Beyond the Blue Ribbons: Kelly Berry on the Real Side of Equestrian Sports

Alex Husner 0:03

Welcome to The Long Ride Home. I'm your host, Alex Husner. This show is about honoring where we come from, pursuing what still calls us forward, and trusting the power of timing in both life and in sport. Through honest conversations with riders, trainers, and leaders in the American settlement world, we'll explore the stories behind the horses and the people shaping the future of this industry. Come on this journey with me. Welcome back to the long ride home. I'm your host, Alex Kuesner, and I am joined today by Kelly Berry, who is the owner of KB Media Equine, who has produced a docuseries that is incredible called Inside the Ingate, and many, many other things that we're going to dive into today. But those are kind of the two main things that how I ended up meeting Kelly online. So, Kelly, so great to have you today. Thank you for joining me. Oh, well, thank you. I'm so excited to be here. So before we get started, just like I kind of like to do for any of the listeners that might not know you, could you just give us a little bit of your history, kind of how you got into writing and just where you are now, you know, skyscraper view, and then we'll hone in on some of the topics we want to touch on today.

Kelly Berry 1:15

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm a lifelong equestrian. I grew up in the hunter jumper world. I've done hunters my whole life. You know, really it's funny because I have my own podcast, as you know, and Alexis and I talk a lot about kind of like our childhood and how we got started and all the things, but we never wanted to like go down the route of being a professional. We always I was like lifelong amateur. So I really, when I was a junior, I didn't really have a big junior career. I didn't show a lot, but I always was like very passionate about the sport and whatnot. But I was really like when I got into high school, I was like into friends, into the boyfriend, is my now husband, actually. Um married my high school. I I know, I know. It it feels like I've dated like six people since then, but um because he's just changed, he just changed so much.

Alex Husner 2:05

That's a good life.

Kelly Berry 2:06

Um yeah, but uh, but yeah, I mean, horses have been in my life for since I was little, and then um I went to college with an art major and came out with a fine art degree in photography. I came from a family of entrepreneurs, so having my own business was always something that I knew was just gonna happen for me. So I came out of school, I got some I actually worked at Dover, believe it or not. Oh really? Um Yeah, and I I actually you know, don't don't RIP'd it over, but you know, when I did some videos talking about that, and I actually never even mentioned that I worked there. I worked there for a while and when I was starting my business and um I had my photography business for about eight years, and then I really fell in love with creating for business owners. You know, I think I had such a soft spot for people that are entrepreneurs, it's they're just my people, you know, creating marketing strategy and photography and content and video was really a natural progression. So um I started that in 2019, and then I uh have been building the business since and three years ago we launched the equine side because I was like, why this seems like a no-brainer. I need to bring all of this knowledge into the equestrian world, which has actually been a really interesting uh journey to say the least. So, and here we are today.

Why Horse Sports Need Better Storytelling

Alex Husner 3:25

Yeah, no, that's so cool. And it's fascinating to me too, because I mean, I think our backgrounds are a little bit similar in that. I mean, I have marketing for sure, and I've been out on my own as an entrepreneur and business owner now for two years and continued in the vacation rental side of that's mostly the clients that I I work with. But when I got back into horseback riding after 26 years, six months ago, that did cross my mind, and it is still crossing in my mind of you know, how could I intertwine my passion with also business potentially? And uh, I don't know what that looks like in as far as the equine side goes, but I do know coming back to it after so long, uh, and this is something that you talk about a lot on your social media of like the horseback riding, equestrian in general really has not kept up with the times as far as you know where marketing really is going. And I don't know if you see that also in the hunter jumper world, but I've started to see, I mean, there are more saddlebred barns now that are putting an emphasis on Instagram and Facebook, and which is great. I mean, starting to see more of that pop up, but a lot that are not, you know, and in our industry, it's a lot of the magazines. And I I was gonna ask you about that. We mentioned before we hit play, but does your side of the world do they live and die by the magazines like ours does?

Who Gets to Shape the Equestrian Narrative?

