Beyond the Saddle

Kelley Ranly serves as an Extension Program Specialist, Leadership Coordinator for Texas 4-H and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension where she is responsible for coordinating and organizing statewide agricultural leadership programs for high-school-aged youth across Texas. In this role, she also oversees Texas 4-H Horse Validation and is on the leadership team for the Texas State 4-H Horse Show. Kell...

As a young girl, Megan Ray was enamored with watching bulls at Ellensburg Rodeo’s Xtreme Bulls performance, so it’s only fate that she finds herself working for the top bull riding organization in the world. Megan is the Social Media Coordinator for the Professional Bull Riders. She is accountable for strategically planning, creating, and executing social media content across a multitude of platfo...

Sidney Abbott serves as Head of Research and Cattle Management at OT Feedyard & Research Center, where she is responsible for executing protocol, maintaining animal welfare, data collection, and corresponding with scientists and product developers for some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. Additionally, she is the 51% owner of Abbott Hay Co., making it a majority minority-owned...

Growing up showing Western Pleasure Quarter Horses and raising Black Angus cattle she exhibited across the West Coast, Megan Silveira knew from a young age the agriculture industry was home. Following graduation with her Masters, she started a full-time position with The Angus Journal, a publication that's shared Angus members' stories for more than a century. Megan proudly labels herself a fan of...

As the General Manager of the Wyoming State Fair, Courtny's career has been deeply rooted in preserving Western lifestyle and promoting equine events – areas that are not just professions but also personal passions for her. Growing up with a strong connection to Western heritage, she's always been drawn to the values and traditions it represents. This affinity naturally led her to a career in fair...

Alexa Major Wilcox grew up on a cattle ranch in southeastern Colorado and was actively involved in 4H and FFA throughout her childhood. She found a passion for horses and rodeo early on and continued to pursue that passion, rodeoing in high school and in college at both Texas Tech University and Oklahoma State University. While finishing her master’s at Oklahoma State, Alexa also coached the rodeo...

Growing up, Hannah was always around agriculture and the western lifestyle. Her biggest regret, even now, has been not rodeoing herself or being involved in a more ‘hands-on’ way. However, through that, she's found exactly where she belongs. She has found herself sharing the unique and moving stories of all those directly involved every day, and she gets to travel to events, meet some truly amazin...

Sierra Jepsen is the owner, meat scientist, and lead butcher for Butcher Solutions, LLC –a traveling butcher school and meat science education consultancy that visits individual facilities and trains personnel in-house. Butcher Solutions, LLC strives to build skills and confidence for meat cutters while saving meat processors valuable production time, turning out higher quality products, and retai...

Ashley Starrett, is a Doer, a Dentist, and a purveyor of all things Denim. Hence the name of of her equine dental business, ‘Denim Dentistry.’ She's a real-life tooth fairy, but for horses! Ashley is from the small rural community of Unionville, Missouri where everyone knows everyone, there are more cows than people, and one blinking stop light reminds you of a slower pace. It’s rural as rural can...

Callie Masar, a member of the Programming and Partnership team at the Colorado State Fair and Rodeo, collaborates with private renters and organizations throughout the year to coordinate and schedule horse shows and rodeos. The overarching objective is to expand the presence of Western sports in the community while offering a top-notch equestrian venue. During the 2023 fair, Callie, working alongs...

Tyler Schuster is a fifth-generation rancher from Brackettville, Texas. A graduate of Tarleton State University and Texas A&M University, Schuster currently serves as the Manager, Leadership Development for Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) based in Fort Worth, Texas. In this role, Schuster leads all organizational efforts to prepare and educate the next generation of...

Patty Tiberg serves as the chief marketing and business development officer for the largest equine breed registry in the world – the American Quarter Horse Association. In her role, she manages the Association’s corporate partnerships, marketing, media, and sales to promote AQHA’s mission, programs and events to more than 232,000 members in over 130 countries. Tune in to find out what it's like to...

