Celebrating 30 Years of The Equiery


Te December 2020 print edition of Te Equiery celebrates 30 years of being Maryland’s source for horse information! Yes, 30 years ago in December 1990, the very first Equiery landed in tack and feed stores, being hand delivered by co-founders Crystal Brumme Pickett and Mercedes Clemens (pictured). Over the past 11 months, Te Equiery has been sharing covers from every year bringing us to this issue, the 350th edition of Te Equiery! On the December 2020 cover, you will see our readers’ favorite covers from each year, votes counted from Facebook likes. We also reached out to current and former Equiery staff members to find out which covers stand out the most to them. What we present on these pages is a history of Te Equiery magazine as told through its covers. Enjoy! And thank you for your continuous support. We could not be what we are today without you.


December 1990 Of course, Issue


Number 1, Decem- ber 1990 is obviously one of my favorites! It was our first issue and co-founder Mercedes Clemens and I were scared to death, but yet oddly confident that we had a grand slam on our hands.


Our concept was simple: we created a portable tack shop/feed store bulletin board, with a free Directory of Riding Stables at its heart. Te simple cover reflected our simple mission –and truth be told, we were inspired by art cov- ers of Te Chronicle of the Horse–but we wanted to do art differently than those classic Chronicle covers, which framed the art in a small space in the center of the cover. We wanted to use the ENTIRE cover. But at that point, we did not know any equine artists–plus, we had no money to pay an artist. An old college roommate of mine drew this simple horse head as a favor, and we used a standard, free font. We were fortunate enough to actually “sell” ads–rock bottom, introductory rates that kind people couldn’t say no to. But it also took some of our own money to get that first issue on the street. So, yeah, it was scary! With the launch of the first issue, we quickly met artists who were willing to let us publish their art on the cover FOR FREE! Wow! – Crystal Brumme Pickett, Founding Publisher


April 1991 Tis cover was dedi-


cated to Col. Turn- about, owned by my childhood friend, Debbie Hauser. She asked if it would be ok if she might be able to purchase a dedication page for Col. Turnabout in Te Equiery, even though


it had been three years since he died. “Of course, Debbie!” I said, “But wait–why


www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580


just an inside page, why not the cover!” And thus was launched a unique sales product with over three decades of cover dedications– each emotional and touching in its own way. Debbie’s suggestion also launched one of the most beloved features still running in Te Equi- ery today: Greener Pastures. Astute followers will notice that after the first year, fewer cov- ers featured art. Why? Because the waitlist for cover dedications was often well over one year! - Crystal Brumme Pickett, Founding Publisher


December 1991 We had made it


one year! We cel- ebrated by splurging on spot color. Tis was the second cover we ran featuring the art of Cathy Kelley, a horsewoman and graphic artist for Te Washington Post Mag- azine. Cathy was the


first of our many “Postie” relationships, which included (but is not limited to) writer and edi- tor Kathy Blumenstock (who eventually edited Te Equiery for a while), the late, great photog- rapher and writer Sarah Libby Greenhalgh, and another great photographer and writer Laurel Scott, who eventually also became an Equiery editor. Some of Cathy’s clever illustra- tions created exclusively for Te Equiery back in the ‘90s are still in use today. – Crystal Brumme Pickett, Founding Publisher


October 1992 Tis photo taken


by the incomparable, award winning pho- tographer Cappy Jackson represents, to me, all the won- derful mentors who generously gave of their time and talent to help a struggling, little local publication.


A regular cover photographer for Horse & Rider and a regular contributor to Maryland Horse/


Mid-Atlantic Toroughbred, Cappy’s talents were beyond our budget–but she never charged us for the photos she let us use. What a gift! Cappy was just one of many mentors who generously contributed their talent (or at ridiculously rea- sonably rates), including but not limited to Peter Winants (Maryland Horse contributor and later editor of Te Chronicle), Tim Capps, Margaret Worrall and many others. What a privilege to have these towering talents as mentors. - Crystal Brumme Pickett, Founding Publisher


December 1995 Our 5th Anniversa-


ry! Co-Founder Mer- cedes Clemens had sold her half of Te Equiery to me several years prior, but con- tinued to serve as Te Equiery’s Art Director until 2005. In honor of our 5th


Mercedes created


and gifted to Te Equiery a new logo/masthead, which first appeared on this issue and is still used in a slightly altered form by Te Equiery’s new owner, the Maryland Horse Council. - Crystal Brumme Pickett, Founding Publisher


January 2005


I had the most fun when we were at the Maryland Horse World Expo proudly showing off the pub- lication and working in conjunction with the show organizers. I so greatly enjoyed working with my fel- low horsewomen at


the publication including Katherine [Rizzo], dynamo Crystal [Brumme Pickett], who is tru- ly a one woman army charging forward, as well as Tracy [McKenna], Carolyn [Del Grosso], Lynn [Hoffman] and the various interns. – LuAnne Levens, former Associate Publisher


continued... THE EQUIERY A MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL PUBLICATION | DECEMBER 2020 | 15


Anniversary,


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