Heather Anderson, Horse Racing Writer/Editor
Heather Anderson is an associate international editor at the Thoroughbred Daily News, writing for a daily web journal that provides information on anything and everything that goes on in the international Thoroughbred world. She is also in charge of maintaining the TDN's horse data and troubleshooting any web site issues.
The path to find this career has been interesting for Heather. She originally wanted to become a jockey, but unfortunately, she grew too tall. Her passion for horses didn’t diminish—it simply became refocused. Living in Lander, Wyoming, Heather wasn’t the only one in the family with a passion for all things equine: her maternal grandfather, AJ Webeler, bred Quarter Horses on a small scale with his friend Dr. Hays, for years on his farm in Indiana.
Like many horse lovers, Heather also toyed with the idea of becoming an equine veterinarian, though by her junior year in high school, she decided that this path wasn’t for her. An avid reader, Heather eventually combined her passion for horses with her love of the written word.
To get her start, Heather attended the University of Wyoming and majored in Animal Science with the thought that she, like her grandfather, may breed horses. Also while attending UW, Heather grew a love of writing and was part of the UW Honors Program, which placed an emphasis on creative writing.
Between her sophomore and junior years at UW, Heather travelled to Summerfield, FL, to attend the Peterson & Smith Equine Internship Program. This internship allowed Heather to participate in all aspects of equine reproduction offered by the Peterson & Smith Equine Reproduction Center. This experience led her to investigate ways she could further both her education and her skills once she completed her bachelor’s degree in 2009.
Heather spent her final semester as a UW student abroad, as an exchange student at the University of Birmingham in England.
By the time Heather was set to graduate, she knew her breed of choice was the Thoroughbred; to continue her practical education, she worked at the South Jersey Thoroughbred Rescue and Adoption organization for seven months upon leaving UW. She then applied for the Spring 2010 session of the Kentucky Equine Management Internship Program and was accepted; she soon made her way to the Thoroughbred Mecca of Kentucky to work at Dixiana Farm to learn about breeding and foaling.
As her KEMI internship concluded, Heather returned to New Jersey to be with her boyfriend, who would become her future husband. She searched for three months for an equine-oriented job, sending out resumes to farms and other equine entities, but to no avail; as the horse industry as a whole was still recovering from the 2008 recession, equine jobs seemed to be few and far between.
Never one to wait for an opportunity to come to her, Heather became a pharmacy technician with a national chain—but she always knew she would get back to the Thoroughbreds one day. Though she wasn’t hands-on with horses, Heather’s innate desire to help people was still being met. “While it was quite different from anything I’d tried my hand at previously, I was still helping people and it felt much better to work at something than watch the bills pile up.”
Heather became a nationally certified pharmacy technician in the fall of 2010 and began looking for employment in a hospital pharmacy setting. She also investigated openings at veterinary pharmacies as well, hoping to marry her profession with her passion for horses.
Though she was not as immersed in the industry as she had hoped to be, Heather kept up with the Thoroughbred industry as much as she could, visiting race tracks and perusing the Thoroughbred Daily News for information and job opportunities. It was in an issue of the TDN that she came across an ad for an Assistant Editor for the newsletter; she was hired in December of 2013 and works out of the TDN home office in Red Bank, NJ.
Now completely immersed in the Thoroughbred racing industry, Heather feels that her time at KEMI prepared her well for her career with the TDN. Though not hands-on, the contacts she made during her time in the program were integral to her employment with the TDN. Additionally, she notes, KEMI emphasized the plethora of jobs in the industry that were available to people who had the equine and work experiences the KEMI interns obtained—not all of them hands-on. “Hard work is very important, but having the right contacts ranks right up there, too,” Heather explains. “Networking is vital to success in this industry.”
Though it took Heather a few years to make her way back to her chosen industry, she never lost her can-do attitude, giving each position she held the best effort she could. “A good attitude can never be overrated,” Heather says. “Regardless if you’re in your dream job or a short-term position, having a positive outlook makes everything easier. It greases the wheels, so to speak.”
“I’d also add that, even if you have your entire career planned out from the moment you graduate, life has a way of throwing a few surprises. Be open to new opportunities, even if they–at the time–appear out of left field.”
And for the future? “I owned a small piece of a winning racehorse briefly, and I would love to become more involved in the racing/breeding side of the game,” Heather says. “I also hope to keep expanding my bloodstock knowledge and apply that to my work at the TDN.”
Article edited and published with permission from Kentucky Equine Management Internship. KEMI is dedicated to improving the opportunities for college students wishing to pursue a career in the field of equine management. The program offers a comprehensive educational experience for students enrolled for academic credit through a sponsoring college or university, or for recent graduates of such institutions. To learn more about this program, visit www.kemi.org.
