Tradition meets Cutting Edge

I have not been purchasing Horse and Hound Magazine for long now. It is a weekly publication and I usually only buy an issue if there is something which I would like to read about.

What I really like about the magazine is that it covers a lot of different topics within the equestrian genre. Show jumping, dressage, cross country, as well as other disciplines within the show ring. Show results are also published.

A new feature is that they focus on one horse each week pointing out what has been the contributing factors to its success in the show ring. I like them, but feel that they are not really in depth enough.

Every week there are also great articles on equine health issues, including new treatments and warnings of uncovered hidden dangers. I find the articles very informative without being overloaded with technical information or jargon.

There is also a section on dogs - 'cos its Horse and HOUND. I'm not really interested in this as I am anti-hunt. And this brings me to the part that I dislike about the magazine - its stance with regards to hunting. I don't believe that chasing a small defenceless animal across country until it is so exhausted that it is eventually caught and ripped to pieces by dogs more than twice its size and 30 times in number whilst "sportsmen" gleefully look on. Especially when you can have the same amount of fun drag hunting, but which the magazine pointedly ignores.

If you are ethically opposed to hunting then this is probably not a magazine for you. It is however, well priced and contains a lot of relevant information which a lot of other magazines do not cover.

I can recommend the magazine for most adult riders, but feel that it will bore younger riders who are still simply enjoying riding, who are not yet that much driven by competition as by the pleasure of being on the back of their ponies, in their pink and blue jodhpurs with the wind snatching at their ponytails.

This is a more serious magazine for those who live, eat, and breathe horse riding.