Horse & Rider Magazine

Another horse related review you must be thinking. Ok, but they do take up a large part of my life. Anyway, it is not strictly a review regarding horses, but one of a glossy magazine. I don`t buy many magazines as I usuallly just read them at work, or the dentist rather than pay for them (stingy or what!). Primarily I don`t really have the time. Anyway, those I do buy I tend to take them into work afterwards for someone else to read. I enjoy reading ...
...The Horse and Rider magazine I find is very informative.


What is Horse and Rider.
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Horse and Rider is a monthly magazine aimed at those interested in horses and equestrian activity. It has around 180 pages packed with colour photos, rider advice, product reviews, reader letters, horse problems, horses for sale and much more. The target audience is maybe that of a horse owner, ... more

Another horse related review you must be thinking. Ok, but they do take up a large part of my life. Anyway, it is not strictly a review regarding horses, but one of a glossy magazine. I don`t buy many magazines as I usuallly just read them at work, or the dentist rather than pay for them (stingy or what!). Primarily I don`t really have the time. Anyway, those I do buy I tend to take them into work afterwards for someone else to read. I enjoy reading magazines occassionally to relax and catch up on things. The Horse and Rider magazine I find is very informative.

What is Horse and Rider.
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Horse and Rider is a monthly magazine aimed at those interested in horses and equestrian activity. It has around 180 pages packed with colour photos, rider advice, product reviews, reader letters, horse problems, horses for sale and much more. The target audience is maybe that of a horse owner, or those spending a lot of time with them as there is a lot with regards to training the horse etc, horse clothing (rugs etc) which would appeal to horse owners. However it would appeal to anyone with an interest in horses as there are lost of features of interest that do not relate just to horse owners. In some ways it may appeal MORE to non-horse owners because when you have them, you spend so much time with them, you don`t really want to read about them at home aswell.

Appearance.
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What caught my eye initially when going to select a magaizine, was the presence of a free mane comb on the Horse and Rider magazine. It was a large red plastic one, one that I thought would be less likely to get lost. I have mane combs already, but it is easy to mislay them. You can never have too many mane combs!

The other thing which drew me toward this magazine and not another horsey one, was that it was possible to send off for a free boomerang brush. I already have a boomerang brush, but two horses so another one would be handy. The brushes are good. I am essentially quite lazy and the brushes cover a larger surface area than most, therefore meaning less brush strokes would be necessary. The brush was free but it meant paying postage. I was wondering if it would be as cheap to buy one as to pay the postage. I was not planning to go to the saddlers, if I were it would cost me £5 in diesel, so £3 for postage, a bargain! I am a sucker for something for nothing.

Another reason I like Horse and Rider is, afew years ago I actually won a competition, the prize was a synthetic saddle. Whilst it is unlikely I would win another competition, I still feel a certain loyalty to this magazine.

Oh, and the cover looked quite good as well, advertising lots of features. I would be lying if I said the reason I bought it was not because of the free gifts.

Value for money.
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The reason I don`t buy many magazines is the price. The Horse and Rider costs £3.40. As with most monthly magazines, you can subscribe making it cheaper, 12 issues costs £40.50 and receive free Mountain Horse socks and gloves. I consider it quite expensive, but in comparison with other glossy magazines (it is a glossy!) it is about the same I would say. This magazine takes ages to read. It is the sort that you can keep as a reference to look back on when you need advice, or just to flick through when you are bored.

I used to keep these magazines for years and then look back on them. All this considered, they are excellent value for money. With horses there is always something different that you need to know about. For this reason, if you have the space, it is worth keeping them.

Even if you don`t keep them, it still takes a long time to read the magazine. The pages are nice and glossy, there are lots of colour photos and interesting articles.

Content.
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Whilst there is something different in the magazine each month there is often a similar format. There are always lots of articles offering advice on schooling your horse. This may be flat work (riding without jumps) or jumping problems but it is really useful to read about and compare to how you are working at home. There are questions and answers, one of my favourite sections, this is a bit like a problem page, it is interesting to read about other people`s problems when you may be experiencing similar, you can learn a lot from them. There are readers letters, I enjoy this section. There are always other articles about various products and equipment which are very informative. My favourite bit, horses for sale is near the back. Then at the back there are adverts except the very back page where there is a regular article from a columist. I nearly forgot, there are always competitions and giveaways. I would tell you exactly what was in it, but then I would ruin it if you decided to go out and buy it!!

The magazine always has lots of colour photographs there is something to read of interest on every page. It usually takes me afew weeks to read it. I find the bits most interesting when they are other riders experiences and there are lots of these.

Overview.
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Horse and Rider is an informative magazine. It is great to flick through and look at with the many colour photos on every page. There are articles to suit everyone. Letters and questions and answers allow people to interact to an extent. The advice is invaluable on a variety of topics. The classifieds allow you to search for a variety of things. If you really want to, you can sell your horse, or buy one.

I don`t buy it very often because I have 2 horses and it is nice to read about something different. The times that I do buy Horse and Rider, I really enjoy it. You do not need to have horses to read the magazine. It is suitable for anyone with an equestrian interest. 

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