The Thriving Equine Professional | Career Connections, Equine Industry Resources, Career Advice. · JodiSpeaksLIFE: Speaker, Career Success Coach, Podcaster

81 | How to Build a Career in the Equine Industry with Annise Montplaisir

·49 min·2 clips

Amplify began as a grassroots idea to build a youth arm for North American Thoroughbred racing.

1. The Thriving Equine Professional episode centers on Annise Montplaisir’s path from a Fargo, North Dakota horse kid to executive director of Amplify Horse Racing. 2. Jodi Lynch-Findley hosts the conversation, and Annise Montplaisir is the guest whose career matters because she built Amplify and completed Godolphin Flying Start. 3. The episode asks how a young horse fan can turn early interest, internships, and education into a career in the equine industry. 4. Annise says her mother bought a pony of the Americas named Ginger for Christmas 2003, and Ginger arrived tied to the deck with a red bow. 5. She explains that 4-H horse knowledgeable and hippology built her early knowledge base, while Pony Club was too far away from the North Dakota-Minnesota border. 6. Annise says she learned about thoroughbred racing from the film Ruffian, which made her want to become a jockey before height and baking habits changed that plan. 7. She points to the North Dakota Horse Park in Fargo as the place where small-track access turned curiosity into hands-on racing experience. 8. Annise says she learned about the Godolphin Flying Start program at age 13 and made later schooling decisions around that goal. 9. She chose North Dakota State University for in-state tuition, scholarships, a riding team, the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association, and the chance to live at home. 10. Her degree path became management communication, international studies, and Spanish, with study abroad in Chile and a focus on transferable skills. 11. Annise argues that the equine industry values experience heavily, so internships mattered as much as formal education. 12. She describes herself as a “professional intern” after roles with AQHA, the Saratoga Special, Fasig-Tipton, Keeneland, and Mill Ridge Farm. 13. Annise says one internship led directly to the next because contacts from Saratoga opened doors in Lexington. 14. She explains Godolphin Flying Start as a two-year, internationally based thoroughbred industry management program founded and funded by Sheikh Mohammed. 15. The program takes 12 young people each year through Ireland, England, the United States, Australia, and Dubai before returning to Ireland for graduation. 16. Annise says her 2020 cohort was in Dubai when COVID disrupted the schedule, but she still finished and used Amplify as her capstone business plan. 17. She describes Amplify as a grassroots response to negativity in racing and to the lack of a youth arm in North American thoroughbred racing. 18. Annise says Amplify now works through digital education, mentorship, and in-person outreach such as track activations, classroom visits, and Thoroughbred Discovery Day. 19. The conversation is practical and reflective, with Jodi pushing for concrete career lessons and Annise answering with specific examples. 20. Listeners who like equine careers, internships, and youth development will get the most from it, while people wanting only racing results may skip it.

As heard by us

Internships, mentors, and a widening network shape a practical equine career story.

Anissa's path is told through internships, mentors, and a network that kept opening the next door, which gives the episode a grounded look at how an equine career can actually take shape.

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Why you'd press play

You want a real map from internships to an equine career.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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