New Podcast Trotting Out News for the Horse World

Producer Finds Plenty of Material In Virginia

Angelea Kelly of Nokesville covers the world of saddles and stallions in her podcast, HorseGirlTV. "The idea was to take the horse world . . . and add a little MTV to it," she said. (By Tracy A. Woodward -- The Washington Post)

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By Amy Orndorff

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 2, 2007; Page LZ24

Fox hunts. Polo. Horse races.

Perhaps not the first places you would check to see tech-savvy youths, but with a little help from Nokesville podcaster Angelea Kelly, Virginia's equestrian sports are ready for the YouTube and MySpace generation.

"The idea was to take the horse world, which is a fairly classic community, and add a little MTV to it," said Kelly, 35, at the reins of HorseGirlTV.

The new twice-monthly podcast focuses on all things related to horses, including modern-day cowboys and competitive riding. After producing her first five shows on the West Coast, Kelly moved to Nokesville to profile the mid-Atlantic horse scene.

"When you talk about horse country, you think Kentucky and Virginia," Kelly said.

Her next podcast, which airs Wednesday on HorseGirlTV.com, explores the Prince William County police horse-mounted patrol. About five times a month, the unit of five officers makes the rounds in neighborhoods, mall parking lots, parks, special events and concerts at Nissan Pavilion.

The mounted unit is just a year old. First Sgt. Kim Chinn hopes the podcast will encourage more people, especially women, to join.

"It's basically educational, and that appeals to us from a recruiting standpoint," Chinn, the supervisor, said. "We are always trying to get women into the police force, and there are a lot of women in the horse community."

Chinn led Kelly through a day in the life of a mounted officer, from patrolling the Manassas Mall parking lot to mingling with children in the Irongate community across from the shopping center. Children ran or rode their bikes for a chance to pet the horses.

"It took the 'enforcement' out of law enforcement," Kelly said, because officers on horseback often are seen as more approachable than those in cars.

Kelly, who was reared in the Lone Star State, is the granddaughter of a Texas cowboy and grew up fascinated by horses. Through mowing lawns and saving her allowance, she was able to buy her first pony for $75 when she was 10. Without telling her parents, Kelly saved enough to buy and take care of a horse by the time she was 17.

This same perseverance and entrepreneurship led her from an online-communities job at Yahoo to starting up HorseGirlTV. Although it's a small operation -- boyfriend Joel Walkup, a Marine, runs the camera -- Kelly has received positive feedback on iTunes, YouTube and MySpace.

Kelly, the "CEO" (chief equine officer), runs the show out of her Nokesville house with help from Walkup and a friend in Oregon who edits the videos and adds animation and music. Her next podcasts all will be local: one on a bill that could affect horse transportation and another on the role horses play in Manassas battlefield reenactments.

"Virginia was a total attraction," Kelly said. "This is a mecca for the horse world."