Horse & Hound: The Source Of My Horsey News (Horse and Hound - Magazine)

Member Name: wildrose12

Product:	Horse and Hound - Magazine
Date:	05/03/09 (224 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very informative, lots of pictures and a delight to read.

Disadvantages: The racing and hunting pages seem a bit too long, but that's just my opinion.

I purchase Horse & Hound every week without fail. I think that it is one of the best equestrian managazines out there and has lots of different aspects of the equestrian life. There are several different sections, each one very well written and interesting.

First of all, in my opinion the front cover is very eye catching. It has an impressive picture of a beautiful horse each week, with the title really standing out in big, white, block letters. It has some information on the front of what is inside this week's issue, with quotes, free prizes and lots of helpful guides. It also shows the date and price in smaller writing.

The first page you come across is the table of contents, which is very neatly laid out and is easy to understand. It is catergorized into sections, some of these are 'News', 'Reports' and 'Regulars'. On the side there are also a few pictures and the words 'The week in pictures'; where you are shown a few small shots of different things that have happened that week, with a small description underneath. I find the content page very clear to read and enjoy looking at the pictures; which are often quite amusing!

Usually, the first few pages consist of the week's news. This has a nice layout, with a main story in the centre, and smaller storied along the side. The handy thing about this magazine is that it is released weekly, which means that you can be kept up to date with the news going on in the horse world very easily! There is also a 'Quote of the Week' located within these pages, displaying a quote from someone in the equestrian world; these are often amusing and/or informative. There is a small section across the bottom of the page that displays what is happening in the week ahead. This can be quite useful as it often shows you events which are in your area.

There are a couple of pages dedicated to letters that readers have sent in. I enjoy reading these as you get to see the different opinions that people have on some subjects. It is interesting to see if you agree with these opinions or not, and why. There is also a letter of the week, where you can win a bottle of champagne if your letter is chosen. I have not wrote into Horse & Hound myself yet, but I would definately consider doing so in the future.

Next comes the reports. I generally enjoy reading these, however I tend to flick past the racing and hunting pages as I don't really enjoy reading them. They are well written, I'm just not that into these subjects enough to read page after page of them, and there are quite a few pages! The racing pages seem to be endless, and to a person that doesn't follow racing, it all looks a bit repetitive. I'm sure to someone that enjoyed racing that these pages would be very informative and interesting to read though. My favourite part of the reports would have to be the showjumping pages. I often get to see people that I know in these few pages, as some of the reports are from shows in my area. I find it fun to see my friends in a magazine and to hear about their results. There are also a few pages of just results, I usually just skip past these but I sometimes stop to look to see if anyone I know has been placed in any shows that week. My horses breeder is often amongst the names in the results, so I do enjoy to see her name in there.

The articles following the reports are usually very informative and helpful. There are often guides to help you with different things, ranging from showjumping tips to plaiting up! The guides are very detailed and clear, with lots of helpful pictures and diagrams. I have kept every issue I have ever bought of Horse & Hound, as the articles within them are so useful. If I ever need to learn about something I can just look through my old magazines, and I am almost guaranteed to find something that can help me!

The pages I like to read are the interviews with the professional riders. You get a good insight into their life and their daily routine. It makes you realize how hard these riders work to get where they are now. They also feature the top horses of these riders, which I can't deny I enjoy looking at! I could only dream of having a horse of that standard and quality.

I also enjoy looking through the horses that are for sale. Even if I am not looking to purchase a horse, I like to see what is for sale. There are some amazing horses that I would love to own that are featured in this magazine! The horses are set out into different size groups so you can find the size of horse you are looking for easily. My favourite section is the 14.2hh & under section, as I think the ponies are adorable! Only being small myself, I fit onto ponies far better than big horses! There is also a £3,000 and under section where you can find some nice horses at bargain prices. There are often reasons behind these cheap prices though, so you have to read the advert thoroughly. It costs approximately £260 for a larger advert, and £145 for a smaller one. If you want an advert without a picture, the prices are varied depending on how many words you use. I think it is quite a lot of money for an advert, but if you think about it, you could just add the cost of the advert onto the price of the horse. Horses always seem to be expensive in Horse & Hound, and this is possibly one of the reasons! The good thing about advertising in this magazine is that a lot of people buy it so it is shown to a large audience. Your advert is also shown on the Horse & Hound website, which makes your horse even more widely advertised.

There are lots of other adverts, mostly property, horseboxes and jobs following on from the horse adverts. Also, on the last page there tends to be an amusing picture; usually of somebody falling off with some text explaining what is happening in the said picture.

Overall, I think Horse & Hound is an excellent magazine as it caters for lots of different disciplines in the sport and is packed full of information and pictures. I look forward to getting it every Thursday. It is available in most newsagents and supermarkets for £2.40.

Summary: An excellent magazine, definately recommended!