The evolution of the EQUUS podcasts

Launching podcasts was out of the comfort zone of the EQUUS editors, until they went ahead and did it anyway.

It’s hard to fluster the EQUUS editorial team. For nearly 30 years now, Laurie Prinz and I have worked together and, through our combination of work styles and personalities, we aren’t easily knocked off stride.

For years, we met tight deadlines to produce an iconic horse care magazine each month. As the publishing landscape shifted, we adapted and posted articles to www.legacy.equusmagazine.com. Eventually, print issues became quarterly, but we worked to launch email newsletters and monthly digital publications to keep delivering the useful, trustworthy information about equine health care directly to you. We developed a large and active social media community, created video slideshows and even memes to reach an ever-growing audience eager to consume all types of information about horses. There wasn’t any project we didn’t look at and say “We’ve got this.”

That is, until it became clear that EQUUS needed a podcast. There isn’t much more intimidating to two somewhat introverted print editors with a tendency to swear than the prospect of having to speak off-the-cuff while being recorded for a large audience. How on earth could we do this?

Eventually, we figured it out by turning to what we knew our readers loved: The True Tales we had published in the print magazine for years. We developed a story-telling podcast in which a professional narrator gives the best loved of these new life in audio form, while Laurie and I provide a brief, semi-scripted introduction to each episode. This combination worked and Barn Stories (click here to listen to the latest episode) became extremely popular. So popular, in fact, it became clear that our audience may like yet another podcast.