Re-do you buy horse and hound

I would like to see fewer competition reports, and more features. I don't show, or showjump, or play polo (anymore, sadly), or race horses, and I don't really find the majority of the eventing reports interesting enough to hold my attention, so all of that sort of stuff is lost on me, which means I end up only reading about a quarter of the mag.

The hunting reports are good, though.
 
I'd certainly like to see some more intelligent and in depth features. I don't have a problem with the reports that are of less interest to me as the magazine is obviously designed to cover a wide range of activities but I do find there is less to interest me outside the reports than there used to be.
 
I disagree, I do NOT want to see more features, if I want features I can buy Horse, or Your Horse, or Horse and Rider, or Pony, or countless other magazines that scream from the front page that they can solve my horse's sweet itch and save me a million pounds a year *sigh*

H&H has always been a factual and news reporting magazine for me, that is the way I like it and that is the way I hope it stays, albeit it DOES need a shake up.
 
Different comp. reports. They are dull and I can tell you what shows they will cover, and who will be mentioned/pictured even if they came 7th!
More/lengthier news reportage on some issues.
More hunting articles aside from just reports.
 
Weezy said:
I disagree, I do NOT want to see more features, if I want features I can buy Horse, or Your Horse, or Horse and Rider, or Pony, or countless other magazines that scream from the front page that they can solve my horse's sweet itch and save me a million pounds a year *sigh*

H&H has always been a factual and news reporting magazine for me, that is the way I like it and that is the way I hope it stays, albeit it DOES need a shake up.
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This - the "features" generally seemed to be aimed at novices/numpties and H&H used to be the magazine for people who already had an idea what they were doing.

I have no problem with the reports, however they're not as well written as they used to be. I enjoyed reading them as a "story" with a bit of "backstage goss" thrown in. Now it's: So and so won this, so and so won that, full stop. Yawn.

Presumably they're doing well on advertising revenue as there are more people advertising in the magazine than are actually reading it nowadays, going by the other thread! So the ads won't be disappearing anytime soon.

I would also love them to employ a knowledgable [horsey] proofreader with a grasp of the English language.

And finally, of course, I would like to read broader opinions on a range of current equestrian affairs, rather than just those of the editor or journalists, or whoever is passing them backhanders at the time.
 
Ditto Kittykins.The only page I find interesting quite often is the Letters page!
Breed features would be nice,western,regular hacking features,trail riding,what they do in the rest if the world(Indoor trail riding http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFST-2Yngls&feature=related ,Extreeme trail riding http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ja9nEKfEzI&feature=player_embedded#! ,sidesaddle,barrel racing,mule racing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRL0yRWyhps ,working equitation speed test.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5895K-Xjupk etc etc
 
To clarify, by 'features', I meant less along the lines of "how to get your pony to walk in a straight line", and more along the lines of, I dunno, a bit more news on what new British Dressage rules mean (if there are any), or a reportage on the dire state of equestrian sport coverage on tv.

In other words, what the others are saying: intelligent journalism as opposed to the basic tips and pointers that other horse magazines cover.

I bought it for the first time week before last having not read it for about four years, and found that it was basically competition reports from cover to cover, with a few ads thrown in. I like the comments sections though.
 
Yep, they need more in depth reportage IMO. Let's face it, there is plenty to be reporting on!

I agree that the show reports sometimes get very, very monotonous :( My fave part of the show reports is actually the Regional dressage pages - and I don't even DO dressage!
 
I agree that there should be more features but not the kind of fluffy ones that you get in magazines such as Your Horse. I really enjoy reading articles on things such as advances in veterinary treatment. I don't compete at all so find that when I do buy the magazine I just skim over the competition reports.

There should be more on hunting, after all surely that is what Horse and Hound was originally all about? I love reading the reports from various hunts during the season and think they could perhaps find something to write about over the summer, perhaps visiting hunt kenels and profiling them, doing interviews wit the staff etc.
 
I would like to see less of the ' same old names' in the SJ show section, you'd think we only had 7 or 8 SJers the way they keep getting mentioned.

I'd like to see far less sycophantic highlighting of people we know in real life are total skanks. Press coverage should be a reward for the decent people in horses.

The top 5 forum topics on the letters page should be just and not picked randomly to cause the least upset and worries about being sued.

I'd like to see more newsy snippets and profiles of up n coming riders.
 
Completely agree with the more in depth news features and articles....and love the ideas of profiles of different hunts -would be great to have a featured hunt with some snaps of their typical country to give the readers an idea of where they may like to visit
 
More in depth content, less adverts!

Couldn't agree more, there are pages and pages of adverts! I would rather product reviews than adverts.
 
