Galloping Toward My Future: Bridging the Divide Between Communitcations and the Equine Industry
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2018-03-27
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Communications is a little-known, but exceptionally important element of the equine industry. This summer, I made strides in combining my passions and bridging the divide between two potential career focuses in my role as the Marketing and Communications Intern at the Mount Holyoke College Equestrian Center. The Equestrian Center is located on Mount Holyoke’s campus, and is home to four prestigious equestrian teams during the academic year. Over the summer, the facility stays active by hosting riding competitions, conducting facility rentals to different equine-centric programs, and giving tours to prospective students. Aside from the hard work of riding instructors, coaches, and barn staff, running a small business like the Equestrian Center requires the skill of a group of individuals dedicated to marketing and communications. For my contribution as an intern, I performed tasks including assisting in running facility rentals, creating and publishing advertisements, managing and updating the business’ social media accounts, and writing short pieces for local equine journals and blogs. My most intensive project was assisting in planning and running a nationally-recognized dressage competition. During this two-day event, my role was to coordinate, organize, and lead a group of volunteers. An unanticipated surprise during my summer was the amount of time I spent learning about marketing for a small business. This unexpected insight afforded me a greater understanding of equine communications, and helped me focus my career goals toward journalism and event planning in the equine industry.