Kelly Berry 4:35

You know, it's interesting because I have a great friend, Piper Clem, who owns the Plaid Horse. So she was actually in our uh season two of Inside the End Gate at Devon. And I will say that is probably the most, it's the most prominent. I would say even above, you know, the Chronicle. Um, she does such a great job of putting that entire publication together, whether it be print, digital. But I mean, I really think other than that, I think that our world relies so much on social media. And social media is such a obviously social media controls a lot of the narrative and digital media. And so, which can be good and bad all at the same time. So rather than in print or even just digital publications where you have no writers controlling the narrative, you have more of the people controlling the narrative, which again can be good or bad. And so the issue with, and I don't know if this is the same in your discipline, but the issue with the people controlling the narrative, which showcasing what they're doing online and showcasing, you know, their trips and everything, it's always just the polish. Everything is

The Problem with the Perfect Highlight Reel

Kelly Berry 5:43

the highlight reel. Yeah. The highlight reel, right? And so in return, when you start thinking about who is advertising to these group of people, you know, these big brands are really making specific marketing content that is really catering to the 1%. It's showing the the really high level, nothing that myself will ever be able to achieve, or and nor do nor do I want to. Marketing is missing the mark in the equestrian space because it's just not catering to the right person. And then it's also not catering to your average person, to your average amateur, which makes up the bulk of the sport. And then the people inside of the community are so afraid to show anything other than their perfect trip, their perfect, you know, trip after trip after trip. And it just gives this really false sense of perfectionism. And I feel that that is really what has led me down this path of creating the docu-series and wanting to showcase that such as Devin. Devin is kind of the pinnacle, one of the pinnacles in our sport and in our discipline. And I think I wanted to showcase that it's not all what you think it is.

Alex Husner 6:51

Yeah, it's not

The Mission Behind Kelly's Docuseries "Inside the InGate"

Alex Husner 6:52

all ribbons and victory passes.

Kelly Berry 6:54

Right. You know, and and the subjects that I selected for Devin, I truly they were just so wonderful, each and every one of them showcasing the real side of the sport and the relatability. That's what my big mission is. That's what we're longing for. And I think that's what this community, not only in my discipline, in every discipline. Everyone, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Alex Husner 7:16

So and I is it like that in your discipline too? Yes, for sure. And you know, your discipline might be a little bit further ahead of Saddle C, you know, as I mentioned, it's like there are some barns that are doing have a social presence and are really pushing it, but like the wide majority just don't have it at all. So it's like there's still a lot that are completely disconnected. But the ones that are, you know, and I and I love watching it. And I love that my feeds now are just it's almost all horses when I go online, which makes it so much better than all the work stuff I was seeing. I just have to carve out time to seek that out at this point. But it is a lot of the highlight reels. And when I got back into this in December, January, when I made the decision, I said, you know, I don't want to just show the highlight reels. And I think I'll be honest, like when I go to put out a reel or a video of me and chapstick, my horse, like I kind of defer to trying to make sure I pick the best clips because you know what? It's not that it's pressure, but it's like you want to, you want to show your horse at your best. But like, you know, for at our best right now, like we are, I'm in a returning amateur, very long time away.

Kelly Berry 8:20

He's just

Showing the Messy Middle of Riding

Kelly Berry 8:21

amazing.

