I have just finished reading this weeks H & H, there is an item about some American Rodeo Champion.

Is this the only view H & H wants to portray of Western Riding in the UK, an article about a tie down Roper (a sport that is banned in the UK) from the US.

I have spoken to many people in the past as to why there is no coverage of the Western Disciplines in the H & H and they all said that the H & H did not want to cover Western.

Is this true?

If it is true then they need to take the blinkers off and realise that Western is here to stay and is as equally important as the other equine disciplines.

Whats your thoughts?

why worry??? I think H+H belongs in the last century its an old fashioned magazine catering to old fashioned views and playing it safe so as not to lose advertising revenue ,anyway what can those horible brash yanks possibly know about horsemanship and why would anyone want to ride like that, how can you control a horse with reins as slack as that, its just not right every one knows its kick to go pull to stop.... ;D
tongue out of cheek now.... how many times have you meet a English rider who has much idea about what western is about ?? tell one your into horses solicits a smile which turns into a disintrested frown when you say your a western rider ???I guess 95% are happy with the content in H+H and the other 5% well we have are own mags !!

This same thread was on the "old" westernshop forum. I think there was someone on there who said that H&H would publish western articles and results but needed them submitted first. This person was a journalist and willing to write articles etc if information was submitted to her/him. I don't know if anything further happened with this or if this person is here on the new westernshop forum.

H&H did improve for a while there; there were some reining results and an article where one of their staff went to Bob Mayhews to experience western riding and another double page spread when one of their staff went on a ranch holiday in the USA.

I obviously don't know what has been submitted to H&H and if it is a case that either nothing was submitted or H&H just aren't interested in publishing the articles.

Horse is H&H's monthly "sister" magazine as they come from the same "stable", so to speak, and there have been a few western features and articles in there over the years. I think the general horsey public as a whole are becoming more aware of western riding.

Off Topic
I still don't understand why western riders in the UK seem to be trying to distance themselves from western riding in the USA and being a "cowboy"? The cowboy's that I've had the pleasure to meet have all been excellent horsemen with a multitude of skills including working with cattle and I would kill to have even half their talent.

I dont think is so much as avoiding the cowboy connection, as it is stating that tie down roping is a small part of Western and is not representative of the UK Western Community.

H & H like it or not has the highest readership of equine enthusiasts in the UK. If it is willing to publish and we want to embrace the wider equine community, then surely it is the best media to tell people what Western is about.

I know that there are more shows scheduled this year and there invarioubly be more to shout about.

I would like to see a weekly section, the same as BD and BE have, one page advertising Western Shows, Clinics and generally informing the wider community.

Before we get into the English/Western debate, remember we are all riders, looking to ride horses using the lightest cues. We are heading in the same direction, its just the path we are taking that is different.

If the person who offered to get involved in publishing articles is still around and is still willing to help then contact me, I would be more than willing to coordinate getting the message out to the wider world.

I think we'd all like to see more western riding articles in UK magazines, but whats the ratio of English to Western riders?  No doubt H & H are just interested in appealing to the majority of their readers and to maintaining circulation and advertising revenue - sadly that will mean Western will be no more than an occasional novelty and won't be published with a view to promoting Western as an alternative to English.

H & H were all for western when foot and mouth was around as they had nothing else to write about.  I heard their current editor is really anti western.  What a shame but at the same time, you never see anything about Classical Riding either. I think they have a very narrow view of equestrianism and are at best, an outdated institution.