The Freelance Remuda: Navigating the Equine Media Frontier

Lindsay Keller is the daughter in the mother-daughter duo behind The Bell Mare Book Company. Together with her mother Marilyn Domer, Lindsay has created several children's books surrounding the cowboy way of life. With authenticity born from their own ranching lives, Lindsay and Marilyn have created two delightful books and a coloring book enjoyed by children and their parents alike. We loved hear...

2020 threw us a collective curveball, am I right? Thanks to a global pandemic transforming the way we worked this year, and uncertainty on many fronts, those of us carving out careers as equine media professionals have met our share of challenges this past year. But amid the chaos, there have been good things to come our way as well. Looking ahead, here at The Freelance Remuda, we thought we'd do...

In today's podcast episode, we talked with Olie Moss, the founder of Olie's Images and Equine Photo School. Olie is a veteran equine event photographer, covering mainly roping competitions and barrel races. He's shot events all over the West, including The Patriot and Wrangler Team Roping Championships. We're so excited to share this conversation with you—listen close, he shares a huge announcemen...

Milt Toby is an attorney and the president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors , an organization dedicated to helping independent non-fiction writers. Milt also serves as legal counsel for the American Horse Publications, and is a frequent presenter on publishing contracts, copyright and other legal issues affecting writers at AHP seminars and other national meetings. He's also an a...

We are staring down the end of the year—and of the decade! In this episode, Kate and Abigail sat down to talk shop for the first time in a while. We recapped 2019, discussed some changes we're seeing in equine media and how to roll with the punches, and talked about our goals for 2020. Thanks for sticking with us—we're so thankful for our Freelance Remuda community. We have learned so much from y'...

Recorded during the Elevate Your Pitch session moderated by the Freelance Remuda and fellow freelancer Jennifer Bryant, this episode walks through the hows and why of making a successful pitch to equine media content gatherers. The episode will go through four points: Precise, timely, thorough and follow up.  The session was held at the 2019 American Horse Publications' Equine Media Conference. 

Kelly Artz is the founder and CEO of Entrigue Consulting, a dedicated full-service marketing company. Her company speclizes in helping brands connect with brand ambassadors—businesses sponsoring riders, for example. Kelly's company offers a variety of services to small businesses, particularly in the horse industry. Kelly herself is a horsewoman, and we're excited to talk with her today about how...

Jessica Hein is the Senior Director of MemberCare & Publications for the American Paint Horse Association. She brought a lifetime of agricultural and equine experience to her role at APHA, and during her tenure at the association, she has moved up through the ranks of its multiple publications to her current position. An award-winning writer and photographer, Jessica lives just outside Fort Worth...

In this episode, hosts Abigail Boatwright and Kate Bradley Byars talk to Jamie Samples, the creator of Yellow Barn Media which is a full-service marketing firm geared toward equine businesses. This Michigan native thrives on helping companies attract and develop loyal customers, and she does it on a variety of platforms: e-courses, webinars, masterminds, coaching, speaking engagements, etc. Jamie...

This is Part 2 (of 2) of Abigail Boatwright's session for freelancers at the 2018 American Horse Publications Equine Media Conference in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Veteran freelancers Tracy Gantz and Jennifer Bryant joined her in discussing ways to kick off your freelance business and keep it going for the long haul, and attendees participated in a Q&A session.

Abigail Boatwright moderated a session for freelancers at the 2018 American Horse Publications Equine Media Conference in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Abigail and veteran freelancers Tracy Gantz and Jennifer Bryant talked about ways to get your freelance career starting off on the right foot, and ways to develop yourself into a hirable freelancer long-term. We also spent a lot of time discussing questio...

Patty Tiberg is a cornerstone in the niche publication industry. Rising through the ranks at Cowboy Publishing and on through Morris Media Network, Patty is the vice president of the company's Equine Enthusiast Group, which houses such publications as Barrel Horse News , Quarter Horse News, Reined Cow Horse News and Western Horseman. A fellow graduate of Texas A&M University, as well as a founding...