Alex Husner 8:22

Thank you. Yeah, it's it's the best thing that's happened to me in a very long time. But he's also a unfinished horse. I mean, he's only three years old and he got started a little bit late. And so, like, you know, he's still learning a lot of the things. But I I think it's, you know, it's like we're social media is created in a lot of different ways in life, but it's like it's it applies to the horses too, that it's like when you constantly just see the ones that are the multiple hundred thousands of dollars that are just, you know, trotting absolutely perfect. It is hard to not compare, like, oh my God, like I'm not even close to that right now. And I think the reality is that is it's still in our sport, that is still like the 1% of like the best horses, the best riders that they've been doing this for a long time. But what you don't see is those people have been doing it a long time and consistently, and everybody's journey looks different. And I think it is important to show that. And for some reason, I don't know why I made this decision, but I have a video from a couple months ago that this was early on with Chapstick, that he bucked and like a big buck. Like I've never had a horse buck like that on me before. And it was at an adult clinic that we had at the barn I ride at. And um, it was petrifying in the moment, but when I saw the video and everybody was like, oh my God, that was amazing that you stayed on in that. And I'm like, I can't believe people are telling me this is amazing that my horse bucked. But then when I watched it back, I'm like, you know what? I'm actually really I am proud of that because that's not that bad. Hell yeah. But I I posted it on LinkedIn to my business audience. And I I did that as like, you know, I don't have any judgment. They don't know a saddlebred from a thoroughbred from a nice horse to not have nice horse. But what I was trying to show was I showed the part of us bucking, and then the next part was us, you know, moving along nicely. And it was just trying to like prove the point of like, you know, there's the messy middle and there's gonna be lows, but then you've got to get through those to get to the highs. And I think that message is applicable across anything in life. But I'm totally with you that I think sharing more of the stories behind how people got to where they are and even when they're in it, you know, what are the struggles? Because there are people out there that can relate to you. And when you share your story, you're gonna empower somebody else to feel like they're not alone, you know, and that's there's a lot of just internal mental pressure, I would say, in this sport. Because you want to be good for your horse, you want to be good for your trainers. I want to be good for myself, you know, and

The Pressure Riders Carry Into the Ring

Alex Husner 10:34

that's it's tough.

Kelly Berry 10:35

Yeah, I think that there is so much. I don't even know, I truly don't, I don't, I don't even know if it's judgment. I can't decide if it's more judgment internally or if it's judgment from other people because I truly feel like the internal judgment is soul crushing sometimes. Like I just think I think that is the worst. And so I felt like when we shot the docu series, it was such an interesting perspective because you never really get to see professionals developing young horses. And so I feel like watching the journey and even this just the basic communication that when we're in the interviews or the confessionals with these uh subjects, they're talking about these young horses. And because they didn't, you know whether the horse like kind of spooked or he wasn't his best or like whatever it is, we had the opportunity to showcase that to the audience because you wouldn't see that any other place. And so it makes me think of me when I'm at home or when you or you're at home and you're riding the buck, or I'm riding the buck, or the spook, or the or the whatever, it makes me feel a part of something bigger. It makes me feel like, okay, like we're all like whether you're in the ring at Devon and your horse is spooking at an umbrella, or I'm in my ring and my my horse is spooking at the same jump he's passed 15 times. Yeah, you know, like you're like, okay,

Why Real Stories Help Riders Feel Less Alone

Kelly Berry 11:52

like it's not just me. It's not just me. It makes me feel okay, you know? And I think just opening people's eyes, and the only way to do that is to capture it, you know, is to capture it is to allow people in. I don't know if you saw this video that I did where it's kind of been a series now because I've just kind of been spiraling on it, but why nobody cares about this sport, you know? Like we talk a lot about F1, we talk a lot about golf, tennis, like um, there's a great docuseries that just came out about Rafa Nadal on Netflix. If you haven't seen it, please watch it tonight. It's called Rafa. Um, it's on Netflix.

What Horse Sports Can Learn from Other Sports Media

Kelly Berry 12:29

Okay. It is truly yeah, watch it tonight. Um watch it tonight and then text me and let me know what you think. Because I first episode ball and crying. I was ball and crying. I had no idea. Him and I are the same age. And so I watched him when I remember when I was in college and I would come home and my father-in-law would be watching tennis, and there would be a big match, and I it wasn't something I was like really connected to, but I just remember like at his prime or at his peace, like yeah, you know, watching him. So this is just like a basically he's he's retiring and and just a huge, you know, docuseries about how he's come to this decision, his career, all these things. And you know, it just got me thinking even more about this conversation of why the equestrian community doesn't feel more connected to the sport or the top tier of the sport in general. And most of the time you're getting this answer of like, you know, this bitterness, this like, well, you know, they just fought their way, they just have a bunch of money, like blah, blah, blah, blah. And that is just not true.

Alex Husner 13:32

Yeah.

