Horse and Hound....misleading customers?

Bryndu

Bryndu

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Hi,
Before I pose this question to H&H I thought I would do a little research first.
To begin with I am a long term buyer and reader of H&H and will continue to be.
2 weeks ago...the front cover had a lovely pic of Top Secret - one of Totilas's foals.....with the headline reading.. 'Meet Top Secret a Totilas filly at Mount St John Stud'
So...sat down with a cup of coffee expecting to read an article and look at pics of said foal. Nothing in the mag. Curious.
So this week we have a pic on the front cover of Dances With Wolves with the banner heading..'Meet Dances With Wolves Carl's new team horse?'.....again sat down with a cup of coffee to read what I thought was going to be an article and pics of Carl and the horse....and again...nothing in the mag.
Now....I live in Wales....is H&H regional?
Did you lot in say Northumberland or Kent have these two articles in your H&H and we just didn't? Or is this a new selling trend to get new people to buy the mag?
I am interested in your replies...and thanks in advance.
Best wishes
Bryndu
 
I think you'll find the problem here is that the magazine is put together by professional journalists and advertising salespeople - very little of the verbage is checked for content - I say this because you can often reading 180 degree conflicting stories in the same edition.

Some very popular threads on HHO don't get a mention even in the special little box for the top five topics - why is this?
 
I no exaclty what you mean. Was looking forward to reading about Carl and his lovely horse. Flicked through twice after reading thinking i must of missed it but no it wasn't there. And in the south east so dont think it's regional
 
It's a national publication so it should have the stories in them.

I remember this with Horse & Rider that had a big cover story on Hugh Jackman and his role in the film Australia. I bought the magazine expecting an interview with Hugh Jackman and his experience of horses, only to find it was a mash up of stuff he had said for other magazines and not an actual interview with him, which was a real disappointment.

I would suggest writing a letter to the editor. Headlines should match up with the stories they publish and for starters, should include the story in the magazine! Massive faux pas in terms of journalism!

1stclassalan I think the magazine goes to print on Tuesday so by the time it comes out on Thursday the popular threads on HHO will have changed.
 
Im sure we'd all be complaining if we bought a packet of biscuits with yummy belgian chocolate ones on the packet...... then when we opened it no choccy bics in sight, only digestives........
 
I think this week was bit disappointing as the dressage special edition wasn't really a dressage special edition. The cover said rule changes which, as far as I can see, was an article about Kur at FEI level. TBH it doesn't really affect the majority of us! There was no conclusion either.

I would think personally that the last two weeks editions were scuppered by the lack of eventing which usually takes up a large part of the magazine so 'fills' were required.

The mag has disappointed in the last few weeks in that I haven't even bothered to read most of it so am thinking of scrapping subscription.
 
While I would normally agree, I have to say that horse and hound always puts a good photo on the front but there is no follow up story. Never has been. There could well be reference in another article but it has always been that way. There have been total unknowns on the cover.. its all down to the photo. However the trend of putting on a large headline when in fact the subject matter is actually only referenced (as an example) in a show report is annoying.
 
Hi all,

Thanks for your feedback.
I needed to know that this was not just a regional issue....and I will be emailing the editor as I had always intended...but it is better to go armed with the correct information.

I feel that if on the cover page the title says..'meet'......then we should expect to 'meet' the equine/human in the pages of the magazine....otherwise why not just have a 'photo of Dances With Wolves and Carl Hester taken by Rui Pedro Godinho as mentioned on page 3 and leave it alone...why the 'meet'...when clearly there is no intention to.

I will let you all know the reply from the editor.....should I receive one.

Best wishes
Bryndu
 
I used to get it EVERY week without fail, until recently it got so thin it wasnt worth buying, the pictures inside take up too much space- its nice to see a photo, but a big picture takes up the space of many, many words.
Who remembers 'off the bit' by loriner, great articles by audax, and a picture on the front cover that usually related to the major equine news of the week?
 
Bryndu said:
Hi,
2 weeks ago...the front cover had a lovely pic of Top Secret - one of Totilas's foals.....with the headline reading.. 'Meet Top Secret a Totilas filly at Mount St John Stud'
So...sat down with a cup of coffee expecting to read an article and look at pics of said foal. Nothing in the mag.Bryndu
Click to expand...

Funny that, I saw my yard owners copy of that issue of H & H at the yard yesterday and winged to her that I couldn't find any pictures of the filly in the mag.....another reason why I dont subscribe to having the mag any more:(

Would be interested to hear what they say......:D
 
Hi again.
I have sent my query to the editor.
The editor is away until 11th April.
I will post the reply when I have one.
Best wishes
Bryndu
 
stormox said:
I used to get it EVERY week without fail, until recently it got so thin it wasnt worth buying, the pictures inside take up too much space- its nice to see a photo, but a big picture takes up the space of many, many words.
Who remembers 'off the bit' by loriner, great articles by audax, and a picture on the front cover that usually related to the major equine news of the week?
Click to expand...

this!!!!
 
on the other hand we can just make this thread go viral and get it in the top 10 threads in H&H;)

Personally, I had H&H bought for me at christmas... it is still unread.
 
I haven't bought it in years, but if they are saying "meet so and so" on the front page, then there should be an article inside about said horse. If they just use a photo as a front cover which doesn't have an article, then they can just say the name of the horse under the photo (or inside front cover saying who the cover star is).

Bit like pre-advertising Tom Cruise on "tonight's" Graham Norton and then not mentioning him again through the whole of the show. :confused:
 
Queenbee said:
on the other hand we can just make this thread go viral and get it in the top 10 threads in H&H;)
Click to expand...

Good luck with that one then! It will be ignored if not to the liking of TFC.

Personally, I had H&H bought for me at christmas... it is still unread.
Click to expand...

Sometimes I miss out but I do have a subscription and sit in my shed at lunchtimes and read it cover to cover - even the adverts for things I'll never buy now! Sad old f**t that I am!
 
Just cancelled my Eventing sub for the same reason - magazine getting thinner and thinner and fewer articles relating to the actual sport. Plus the reports re big events were only a few lines longer than the ones in H&H.
 
I used to buy the Dog n Nag, but its gotten so slim and is probably more advertising than features I don't bother anymore.
I also don't buy it after a discussion on point two in here got one member banned for airing a point of view.....which was entirely valid, but because the client complained, she got banned.
All about the revenue it creates....on top of the £2.40 issue price!
 
I have to admit to never buying my own and only ever flick through my friends mag once a week but never take much interest in whats inside apart from the odd part. Also I find their eventing write ups don't tell you half of the stuff. A friend of mine won 2 sections in a PreN at the start of the season, no mention.
 
I agree. It's gone downhill. It's overpriced, thin, full of adverts and lazy. Every time I've bought a copy recently I've been really disappointed
 
Last time I brought one my friend was in it. I know its not their fault but it fell apart and the page she was on was only half printed! Put me off buying any more :(
 
Horse and hound used to be full of information, good articles and great hunting updates and obituries, now sadly it is all fur coat and no knickers.
 
And this is why I stopped buying H&H and because a few that work for the magazine that I know are absolute horse numpties! Which makes me think twice now about buying it - shame! But I've found the website keeps me up to date without all the added garbage/ adverts and for free. Sorry to be negative but like a few of you very disappointed as late with the magazine.
 
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