The Freelance Remuda Podcast launched in January, and since then, we have produced two episodes each month that focused on the equine media industry. We interviewed guests including established editors and young up-and-coming media entrepreneurs, inviting them to share their expertise with you and hopefully, helping to educate and inspire you. Now, we are jumping off into a new venture with The Fr...

Arizona author Carly Kade's first book, "In the Reins," has been an Amazon best seller for more than 10 weeks, is an EQUUS Film Festival Literary Award Winner for Best Western Fiction and earned her a loyal group of followers. Married with a full-time job as Manager of Strategic Talent for a Fortune 200 Energy Company, shows her Paint horse, and mom to two adopted dogs, Carly still finds time to w...

This episode of The Freelance Remuda Podcast features Jennifer Paulson, the editor-in-chief of Horse & Rider magazine, one of the leading Western training magazines on newsstands today. The magazine provides practical training tips from professional trainers, horsekeeping advice and insight into living the Western horse life. A horse enthusiast herself based in Colorado, Jennifer has worked at Hor...

John Harrer and his wife Ranae host the Whoa Podcast about Horses and Horsemanship. Podcasts about horses are few and far between, and the Whoa Podcast was an early entry into the medium. Over the last five years and more than 120 episodes in, the Harrers have carved a place in the podcast space. They interview horse people from all walks of life and equine disciplines, introducing listeners to in...

Kirstie Jones, of  Kirstie Marie Photography , started out taking photos of her horses as a hobby. A lifelong horse lover, she competed at breed shows growing up and on TCU's equestrian team. After college, she started her photography business as a side gig and quickly gained a loyal client base. This year, Dallas-based Kirstie quit her finance job and went full-time as an equine photographer—an e...

Since 2009, Ryan T. Bell has made a living as a freelancer travelling to Russia, South America, Canada and around the U.S. gathering stories and photographs about the Western way of life. He has been published in Western Horseman, and also in magazines like Outside, Town & Country and National Geographic. Ryan is a Fulbright-National Geographic Storytelling Fellow, has a bachelor of arts in histor...

Shelley Paulson is an accomplished equine photographer based in Minnesota. A horse lover herself, Shelley's unconventional background includes studying to be an opera singer, an Apple support technician, a web designer and now a photographer and filmmaker. Today, she captures beautiful images for portraits and commercial use—and she's begun using a drone for innovative film and photography. Shelle...

This is the second part of our business tax and legal series. Today, we'll be talking to James Decker, a lawyer based in the West Texas town of Stamford. James provides advice to clients about business and property ownership, including agriculture, estate planning and probate, real estate, oil and gas, business and entrepreneurship. 

Renee Sneed is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Financial Planner. But Abigail first met her when she joined Texas A&M's Equestrian Team and they were teammates. She has a background showing Paints and QH and after excelling in collegiate competition and graduating with a BBA and Masters of Science degree in Accounting, she joined one of the Big Four, Ernst & Young in Dallas. Today she...

Real talk: there will always be times where you need to increase your income, and when you're a freelancer, your income can fluctuate wildly. Lately we have been talking about what we do when we need to hit a certain financial goal, or a sudden expense comes up, or a contract falls through. Basically, what do we do when we're kind of freaking out about money. Luckily, as freelancers, we can hustle...

Katie Navarra published her first article 16 years ago, and today is an established freelance writer living on the East Coast but contributing to multiple national publications. She has written two children's books for Story Publishing and like most in the equine media industry, she grew up passionate about horses and writing. An unconventional start to her career- she didn't attend journalism sch...

Welcome to our special minisode where we share the Q&A portion of our session at the American Horse Publications Equine Media Conference "Recharging and Reinventing your Freelance Business" in Scottsdale, Arizona. If you missed out on the part one of the session, revisit Episode 15!

Recorded live at the A HP Equine Media Conference June 2017 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Session blurb: Experienced freelancers and The Freelance Remuda podcast co-hosts Abigail Boatwright and Kate Bradley Byars will discuss ways to revitalize your freelance writing or photography business. This includes identifying your strengths and how to capitalize on them, ways to improve your content offerings, a...