Kelly Berry 13:33

Sometimes it is. Sometimes it is true. Okay. But whether you have money or you don't have money, you can't buy talent. You can't buy God given talent in any discipline. So, you know, I think that again, giving people the opportunity to know these stories of these riders and connect with them on a relatable level is what is gonna grow the sport in any discipline. You know, I I was on the podcast with Jessica Paquette a couple weeks ago and she's in horse racing. And horse racing has a you know, obviously a very different step ahead of us because there's gambling, there's like there's a lot just more media attention around it. Um there's a lot of celebrities involved and and whatnot, just overall media coverage in general, and I feel like they're a little bit ahead of us. But I think that at the end of the day, and I've said this a couple times, that I really turn to these brands, these brands that are within these communities, whether it's the Western world, Saddlebird World, English World, whatever, to guide the community. And they don't. They don't. They all they want to do is sell products, you know, and I I can't decide if it's that or if it's they truly just don't know. They don't know how to do it, they don't know how where to even begin. I'm not sure. I'm not really sure. And I think that you're gonna see. I actually am on a gonna have a call with uh there's new docuseries called The Fringe, I think. And it's coming out over the summer, and it's about a girl who wants to be the first Chilean woman to go to the Olympics. Oh, wow. And so that's coming out in July, and so I think it's a docuseries or a documentary, I'm not sure. I'm super excited. I'm like, like I didn't produce it, but I'm so pumped that that like this is happening. Yeah, like because people need to see this, like they need to see the dedication, they need to see like everything that we stand for in our docuseries, like that's the message, right? Like we just have to give people the ability to see it and connect with

Humanizing the People Behind the Sport

Kelly Berry 15:33

it.

Alex Husner 15:33

So yeah, yeah, absolutely. Gosh, there's so much that you just said there. And the way that I I look at things, I mean, normally you look at from your past experience in my professional life. I have another podcast, Alex and Annie, The Real Woman of Vacation Rentals. And we've been doing that for five years now. And when I think back to when we started that podcast, I feel like there was a lot of similarities between what I feel now, between you've got different stakeholders. You have the riders, you have the trainers, and you have the brands, which in our industry, there's not tons and tons of brands. I mean, within horses at least. On the vacation rental side, I mean, the brands and the technology brands and everything that we have to choose from and software, it's it's unbelievable how many brands are out there.

Kelly Berry 16:13

Well, I was gonna say it's probably endless.

Alex Husner 16:15

It's endless, endless, yeah. And it's like that's why we have so many trade shows and it's it's very complicated. But five years ago, there was more podcasts that were out then than there are now. Most of them ended up fizzling out, but this was like right after COVID. And when we made the decision to start the show, the whole premise of the show, and it still is the premise of the show, was we wanted to find the aha moments and we wanted to talk to all the stakeholders. So the property managers are kind of more like the trainers in this case. The you know, guests are more like the riders in this case, and then the brands are more like the vendors in that case. And everybody has different aha moments, and I think everybody has a story to share. But, you know, in that side of the world, the vendors really they're the ones that are paying for the conferences. Like they are, they really are kind of the congregator of things, but nobody was getting them together besides when we were at conferences. And so we have all different entities of that industry come on our show and we humanize who they are. And I and I think that's something that is lacking in the saddlebred world, and that's part of the why I wanted to start the show, is there's a lot of people that are still in saddle seed and saddlebreds now that I remember from 26 years ago. And they don't remember me because I was Alex O'Neill then, not Alex Kusner, and I was 15, 16 when I left it, um, 41 now. But like, you know, I still remember them and I and I remember their stories from back then, and I'm sure they've had tons more stories in the time I've been away. But you don't see those stories when you're just looking at the magazines or when you're just seeing, you know, some clips on social. And that's where I think the power of podcasting or the power of like the docuseries like you're doing, it really does. I mean, it just humanizes what is going on. And I think whether everybody will or has the ability to go buy a horse, take lessons on a horse, whatever the case may be, people are fascinated by horses. And it's been literally fascinating to me that when I post something about chapstick or a picture or a reel, I mean, the engagement I get on that versus anything else going on in my life is crazy. And it's and most of it is not horse people. It's people that don't know anything about it, but they see it and they're like, oh my God, he's so majestic. I've never seen a horse like that. And like there's, I think people are interested and and would even be interested, just even if they're just casually watching what people go through of the whole training process. And I mean, to your point, just because you have a very expensive horse doesn't mean that it's easy for you. I mean, it the horse can still just like you also said, it's gonna see something different in the arena that it's seen for the last 30 days, but all of a sudden today it's the biggest scary thing in the world to them. But you know, at the end of the day, you have to be a good rider to be able to be competitive. And if you're spending that much money on a horse, you're probably working really hard in the background. But it is really easy for people to, whether they understand or not, to see those highlight reels and just assume, well, it's just because they have money or just because they're at the best trainer. But you know, all of us are going through our own growth phases with the horses and challenges and everything else.

