I'm sorry but I really don't like the new format

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Worried1

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I really feel they have moved the goal posts with the new dressage reporting system
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It used to be that they did reports with any competitions featuring Advanced Medium or more.

OH has been doing so well and has won for the last 5 weeks on the bounce all at competitions featuring Adv Med or more.

He has spoken to H&H reporters three times and yesterday one of them said I'm really sorry but due to word restrictions I have had to cut you
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I realise that the last thing people want is to see the same people again and again but surely credit where credit is due, espeically as it has been on a variety of horses not just blitz and Diva?
 
I hate the new layout, and find it really confusing. Plus, they DO tend to always feature the same people LOL! My friend won an Advanced, an AM, and was placed at Medium and Ele all at one show this year and barely warranted a mention......certainly no picture....

And it annoys me when the recycle pictures of the same people over and over. Not long ago they used a picture that must have been two years old of one combination! ARRGGHHH.
 
We often compete out of region and so it's hard to locate where the places were we go have been tucked away - I do admit to be crap at Geography though
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I much preferred the old style which listed each event indivudually. The reporter said she had five events to cover in just 250 words
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Carl Hester looked fab at Hartpury but I don't think it was necessary to have a full page picture inside as well as the front cover. That page inside could have had a number of small pictures of other winners who didnt get a mention.
I do get tired of seeing the same old over and again, it is nice to see a lesser known from time to time.
 
Humm H&H didn't listen on the focus groups then!
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Dressage pages consist of ode to Hester and Eilberg and not much else - Boring and a slap in the face for the people winning some important classes, but who have the wrong surnames!
 
While it is great to see our top riders doing well I too think it was a bit Carl overload - it would be nice to see more of the riders who are the main breadwinners for BD.
 
There are loads of really talented and hard-working riders out there, who as you say, have the worng surname.

So after a drought it was really refreshing to have a run of really good luck
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but gutting to not really be rewarded
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Let's face it all of us mere mortals are desperate for some H&H glory
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I completely agree with all of you. Yes it is fantastic knowing how well the top riders are doing, but I spend more time reading the other results than those these days and they seem to be getting shorter and shorter. I'm not sure I will be continuing my subscription when die for renewal which is really very sad as I use to look forward to Thursdays so much.

'Let's face it all of us mere mortals are desperate for some H&H glory' - Worried1 - how true is this statement. I remember the first time I qualified for the winters and waiting for the reporter to phone and then the subsequent (sp) article (which I still have somewhere) it was such a achievement for me.
 
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I'm not sure I will be continuing my subscription when die for renewal which is really very sad as I use to look forward to Thursdays so much.

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Me too, but i think i would rather spend my subscription on something else now and buy h&h off the shelf known and again if there's something i fancy in it. Shame as i too used to look forward to Thursdays.
Seems to be alot more point/point race and hunt news in nowadays too.
 
The other results are often not in either as these are the first pages that get cut for advertising space - it's such a shame as the BD website is so slow at uploading results, and as their mag comes out so far in advance H&H is really the only publication where you can actually see your name in print in a decent time frame from the date of the competition.

Halfstep I forgot to say when Andrew Murphy (OH's regular trainer) won a GP class at Hickstead they used a picture that was so old he was dapple grey - he is white and has been for years!
 
My trainer won in the Inter 11 at The Grange in Okehampton, H&H rang him up for the report but he had been away training with Carl and got back late on the Sunday night, they rang on the Monday but was too late for the report to go in! The EXACT same piece that was printed in H&H was printed in the Western Morning News but featured my trainer, it was almost word for word but H&H just cut my trainer off the bottom
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I said this last with in NL

I read reports for shows/locations I know people or I have competed at - regions don't even match BD's??

Who are these focus groups that are asked? and how do I know when my subscription is due - I've never had anything in writing from IPC media to advise it's due?
 
Have to say i got in with a photo as well this week and i'm a nobody
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So sorry but i'm a happy bunny with H and H at the mo
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My subscription is on direct debit now, at first it wasn't and they phoned up saying renewal was due, be easier to pay by direct debit blah blah blah
 
I hope H&H aren't reading this..... a friend of mine cancels her subscription EVERY year before Badminton so that when they have the offers on for rugs etc she gets one each year
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Of course I don't do this, as i'm too much of a good girl
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Well the star of the winter BD champs was my puppy as I couldn't walk 10 yards without being stopped and asked about him, so they could have put a picture of him in lol.
Claire loved having her name on the page ,with the results on each section, showing the first 3 places, will keep an open mind but some centres seem to get more attention than others
 
Winter Championships - that's fair enough, they had a section devoted to each part which worked well.

