Rose Cushing 0:14

Good morning and welcome to today's Horsewoman Podcast Show. I'm your host, Rose Cushing. I'll be joining you for this first installment. It's a new year, and life is an open book. The 2021 edition has 365 pages. Every day is a new page. You will write your story every day. Make it the best it can be. Dream big, live, laugh, and love to your fullest capability. I'm really excited to introduce you to Cushion Media's newest creation, a podcast. This just isn't any old podcast, but a podcast exclusively about women and horses. Women come to horses at various stages in their life. Some as a child with their first pony, others later in life when they have time and money to do so. Every woman's story is as unique and individual as she is. The one thing that they all have in common is that these women have a story about why horses, why now, and what they're doing, how they make up an incredible part of our horse industry. I'm a huge fan of Rebecca Wesson Darwin. She is the editor and co-founder of Garden and Gun magazine. She is amazing and truly inspirational. She, along with other editors at this publication, wrote a book about the hundred most powerful business women of the South. Well, of course I purchased it, and I loved it. And it made me think a lot about our industry, the horse industry. We have amazing and powerful women that drive our industry and make it what it has grown into. In North Carolina alone, the equestrian industry is knocking on a four billion dollar a year, and it's eighty percent women. Where would it be without the women business owners, trainers, veterinarians, riders, showmen, and let us not forget people like 4-H leaders, show moms, and horse show clubs that keep this wheel spinning. So I decided that these women, many of whom I have met and interviewed through my television show Carolina Hoof Beats TV, deserve to have their stories told. The horse industry is kind of clickish. If you're a hunter jumper person, for example, you know hunter jumper people. So I realized that if you're not in the Arabian world, you would never know the amazing achievements of someone like Virginia Godwin. You might not ever know that Peggy McElveen received a lifetime achievement award called the Pioneer Award, or that Dana Cook rides on the U.S. Olympic team, and the stories go on and on. These are inspirational stories that every horsewoman needs to hear. Their experience and their advice are priceless heirlooms to be celebrated, treasured, and passed down to future generations. So here goes. If you're still listening at this point, you obviously are a victim of horse fever. Horse fever, as I call it, is that crazy, unexplainable passion that drives us to want to be part of these amazing creatures' lives. For some of us, it's as simple as being able to pass by them in a nearby field each day. For others, it is much more intense. The fever has no long-term cure, and it's only treatable by constant infusion of horse hair, aroma, and dirt. Sometimes it's contagious. Horses have long been recognized as natural healers. They provide us with a mirror into ourselves to make discoveries deep within us, rise to unbelievable heights, and feel a satisfaction that nothing else can provide. For my first installment of this podcast, I chose the easiest subject to get in contact with me. So here's my story. I grew up in rural area near Newburn, North Carolina. When I was about twelve, I wanted a pony. Nobody in my family had had horses or cared a thing about them. My neighbors' kids had ponies and I rode every chance I got. So naturally I wanted my very own. After a lot of pestering and begging, my parents eventually gave in and purchased me a beautiful black pony named Bobjack. So a lifelong love affair was born. As I grew older, my friends were in the business and they bought and sold horses. Every time they got a new one, I wanted to ride it. So my experience and confidence grew. For my high school graduation, I asked for and received a beautiful black Tennessee walking horse mare. Her name was Midnight. She was a typical mare. She taught me all about hormones, attitudes, and loss. I loved her dearly, but she contracted Coggins and had to be put down. It was a very hard lesson. As I grew up and got married and had children, I moved on with my careers and my life. I had other horses off and on throughout this time, but family circumstances weren't good to allow me to keep a horse long term, so I gave up. Eventually I divorced him, and my new life came back to horses. New man, new life, new start. Little did I know how far this crazy horse passion would carry me. I was a jeweler for a long time, and I traveled up and down the East Coast. When my mother became ill, I dissolved my jewelry business to stay close to home and help her. My husband got a job in the corporate world, and I had a horse or two or three at our house. Actually, before long I had six. For my career, I had always wanted to write. I took a course on magazine writing at the community college and I loved it. One of my writing assignments was to submit something to publication to see if there was any interest. I was running short on time, so I chose our local newspaper, the Spring Hope Enterprise. The editor Ken Ripley was kind and experienced newspaper man. He saw something in my writing that he liked, and he asked me to do a column for the paper on a bi-monthly basis. I happily agreed. Well, newspaper ink is another one of those unexplainable passions that when it gets in your blood you're hooked. So before long I was writing feature stories, creating many publications as inserts for the paper. Ripley was very instrumental in teaching me the ins and the outs of the newspaper business and writing. Although I will never get the commas correct, but that's another story. This skill eventually led me to a much larger position as marketing director for a daily newspaper, the Daily Southerner. This was a substantial pay increase and a prestigious step up. My job at the paper was to create interesting content and market it. Eventually, that led to creating a magazine and growing a very established one. I learned many lessons in that process about success and failure, but it led to the next step. Walt Disney has a quote that I love. Cushing Media is