Kelly Berry 19:06

Yeah, no, absolutely. And the thing is, is is two things is that you know, the horses don't know how expensive they are. They have no idea, right? You know, like they they don't know. They don't know if they're worth a dollar or half a million. They're gonna spook at a tarp or at an umbrella the same way, right? So, you know, I think the other thing is that somebody said somebody commented on one of my videos the other day, and they were like, nobody outside of the horse world cares about it because it's so boring to watch. And I'm like, listen, Linda, if if if if Netflix can make full swing and make golf interesting, yeah, that's such a good point. Like, I mean, are you kidding me? There's nothing, I mean, I feel like because I started watching full swing, yeah, I could like watch golf and like you know, now that I kind of know who the players are and kind of like get it, I still like don't understand a lot of like the rules. Same thing with tennis, they're both pretty self-explanatory sports, but if there's still like rules that I don't understand, I'm still engaged, I'm still watching it. Yeah. So I mean, I just totally disagree. I don't think that the equestrian sport is too complicated for it to be mainstream. I think that's ridiculous. And you know, good storytelling and good visuals will completely change the game. And like you said, you know, like you're dealing with a 1200-pound animal that has like an emotional connection that people are naturally drawn to. Oh, for sure.

Alex Husner 20:31

Yeah, you know, yeah. I mean, even you think about like the Kentucky Derby. I mean, you know, Golden Tempo and his training. Oh my god, the first three devotees is um amazing, right? And it's like amazing. He's gotten a lot. I think way more people watched the Bel the Belmont and the Freakness because they saw the Derby and how um just incredible that was, that win. And it was incredible. It's yeah, and but he's also like they've done a good job of at least like showing him back at the barn, and and he's very tongue-y, and like a chapstick, my horse is very similar too. And it's like when you see like the personality of the horse, too, you know, because like I mean, we all love honor horses like they're dogs, basically, but people that don't understand horses, they don't they don't even know that you can really do that with a horse. So it's like I think sharing those, seeing those types of things and seeing the success. I mean, it really just shows like people that do connect on stories, and and full swing is a perfect example. And I feel the same. I used to golf as a kid. I can drive pretty good, but the rest of the game, terrible at, and then I don't know all the all the rules. But after watching that documentary and I know the players, like I know who I want to win when I'm watching them on TV. So I'm like, I was drawn to something about their story. So yeah, you're you're for sure onto something with this.

Kelly Berry 21:47

Well, I hope so. I am on such a mission, so I am like have my blinders on and I am full steam ahead.

Alex Husner 21:53

So I want to know more about the docuseries and the Devon Or show. That's a show that's big within Saddlebirds too. I've actually I've That's one that I've never been to. Um I saw some there when I was there. Did you really? Yeah. It used to be a really big show within our industry. And I think it's gone down over the years. But I mean, everybody always says like it's just it's an experience, you know, showing at Devon. Oh, yeah. So what was beyond what you've stated, like, how did you decide that you wanted to do it at Devon? And like, how did you go about the process?

