With only two semesters left until graduation, discovering that I wanted to pursue a career in something very much outside my current area of study was a worrying realization. I had majored in animal science to study horses but found I didn’t want to work in any of the jobs that my degree was preparing me for; I wanted to work in communications. To combat my building anxiety that I had wasted years of my life studying something that didn’t match my career goals, I started reaching out to every equine media group that I knew of to try and figure out how I could learn more. At the time I did not realize how lucky I was to meet Ms. Tammy Gant, from the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners Association (FTBOA), at an equine industry event in Ocala. She was not only the Associate Vice President of FTBOA but also the executive editor of Horse Capital Digest (HCD). Anyone who is familiar with Ocala, FL, knows how much the equine industry has impacted the city, which has claimed the title as the official “Horse Capital of the World”. Tammy’s magazine was designed to highlight all aspects of the equine industry in the area, from the world class competition in any discipline to local art and history, despite the fact that FTBOA is primarily focused on Thoroughbred racing. Her passion was infectious and when I voiced my interest in exploring equine media she immediately asked me to come and interview for an intern position working on HCD.
Looking back, I am incredibly grateful for her willingness to teach me despite my complete ignorance about the world of journalism and content creation. Though a lifelong equine enthusiast, the learning curve moving from the jumper and dressage realm into the Thoroughbred racing industry was a steep one. I felt clueless the first few weeks as Tammy recited of the cuff thoroughbred breeding history and racing statistics in casual conversations. While I was primarily tasked with finding and writing small stories for HCD, Tammy made sure to incorporate every educational opportunity into my experience. Within my first week I had attended Quarter Horse races, a Thoroughbred auction and sat in on two marketing meetings about selling advertisements in the magazine. She truly involved me in every facet of her job, showing me the vast array of projects and responsibilities of an equine communicator.
During my internship FTBOA launched a new national advertising campaign where Tammy and I worked on auditing competitors’ advertising, pitching our plan to the board of directors and launching and evaluating the success of preliminary advertisements in print and digital publications. This was my first exposure to how organizational marketing takes place. I was intrigued at how much debate, data collection, and strategy went into developing the advertising plans. As a consumer, I had never really considered how much specific targeting was behind the process. The campaign was for FTBOA as a whole, but I also worked on smaller scale marketing efforts to sell advertising space in HCD. I learned the necessity of balancing cost of production with appropriate ad sales, as well as distribution strategies and the importance of building long-term sustainable relationships with clientele.
As an editor Tammy taught me not only about journalistic style but also the nuances of branding guides and matching style to different publications. Starting from little fun-fact pieces and Q&As, I worked my way to finding leads, interviewing equine professionals and writing full stories for HCD and a feature piece for the Florida Horse, another FTBOA publication. I gained my first experience writing for something other than school and got over the anxiety of interviewing strangers.
As I became more comfortable working in the office and communicating with Thoroughbred industry stakeholders, my responsibility and involvement in the association grew. I became part of the event coordination team and assisted in organizing and hosting the 2018 Florida Champions Awards Gala, a charity event for the FTBOA women’s correctional center Thoroughbred retirement program at Second Chance Farm. The event included both and live silent auction, dinner, and awards ceremony recognizing the top Thoroughbred breeders, trainers, owners, jockeys, and of course, horses. In addition to planning, setting up and working at the event itself, I also had the opportunity to visit Second Chance Farm to interview the female inmates about their experience in the program and create a promotional video that was premiered at the gala.
The Second Chance Farm video ended up being more than just a video as it opened the doors to a job as a videographer which I had not thought possible only a few months prior. Horse Capital Digest had partnered with a brand new equine educational video project called Horse Capital Television, which was produced by a local Ocala advertising agency, Kaplan Advertising. Sean Kaplan watched my video at the gala and approached me about coming on to his Horse Capital Television (HCTV) team. Over the next several months I began working for HCTV. I started out just shadowing but was soon trusted to represent the brand solo while filming equine events and edited complete segments on my own.
The eight months I spent interning at FTBOA confirmed my interest in an equine media and communications career and solidified my desire to pursue continued education to learn more and improve my skills. Tammy’s enthusiasm and passion for her work helped me develop my own goals and reshaped my understanding of what careers were possible. I owe her so much and am beyond appreciative for all of the opportunities she brought me.
Zoe Bowden 