Editor’s Letter

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

If you‘re reading this letter today, thank you! That means you have either picked up a printed copy of Saddle Up! Magazine at a distributor near you or are reading this online. Either way, thank you for your support. I started Saddle Up! Magazine in my home 25 years ago in July 1996, producing the rst printed issue in August of the same year. Myself and one part-time employee knocked on doors, called businesses, and mailed to every equine related business in Michigan to get Saddle Up off the ground. It took many years before it actually started showing a prot and carrying its own weight. Being in the publishing industry before starting Saddle Up! Magazine was a huge advantage, and my other publications assisted in keeping us aoat. We used to put Saddle Up together in our basement by collating the sheets by hand, stapling the pages together, and then delivering the nished pieces. That’s when Saddle Up was printed on an offset press and the page count was between 16 and 24 pages. It wasn’t even in full color back then! No, I did not take over Saddle Talk, the Right Lead, or any other equine publication that you may remember from the past. Saddle Up! Magazine was started from scratch by myself, a true horse addict. Ask my mom, she’ll tell you, she thought I would outgrow my passion for horses. No mom, its not something you outgrow. You embrace it with both hands, and hopefully you can wrap those hands around the horse of your dreams! What a difference 25 years has made in the publishing industry! I started this magazine before scanners, fax machines, the internet and before email. Advertisements, photos, classieds – everything was received by snail mail or dropped off/picked up in person. Now Saddle Up is printed on a web press, portions are on glossy stock and in full color and we’re printing 5,000-6,000 copies per month. A web press is incredibly fast and can print the entire publication in a matter of hours, rather than days like on an offset press. My husband Bill, retired last year and has joined me in the ofce preparing the magazine for print. He also does the mailing and distribution each month with me. Thank goodness for Bill! It was getting a little rough doing the magazine by myself the past few years. I have truly been blessed over the years! I have made some amazing friends through Saddle Up and I love what I do! How many people can actually say that they love their job? I do!

Two of my goals when producing Saddle Up is to keep equestrians up-to-date on events and making sure that advertising rates remain affordable. Our show and event listings are free online and free to print in our magazine. Our advertising rates have rolled back to prepandemic rates by extending the 12x discount to everyone, without having to run an ad for 12 months in a row. This has saved our advertisers thousands of dollars so far this year. It’s been a challenge competing with the internet over the years, but we are holding our own. Thankfully people still want the printed publication to read at their leisure. Our plans are to continue to serve equestrians in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana to the best of our ability, and to keep printing!

Thank you for your support over the years, we appreciate your friendship and your business. Cindy & Bill Couturier, owners

I think one of our greatest successes with the magazine has been keeping equestrians informed of shows and events in their area. Many people have said to me over the years... “You’ve got to get Saddle Up! Magazine, otherwise you won’t know what’s going on!”