Kelly Berry 22:21

Like so, I am actually from Pennsylvania. When we first started talking, I said I was living the south. I grew up here. I moved here when I was like three years old. My parents got divorced, yada, yada, yada. But my whole family lives up in Philly area. So um, like Chester County. So I had a trainer up there that I would go ride with them over the summer. And heaven just was, you know, like because I was in, you know, riding in that area, always talked about like this like super magical place. And so it always just like meant a lot to me personally. And so, you know, when we decided to do the docu series, we actually went to WEC first. So we did the winter series of 2025, and and it was we only got to do like the last week because we didn't get it approved by their marketing team for a couple months. So I, you know, kind of had this timeline in my mind of in the last couple weeks of the winter series in WEC was like end of March and end of May was two months from then. So we like it was like the craziest shit I've ever done, to be honest with you. It was like, you know, I talk about like I am just I don't know where the drive comes from. Like I just when I get on like a goal, I just set myself my set my eye on it and I just I stop at nothing.

Alex Husner 23:31

Yeah.

Kelly Berry 23:32

So, you know, we came off of WEC and so I had to get those two episodes edited and out so that people could see it and that we were trying to get sponsorship for Devin. And I'm like, oh my gosh. So I'm like editing for like an unbelievable amount of hours just so that I could send spot, you know, potential sponsors a basically a pitch of what we were doing so that they could sponsor Devin. And so it was crazy. And then really after Devin, I was editing for four months after that, and so you know, trying to think about what we were doing for season three was like I just needed like a complete mental like break because it's basically from the first of the year till September um was our last watch party, and I just was like, I have been falls to the wall on this, and I just like need a minute. So yeah, now we're going to Traver City for season three, so we'll go at the end of July, and we have four incredible cast members, so subjects and riders. So we have Jacob Post, Alex Granado, Michelle Drupetty, and Natalie Benson. So two amateurs and two professionals. Yeah, I'm I'm super excited. I'm ready, I'm ready to get this like this this going again. We've been Travers has been in the works since last year. So we're really, really excited. And these types of things I feel like they always happen, right? You get them on the books like eight months in advance, and you're like, okay, we're doing this, and then it like you feel like it's gonna take forever to get there, and then you're like, oh shit, like it's here. You're like, okay. Now we gotta make a plan.

Alex Husner 25:02

Yeah.

Kelly Berry 25:02

So yeah, but it's it's exciting. We're really, really excited, and uh the team is ready, the band is getting back together, and um, yeah, it's gonna be great.

Alex Husner 25:12

That's so cool. And like, what what is the goal of it? Are you trying to are you pitching it to get picked up by a network or yeah?

Kelly Berry 25:20

I mean, of course that's the goal, right? Like distribution. I feel like anybody in the let me just say, I'm also like not in the film world. Like I produce a docuseries, but I am not like it's so interesting, you know, you find yourself down these crazy paths in life, and like I never expected myself to be in like the film path, but you know, inside the in-gate uh season two at Devon won a Equist Film Festival Award.

Alex Husner 25:45

Yeah.

Kelly Berry 25:45

So that was like a really exciting. So I just never really thought I was like gonna be here, and but here we are, and I'm so I'm loving every second of it. But there's so much stuff that I don't know and I'm not like educated in. And so, you know, I'm just a girl that decided that I had this big passion to build this community and you know, build the sport, and I'm a creative at heart, so I can tell stories really well. And so that's what I was good at, and I just needed to build a team around me. But of course, it would be amazing to get distribution and get on Netflix or Hulu or any even some of the smaller ones. I don't care, you know, like whatever. But right now we're really just streaming it on YouTube, which is, you know, I think you always like I don't want to say be careful what you wish for because I always feel like, of course, with the bigger budget, you know, Netflix, like bigger companies, bigger things that are involved, you know, you have more people that you have to answer to. So I am a little bit hesitant about that, you know, because I want to make sure that the pureness and the messaging of the show stays the same. You know, I don't want to be true to your vision.

Alex Husner 26:52

Yeah.

Kelly Berry 26:52

Yeah. Like I don't want a you know, investor to come in and be like, okay, well, great idea. I'm gonna take it now and like run with it.

Alex Husner 26:59

We're gonna pretend like this drama happened instead of what really happened. Exactly.

Kelly Berry 27:06

Absolutely.

