Equine journalism

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SarahL123

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Hi everyone,

I wondered if anyone could offer me any advice?
My passions are horses and writing. I really want to combine the two to become an equestrian journalist. I have an English degree and have loads of experience in the equine field having owned my own horse for the past 14 years.
I'm currently an English teacher, but this isn't what I want to be doing long term.
Can anyone help?
Thanks xx
 
Do you come from a monied background? If not then I'd forget it, it's probably one of the most poorly paid sectors in journalism and the situation is only getting worse. My advice would be do it in your spare time, or not at all. Sorry to give you such a bleak picture, but it's an honest one I'm afraid!
 
Hi - I'm sure others will come and give you some advice, but for me the thing that started the ball rolling was work experience. I did W/E at Eventing Mag but I've since learned that they don't do it so much any more due to paperwork - however, it's worth writing to every equestrian magazine to see what they can offer. As you're a teacher it could fit into the school holidays. It will most likely be unpaid unfortunately.
Once you've learned what the magazines want, its up to you whether you look for that oh-so-rare staff job or go freelance. I'm not freelance so can't help you there, but I do know that you need to cultivate plenty of contacts and perservere! It's not glamorous and you won't be rich but it is satisfying!
 
It is a niche market and to get your foot in the door you will have to do a lot of work for free.

As you can imagine, it is an area of the profession that EVERYONE wants to be involved in.

You will also have to spend your waking hours at horsey events, be very forward and have a comprehensive contact book.

You could have asked Lucretia for advice...there are a couple more people on here who's names evade me, I think StaffsOatcake was a racing writer.

Send your CV and examples of work out to everyone you can and be pushy about it if you are mad keen, and start doing unpaid/spare time work now, even something for your local paper. But try not to be taken advantage of, at the same time.

If it is any consolation I used to be desperate to be a music writer but ended up going into straight newspaper journalism and I have enjoyed it a lot.
Pay IS **** and it can be very stressful, you need a thick skin and not mind being yelled at sometimes :p
 
Thanks everyone.
No, I don't come from a monied background! But I don't mind too much about the money for now.
I'd aim to go freelance for the time being as I need a steady income to support myself.

xx
 
Hi Sarah

I'm a journalist and found that to get a staff job I needed to supplement my English degree with a masters in magazine journalism which included NCTJ training. If you don't want to commit to a year I would advise you to find a college that just does NCTJ training with modules on newswriting, shorthand, law and public affairs.

This qualification is quite well respected in the journalism world. In addition to this I would repeat the advice of others and say get as much experience as possible on equine magazines and make as many contacts in the sector as you possibly can.

Alternativly you, as it is fairly similar and requires similar skills, you could see if societies, such as BHS need press officers or communications people.

Good luck!
 
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