a million messages a week, yours will stick out because they've seen it before.

Here's to dry ground and good communication!