Why Equestrian Media Needs Horse People

Kelly Berry 27:07

So, you know, I'm just enjoying the ride right now. You know, what my biggest goal is is that I want to get these equestrian brands involved and you know, getting the sponsorship and the funding that we need to make it amazing. And I'm totally good with keeping it private. It would be an amazing. If don't get me wrong, if Netflix sent me an email right now and said, Hey, so if we're interested, I'd be like, Cool, like great. But um, but you know, it's just something to think about. And I, you know, when you work really hard on something like this, you know, you just want to protect it. And but it's uh, you know, the overall goal is just to build this community to to whether it is, you know, mainly for season two and or for season one and season two, you know, we're really producing it for this community because I just feel like I wanna, you know, you whenever you're creating any piece of marketing, you always want to know your audience. So inside of this community is really who we're targeting right now. And I foresee down the line we make it more mainstream. We open the audience up a little bit more for them to because the thing is, and I think you could probably agree, is that any piece of media, you know, that is I don't want to say every piece, but a lot of them, they're not made by horse people. Like race to the crown is a such a great example. You know, I think polo polo is like hit or miss for me. I think they did a really good job telling the stories of you know the riders and you know a series or a movie? No, polo is is a docuseries on Netflix. Great. I've got another thing to watch that is a good one. Yeah, race, yeah, race to the race to the crown was also really. I mean, I almost turned it off the first episode because you could just tell it was not made by horse people. I mean, there really wasn't it was not made for equestrians, it was made for mainstream and it made it look I just didn't like the way the perception. I just wasn't a fan.

Alex Husner 28:51

And I think it's like a sweet spot is like how do you find something that can appeal to mainstream but still stay very authentic to you know 100% what it is. You know, that's really like what I hope that you're able to achieve.

Kelly Berry 29:02

And I think you Yeah, I find it really interesting, and I don't know who Netflix or anybody is hiring, but I would imagine that if you were producing something in the equestrian space, you would want a producer or a team that is familiar with shooting that and they know they're inside of the space, they kind of know the world. So that's what I would imagine they would go for, but it doesn't seem that that's the case. And I don't know when they're shooting full swing or any of these other major docuseries, like you gotta kind of know like golf to to know what's gonna happen next, or you know, maybe they do, maybe they don't. I don't know. But I just hope that distribution ever creates something like that that they call me or somebody else that is in the space and that can help cater to equestrians and to mainstream.

Alex Husner 29:50

Yeah, no, I think that's if you can figure out that mix and you know, just thinking about other TV shows. I was actually just a judge on HGTV, a battle of battle of the beach. Yeah, they it they had picked three beach humps in Garden City Beach, which is just south of me in Myrtle Beach, and these three, not like couple couples, but two people in each pair had to, they had like seven days to completely renovate the house. And the goal was to see at the end which one would generate the most rental income. And we kicked it in three, yeah, it was it was really cool. And me and three other people from the area here that are in vacation rentals were asked to come in at the end as the judge. And it was funny because it actually does speak to what you just said of like as they're asking us what we need to or telling us what we need to be saying and doing for our judging part, we're like, do you even know anything about vacation rentals? Like that this doesn't you're asking us to judge on doesn't make sense. So it's I think yeah, it probably applies to anything in TV that it's like, you know, it is, it's the it's the big networks and the production crews, and like it they don't have that specialty. But I think that's where this is an area for sure that like to get it right, they need to at least be relying on pretty heavily as far as you know, direction from somebody that understands the equine world. But one one question for you that just like hit me as you're talking. Would you be interested in doing this for a different discipline?

Bringing Honest Storytelling Into Other Disciplines

Kelly Berry 31:08

Oh, it's coming, it's already in the works. It's already in the works. Of course, when you do things like this, people from other disciplines are like, you need to come to the quarter horse world or you need to come to the saddlebread world or the dressage world or like wherever. So yeah, we get requests all the time. And absolutely. Now, of course, like you know, it makes me a little bit more nervous. I stayed, and and I get this question a lot, actually, that you know, why did we do Hunter Jumper? It's just because I know it. I mean, I'm not I'm not an expert by any means, but I know it really well. I've been doing, I've been in this world my whole life.

Alex Husner 31:43

Long time, yeah. Yeah.