Weezy said:
I disagree, I do NOT want to see more features, if I want features I can buy Horse, or Your Horse, or Horse and Rider, or Pony, or countless other magazines that scream from the front page that they can solve my horse's sweet itch and save me a million pounds a year *sigh*

H&H has always been a factual and news reporting magazine for me, that is the way I like it and that is the way I hope it stays, albeit it DOES need a shake up.
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This and what LHS Said. I would like smaller more local aff events covered like they used to do, something so the more average rider could get their name in the mag.

I like the informative, useful and to the point (like setting out the rules and regs for horseboxes) articles and not fluffy 'they covered there walls in Laura Ashley wallpaper' intereviews. I sometimes feel they gloss over the whole horse part.

Less ads would be fab as well but thats wishful thinking!
 
My favourite sections are when they get the real experts to give their opinion on what is happening in their field - like Mark Phillips, Katie Jerram and so forth. Its really interesting to hear what these people have to say (and they all seem to be quite forthright!) and a different take - even if the discipline isn't right up my street!
 
My favourite bit is the hunting report, other than that I tend to only look at the classified ads and the letters page! I really like the idea about featuring different hunt countries and some more features/ interviews. TBH I only tend to buy it in the hunting season. Its a shame they can't do some informative features without going down the route of making it too simple like some of the other magazines mentioned..
 
more articles on hunting and now more info. on the political situation, less adverts,perhaps more veterinary articles, and there is NEVER any articles on trotting, or is this not a posh enough sport for HandH?
 
Ditto above.

More intellegent articles and would be fantastic. Personal rant but find it sad how little coverage is given to para stuff. Such as it's the RDA National Championships this weekend but yet it has never made horse and hound as a report and it's a National competition.
 
I have just cancelled my subscription - I have taken the mag for years but increasingly I read the short news section at the front and the vet articles. It does not really cover my chosen discipline of endurance except for a round up once in a while and I do not find the other discipline reports very engaging to be honest.

I totally agree with others above we need an intelligent horse publication not like Your Horse etc which are a bit fluffy to be honest.
 
Aniseedmiddy said:
I agree that there should be more features but not the kind of fluffy ones that you get in magazines such as Your Horse. I really enjoy reading articles on things such as advances in veterinary treatment. etc.
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That's exactly what I would like - there are plenty of monthly mags out there which cover the more obvious issues but I would like to see more articles which are actually deeper in content - as you say, not the fluffy ones!!
I also agree about more hunting coverage - I'd love to see far more of that.

I'm afraid we'll never reduce the ad content though - after all, that's the real raison d'etre of publications isn't it - revenue generation?!!!
 
Compete so buy it for the competition reports. That said also like to (from time to time) go and watch things so I think it would be helpful to have more of a what's on but more in advance - for example like the pony of the year show or pony europeans so that you could arrange to go and watch.

Do find the use of library photos annoying (i.e. so and so winning somewhere outdoors and the photo being indoors). Do also feel a bit OTT sometimes on certain people when others are being successful and get no coverage.

Don't particularly want "how to do" features but do like the news/features on the news.
 
Luci07 said:
My favourite sections are when they get the real experts to give their opinion on what is happening in their field - like Mark Phillips, Katie Jerram and so forth. Its really interesting to hear what these people have to say (and they all seem to be quite forthright!) and a different take - even if the discipline isn't right up my street!
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I agree wth this.
I also agree with the numerous comments on the poor competition reports- a list of the same old names, yawn, in the same old format. The reports really are dire- rarely a mention of anything interesting, even a horses breeding.

More investigative journalism would be good
 
Agree with those who would prefer that the mag continues to focus on news and competition reports - that's why I buy H&H, if I want 'how to' type features then I'll get Horse or something similar. It would be nice to see some more in depth reports on current horsey events/issues. Often there's something in the news section which I'd really like to read more analysis or opinions on. I do like the new section on grassroots BE - to me its interesting to see people competing at the levels I genuinely aspire to as well as those I can only dream of! I also enjoy the columns by people like Tina Cook, Katie Jerram - whether I agree with what they say or not I always respect the opinions of people who are actually 'out there' doing it at top level.
 
I like the hunting reports best although I don't hunt. comp reports I find a dull and there is too much eventing, not everyone lives for eventing. there so much other stuff-when the European Working Equitation championships were held at Hartpury it hardly got a mention but it's potentially a great new discipline for alot of people. Endurance coverage does not represent the degree of endurance thats going on. vet articles are too dumbed down and I don't give a hoot about celebrity endorsements but I do like comments by top riders on their respective disciplines.
ads I ignore :D
 
i think when they do the regional bits of whats been happening around the country they should report on more shows rather than just one or two dressage shows! there is surely more than that, that happens every week throughout the country. i like the interviews with top riders i think they should also try to be a bit broader in what they cover and who they cover, yes the have better coverage for eventing but not every body events
 
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