I'm talking about regular competitions where people compete regularly and are getting lost amongst the regional reports.
 
We have moved the goal posts with regards to our criteria for reporting dressage in H&H — but for the better. We have always reported riders’ achievements at all levels but, whereas we were once limited to reporting news from those events with an advanced medium and above, we can now feature the best stories from every event in the country. This should eliminate the problem of the same horse and rider combinations appearing again and again when they do not have a new story to tell, and allows us to feature more venues, too.

Thousands of riders win every week and we cannot mention them all — we certainly can’t picture them all — but we are making a huge effort to get what’s new into the magazine to entertain and inform readers.

We are limited for space, as we always have been, and during this economic crisis we are even more limit, but this new system is designed so that everyone can still read about the biggest stories in their areas each week at all levels. We do report successes from every level, by professionals and amateurs alike, every week. We also still feature results from every competition in the country with an advanced medium class or higher, as we always have. If we can get even more results in then we do.

Regards pictures, we are tackling this problem of having to use stock images. Now we are reporting in more detail from at least two specific bigger shows each week, we can arrange for images from the day to be used. Photographers simply do not attend every event in the country each week, so sometimes we do have to rely on stock.

The Carl Hester front cover last week was taken at Hartpury international last July. We’d have loved to have used an image from Hartpury winter championships on Easter weekend, but because the top class of the competition, the inter I freestyle, was won by Carl Hester in an indoor school gone ten o’clock at night, the lighting was not conducive to a quality of picture that would appear sharp enough to look pleasing on the newsstand once it was blown up to the size we need for a front cover.

Every winner at the national championship had their story reported, whatever their surname. If anyone is out winning regularly on their horse at any level it is only a matter of time before one of our reporters will be in touch. Those that have been featured the week previously, with no new story to tell, might be cut the following week to make space for something new. But if anyone has a great story I would love to hear about it and can be contacted at sarah_jenkins@ipcmedia.com.

We really have listened to our focus groups, but of course every individual wants something different and we are trying to find a balance and please everyone. We really do appreciate your loyalty to the magazine and always want to serve our readers better, so please if you have any ideas as to how we can further improve the content or layout of the magazine to make it easier for you to navigate and more enjoyable for you to read then I would absolutely love to hear from you — please do get in touch again at sarah_jenkins@ipcmedia.com.

All the best,
Sarah
 
I hear the problem, but I haven't spoken to one single person who likes the new layout...

I know you use focus groups but what about asking readers via a forum 'focus' group. I know I would love to offer my feedback as I am sure others would.
 
Fortunately I've spoken to many people who do like the new layout, but we won't stop there — we want to improve the pages further. So, as I have said, please do get in touch with your feedback and any suggestions as I would be really interested to hear these. We're very open to any feedback and suggestions from all readers, so please, fire away.

Once again I can be contacted at sarah_jenkins@ipcmedia.com.

Sarah
 
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Fortunately I've spoken to many people who do like the new layout, but we won't stop there — we want to improve the pages further. So, as I have said, please do get in touch with your feedback and any suggestions as I would be really interested to hear these. We're very open to any feedback and suggestions from all readers, so please, fire away.

Once again I can be contacted at sarah_jenkins@ipcmedia.com.


Sarah

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I have to agree with Worried 1 here and say I haven't spoken to one single person who likes it!! My own opinion is it's the worst thing H&H have ever done in the way of changes.

Perhaps we should have a poll on here to see what people think?
 
I am sorry Sarah but I know for a fact that the para stuff is always slanted to promote South Bucks. My old boy did really well for Penniwells and they do really well as a team but rarely get a mention and my old horse's wins were accredited to a South Bucks member on more than one occaision. This does not help BD get people to loan their horses to Para riders as from my own experience while I loved supporting Murphy's rider it was so disappointing not to get the recognition for it because we were with the 'wrong' para group. Murphy is retired now due a career ending injury so this can not be rectified sadly.
 


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I have to agree with Worried 1 here and say I haven't spoken to one single person who likes it!! My own opinion is it's the worst thing H&H have ever done in the way of changes.

Perhaps we should have a poll on here to see what people think?

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I think that's a great idea.

Several people have pointed out that they don't like it, me being one, yet the response to our comments has been quite negative, on the one hand H&H are asking for feedback yet in the same breath shooting us down for making our comments known.

This thread has been well-read but I reckon it won't make it into the magazine as one of the hot topics!
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I occasionally buy the magazine (when Im feelin' rich
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) I havent seen the new layout, but I have been disappointed with reports of late
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I couldnt go back to affording to buy H&H regularly anymore, and if reporting has gone the way you have said, I sharnt be busting a gut to afford it in future.
 
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