proud to present our first event for 2021, our Everything Equine Expo, a tribute to horsewomen. April 16th through 18th at the Lake Waukama Equestrian Center, Bill Thompson Lane, Lake Waukama, North Carolina. Our Colt Starting will feature six of the finest cowgirls in the business. Even the horses for Colt Starting will be fillies and provided by Lost Creek Cattle Company of Tennessee. Professional demos, trail challenge, colt starting, and equestrian entertainment show on Saturday night. Tickets available online or at the gate for just$30 for the entire weekend, including all events, or$15 per day. Follow us on Facebook at EverythingEquine Expo, a cushy media production. I pitched an idea to our publisher about a new magazine about horses. He loved the idea and suggested that I should do this on my own. I laughed out loud at his suggestion as I could not believe that I could have a magazine on my own. Was he crazy? He assured me that I had been doing the equivalent for a very long time and I could do it with my eyes closed. So I quit my job and I started Carolina Hoofbeats magazine. The magazine printed 10,000 copies and they were distributed all over the state through arenas, feed stores, and horse shows. It was a free publication and quickly became well read. It was the first monthly equestrian publication exclusively about North Carolina and one of many first to come. One of the things that I feel is a significant milestone to that makes you realize the impact that your work has had on others is a story about a little girl with a rare disease. Olivia was introduced to me as a young rider who had been granted a horse through the Make a Wish Foundation. Unfortunately, the horse was the wrong horse, and she was quite a bit more horse than the young girl needed. I was able through my contacts, Newcomb Quarter Horses, to get her an amazing youth world champion mare. The mare was older, but she loved children. She went on to win horse shows with her and ride all the kids in the neighborhood. Nowadays her disease is under good control and she has grown into a beautiful young woman. Another instance was a young girl who wrote an article for our kids section of the magazine about her dream horse. An Arabian breeder who read her story granted her the dream horse she always wanted with her parents' permission. She went on to show her and love her, and accomplishments like this have pushed me to continue to give horse women that voice and keep that passion alive. Carolina Hoofbeats magazine eventually grew into a much larger publication, Southeast Hoofbeats, which covered a ten state region with not only a print presence, but an online presence as well. The magazine quickly grew in readership. During this time, I wrote an article about equestrian careers. Did you know that there are over 350 careers that directly involve horses? That's incredible. I was fortunate enough during my time to serve on the North Carolina Horse Council Board, and through that opportunity, I was directly involved with raising funds and efforts to build 100 stalls at the Southeast Ag Center. During that time, I met TV producer David Grant from South Carolina. He had a show called Horetales and was interested in doing a show with the North Carolina Horse Council. I was their marketing chair, so I pitched them the idea. They loved the idea, but they didn't want to do it with David. They wanted to do it with me. In my wildest dreams, and I have a pretty big imagination, I never dreamed I would be on TV, let alone have my own show. Well, my answer, of course, was no way. I'm an old grandma and nobody wants to hear what I have to say. But soon they convinced me, and through a development grant with the council, I purchased my equipment and got airtime on a local TV channel, WHIG and Rocky Mount. Herb Greenberg, the owner of the station, took me under his wing, and with the help of Sandra Smith, his manager, I learned how to do a television show. They paired me with cameraman Andrew, who was awesome. In the beginning, Andrew did all of our editing, camera work, and prep work for our broadcast. But my husband Rodney has always been incredibly smart and he wanted to be involved heavily in the project. So he learned not only to be our cameraman, but to edit all of our episodes. Within a short time, the show grew to multiple broadcast channels and enjoyed over four million viewers. It was the very first weekly television show about North Carolina horsemen and women. Did you know that Cushing Equestrian Fund is helping fight illiteracy and encourage creativity? Cushing Equestrian Fund is helping to establish networking opportunities for all levels of horsemanship. Did you know Cushing Equestrian Fund is establishing pathways to education through our scholarships? We also provide disaster assistance through up-to-date and accurate information. We provide education on how to prepare and sustain through a disaster. We also have grant dollars for emergency repair and help. We are excited to say we have given out two education grants this year, one to Anna Chance from Martin Community College, and the second to Taylor King for NC State University and Miss Rodeo. Grant applications are open now. We can't be successful without your donations as our partners. Every event that Cushing Media Productions produce donates$1 from ticket sales to Cushing Equestrian Fund. Join us, Cushing Equestrian Fund, your trusted source in an emergency. Follow us on Facebook and you can donate on our website www.cushingmedia.net. In 2016, I was looking for new ways to grow and strengthen the industry. I produced a new type of horse show that would showcase all the things that I love to watch. I wanted a true spectator-driven event so that everyday people would see what I see in a horse and fall in love. Horses Got Talent was born and premiered at the Southeast Ag Center in Lumberton as a Christmas show opportunity. The show features five categories Liberty, Freestyle, Equestrian Vaulting, and Drill Team. If you didn't fit into one of those niches, I added an entertainment category, which is basically anything cool that you do with your horse. Contestants' scores are based 50% on how well they entertain my spectators. The show is quite unique in that the contestants are not shown in