They say time flies when you are having fun: here at H&H it feels as though we have only 50min in each hour.
We knew 2013 would be hard pushed to match 2012’s Olympic excitements. But the horseworld has been awash with stories once again, not all of them good. From horse meat lasagne to more championship medals, H&H has been there at each twist and turn.
Our showjumpers demonstrated their Olympic gold was no flash in the pan and consolidated with European team gold. So did Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro, despite the fact we’d all tried to harden our stomachs to the idea that he’d be sold.
It has not been such a vintage year for British eventing, nor indeed eventing as a whole. The recurring theme was of Antipodean dominance, plus awful injuries — until the massive story of Jock Paget and Kevin McNab’s horses failing drugs tests at Burghley put other stories in the shade.
It has been a challenging year for the press, too. As print sales decline everywhere, we have been proud to see readers remain loyal to H&H, cheering us on as we tackle difficult stories about important welfare issue, and revelling in our lighter pieces and features.
You, our readers, devour more diverse material from H&H than ever before — online, in print, through social media, in words, pictures and videos. As you read this review of the year, another exciting new development begins at www.horseandhound.co.uk. They say time waits for no man, but we enjoy keeping up with the pace.
This column was first published in Horse & Hound magazine (5 December 2013 edition)