Allison Rehnborg is the marketing coordinator for Equine Affaire, North America’s premier equine expo and equestrian gathering. Her career journey includes graduate school with a master's degree in Horse Science from MTSU, freelance work as a photographer and writer, and her current full-time position in events and marketing. Tune in to hear the behind-the-scenes of what it's like to put on Equine...

Amanda McAvoy is the Executive Director, Head of US Equine Business at Boehringer Ingelheim. Her career has been a series of building blocks through Merial, Merck, and BI giving her a vast toolkit in the animal health industry and an impressive knowledge of business and marketing. Tune in to find out how McAvoy's passion for horses, dating back to collegiate rodeo through to her cutting horses tod...

Dr. Wendy Koch completed her undergrad at University of Texas Austin and received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Texas A&M University. After retiring from her career with the USDA, she is now an animal advocate who is working with the Morris Animal Foundation to establish funds for equine behavior research. Tune in to hear more about how Dr. Koch has followed her passion in retirement,...

Erin is the Chief Executive Officer of Days End Farm Horse Rescue (DEFHR), based in Woodbine, Maryland, and has been with the organization since 2005. Each year alone, her role at DEFHR has given her the opportunity to work with and on behalf of hundreds of horses in transition. As a Maryland native, Erin grew up active in the horse industry and was involved with Pony Club and the Potomac Val...

Kim Rounds can be described as aggressively supportive and wildly ambitious, and she has carved herself a niche within the Ag industry to braid in her love of cow horses. Her schedule is full as the Specialty Beef Program Manager/Social Media Manager for Five Rivers Cattle Feeding and the head of Marketing and Sales for her “side hustle”, Shining KL Partners. Her love of all things equine and bovi...

In this December episode, host Katie Clinebell reflects on changes and big projects at the Equine Network in 2021 and offers her thoughts on promotions and working with an all-star staff. If you are looking back on your professional accomplishments this year or eyeing career growth in the coming year, this episode is for you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Riesa Lakin is a life-long equestrian who currently works at Corro as the Head of Partnerships. Riesa works with various media partners, athletes, and industry institutions to get the word out about this new online-retailer. As the One Source For All Things Horse, Corro's mission is to help simplify the process of shopping for horse supplies and making horse care more accessible across the US--reg...

Travis Burns is an Associate Professor of Practice in the department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. Travis is a Certified Journeyman Farrier with Therapeutic and Educator Endorsements from the American Farrier’s Association. He is also a Fellow in the Worshipful Company of Farriers from the United Kingdom. Travis has serv...

Stacey is a travel expert, blogger, hiker, and rider who has worked in the adventure travel business since 2003. Her Active Riding Trips is the premier provider of world-class equestrian vacations in over 17 countries, and her commitment to offering only the best experiences for avid horseback riding enthusiasts includes personally inspecting each trip to assure the best in services, personal comf...

Whitney Allen is the President of American Horse Publications(AHP) and has been on the board since 2009. Whitney is a '98 graduate of Centenary University's equine science program and holds a Master’s degree in Sports Management from the University of Kentucky. She began working for the United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) in 2005 and is currently the Managing Director of Sponsorship an...

Michelle Bonds realized her passion for horses as an undergrad at Murray State University and never looked back. That passion led her to a masters in agricultural communications from Oklahoma State University and a career in marketing and communications. As the director of marketing for the Mustang Heritage Foundation, Michelle works to further the Foundation’s mission to help bring more mustangs...

This bonus episode is a collaboration between Katie Clinebell of Beyond the Saddle Podcast and Denise Alvarez of How to Market Your Horse Business Podcast. When you think of the equine industry, you may think horse trainers, riders and instructors, or barn managers. But there’s a depth to the industry that many don’t even realize. In this episode, you’re going to meet 5 professionals with unique c...

Beyond the Saddle host, Katie Clinebell, and guest Megan Berg of Flying M Photography summarize the Makers Season: Episodes 29-34. Tune in to hear highlights of each episode as well as what to look forward to on the podcast next season. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.