classes. Each rider is an act all their own. They are in their arena solely. The audience never knows what's coming next. I put in a drill team, then a Liberty Act, then a vaulting. You get the idea. The first show was three and a half hours long. I'm always overzealous in everything I do, and I figured the audience would run out of the building during intermission. But they stayed and they loved it. And the show has grown to over a thousand spectators and is a loved yearly event. One of my fondest memories about horses got talent is when I was contacted by a 4-H leader in South Carolina who really wanted to participate. She called me, but she was worried that she had 20 inner city kids and only three horses in her club. I told her to ride a skit where all the kids could be in the arena and be part of it using the three horses. They'd all have their moment to shine. She really came through, and all the kids were part of the production, went in a ribbon for their efforts and creating something that they will never forget. Trail challenges have become really popular, so I added a trail challenge series to the lineup and it was very well received. In 2018, we added Everything Equine Expo to our Cushion Media lineup of entertainment. We didn't currently have an expo in North Carolina, so I decided to give it a try. The expo features Colt Starting, Trail Challenge, about 30 clinician demos, a farrier competition, great food, vendors, and fun. Meanwhile, the television show went on not only national but worldwide through a partnership with Farm and Ranch TV. We are currently available on every major streaming platform in the world and enjoy a viewership nationwide and in 42 countries. Then devastation hit, Hurricane Florence, and the aftermath. I became a volunteer in disaster relief efforts around the state. Rodney and I shot a documentary film, A Flood of Emotion, about the devastating effects of the hurricane on our Equine community. The documentary won the Equus Film Festival Award for Best News Broadcast. Out of that experience, the Cushion Equestrian Fund was formed as a 501c3 charitable arm of our company to work on education, resources, and planning for disaster, as well as growth in our industry. I realized that in a hurricane situation, you wake up the morning after and wham, there you are. Your fences are down, your livestock may be injured, food and hay may be destroyed, or perhaps even your vehicle. Help is out there, but it doesn't come quick. At best it's a week out. Our charity doesn't have very much red tape, so we can immediately grant dollars in small amounts to help horse owners right now today. We also set up the charity to be able to grant educational scholarships to horsemen and women who want to further their education through formal channels such as a university, but also through teaching such as individual lessons with a pro, a clinic, a camp, etc. All of the Cushion Media events donate 10% of their profits to this fund. We also accept donations from anyone who would like to help. All monies that are donated go to the fund as there are no salaries for anyone who is part of the management team. We're very proud that in 2020 we are able to award two grants, one to Miss Rodeo, North Carolina, Queen, and one to one of the students at Martin Community College Equestrian Program. I've also had the opportunity to produce additional equestrian television shows. I produce From the Ground Up, hosted by Jerry King. Jerry is an extremely talented trainer with many accolades in his career, but his laid-back teaching style captivated me and I knew it would be a hit. From the ground up is in its fourth season and is found as part of the Farm and Ranch Network on all major streaming channels as well. It is also an Eklus Film Festival Award for Best Series Western. I produced From The Judge's Perspective, hosted by Jeremy West, and Heard This hosted by Christine Long, veterinarian, as well. Both shows are available on Farm and Ranch, and both women are strong and amazing, and their stories will be featured right here on this podcast soon. During all this time I owned Half Moon Farms, a breeding farm, featuring quarter horses standing two stallions, a Cremelo son of two eyed Redbuck, named Watch Eyes, and a grandson of Hollywood Dunnett, named All Around Dunnett. We raised colts for sale and offered breeding services for a number of years. At one time I owned fifty horses. Yeah, the fever was out of control then, but I have to say that each one was very different with its own personality and I love them all dearly. As my business grew, the numbers had to decline for their interest as well as mine, so sanity was regained. As you see, I can have been enchanted with horses for some time. A mentor of mine, Sue Gray, the executive director of the North Carolina Horse Council, gets all the credit for teaching me the importance of the industry and how we are all part of it. Doesn't matter if you have your horse in your backyard or a full fledged farm. We all make up this crazy wonderful industry. All of us play part in its growth, development, and longevity. Every person plays a part from the show mom, the 4 H leader, the trainer, the vet, the rider, all of us. I had big plans for 2020. I had seven expos lined up in three states. We had two retreats with wonderful clinicians scheduled, horses got talent and a big trail challenge series. COVID hit and all that changed. I had a year off with no expos, no challenges, no shows, nothing. For the most part, we couldn't even film new shows. It was a tough year, but it gave me time to reflect on my life, my accomplishments, my dreams, and my goals. All of us have a story, some of success, some of passion, some of hardship. But I'm very happy that it's my job to give women the voice to tell those stories. So you see, if a little girl who fell in love with horses so long ago could accomplish all of this on a shoestring budget with a million dollars worth of passion, so can you. Much love. I hope you enjoyed the broadcast. Join us next week when we sit down with Tammy Thurston. Tammy is the Executive Director for the Martin Community College Equine Science Program, owner of Thurston Quarter Horses, and a multi quarter horse congress champion. Hope you'll enjoy the episode. See you soon.