Kelly Berry 31:45

You know, that's like the safest place for me to start. That's the safest place for me to feel comfortable and produce my best work at the lowest budget, you know. So if I can do that and I can make something that is people want to watch and they're excited to be a part of, then I feel like I can do it in other places too.

Alex Husner 32:02

Yeah. Well, I think it would be phenomenal if there was an opportunity that you could do it within this adult red world. I'd love to be part of it with you. But if anybody else is out there thinking about it too, I just I I think you know, being able to consume something that is showing the lifestyle, that's showing the authenticity and has the opportunity to be seen by a broader audience, you know, to get more interest in the sport, ultimately, I think that's a win across the board.

Kelly Berry 32:26

And I feel like the saddlebred world, and I kind of feel like the saddlebred world and the Arabian world. So the reason I say Arabian world is because one of my best friends is in the Arabian space too. And I know nothing about either of them. I couldn't tell you, like when I told you we were um watching at Devon, we were watching the saddlebreds, and like my crew are not horse people, so you know I'm the producer, so I'm like guiding, giving everybody direction. And we were sitting there at the ring watching the saddlebreds go, and they're like, What are they being judged on? And I'm like, I couldn't, I don't know. I couldn't even tell you. You know, like I feel like I when they were going around, like I kind of could tell like which ones were better and which ones were not as good. Um but it's like it's such a learning curve in so many different disciplines, you know. Like if you take me into the Western world, like it's gonna be the same thing, you know. So, you know, there's a lot to learn and there's a lot of education, but you know, really the main focus is going to be those stories, those stories and the connections between the teams, the riders, the horses, all of those things is gonna be the most important. And that's gonna stay consistent across the board no matter what you're doing.

Alex Husner 33:35

Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, there it has literally the perfect recipe for all the things that people like to watch and where the emotional ties are. And, you know, to your point about full swing, it's like, yes, I mean, there's there are a lot of complexities of what makes a good ride in in Saddle Seat versus what might makes a good ride in Hunt Seat or Western. And, you know, the general public doesn't have to have all the details, but I think just the stories and like the triumphs and the challenges and the defeats and all that, like it leads to like a bigger picture of, you know, we're doing this because it's a love for the horse. And it's a very much a personal journey. You know, I mean, this is a it's a it's an individual sport, but it's a team sport at the same time that it's your trainers, it's your people from your barn, it's your families. I mean, you know, since I've been back these few months, like my husband has just really taken to this saddlebred world and has learned things so quickly. And I'm like, if if he can learn this so quickly, I think other people could too. But he definitely sees now too. And he made the comment when I we first started looking at horses. He was like, he said, I don't feel like it's fair because you know, we're coming in with X budget and there's gonna be other riders that have, you know, much larger budgets and their horse is just gonna do everything for them. I'm like, no, that's not the case. I mean, like, yeah, the reality is yes, you're gonna have people with different budgets there, but at the end of the day, that rider is still working just as hard and it's important to still be able to do that. And they have their own journey. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Well, Kelly, have to wrap up. Unfortunately, we could keep talking for a little bit. I've got a website. I would absolutely love to have you on again and continue the conversation because I love what you're doing. And I think it takes somebody just having the hutzpa to do it to make an impact. And you know, I've I've seen that in my professional world through what podcasting and can do and you know, certainly through social media. And I think we're just kind of getting started as far as what can happen for equestrian sports just in general. So thank you for agreeing to come on. And it's it's so nice to get to meet you. I love all your content. It's been great so much. If anybody wants to follow you, what's the best way for them to seek out your content?

Kelly Berry 35:35

Yeah, so um KB Media Equine on Instagram and then on TikTok, I'm the Equestrian Adult Amateur. You can also find me with KB Media Equine too. So yeah, that's to me.

Alex Husner 35:46

Thank you again, and best of luck with the docutaries. I I can't wait to keep watching it.

Kelly Berry 35:51

Yes, and that's on YouTube. That's on YouTube as well, KB Media Equine inside the Ngate.

Alex Husner 35:56

All right, thank you for having me. Yeah. Until next time. Thanks, everybody.