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Equus Magazine Rant!

3K views 22 replies 11 participants last post by  Vervain 
#1 ·
So after not getting a few months of Equus Magazine I called to find out what was going on at the end of March. Turns out they have gone quarterly! But the gal on the other end of the line assured me the issues would be twice as big, blah, blah, blah! So I waited and just got my "spring" issue a few days ago. It is 8 pages larger than my December issue, the last monthly magazine they did. What the.......?

The more I think about this, the madder I get. Because they sucked me in to a 3 year subscription last year. And now I am only getting 4 issues a year. What a waste of money! The only thing that kept me hanging in there was thinking maybe the quarterly issues would be nice and big. But they aren't. So I just feel cheated.

Does anyone else subscribe to Equus? Do you feel cheated? I feel like the magazine could now just go out of business at any moment and leave me hanging. I feel swindled. :mad:
 
#2 ·
#3 ·
Thank you pasomountain, I didn't even know about their email articles, so that was interesting.


I don't want to make it sound like it's the end of the world. It's just a magazine and I will live even if I never receive another issue. It's just that I am so careful with my spending. The 3 year subscription was about $45. Which was a good deal for 12 issues a year. But now I just feel hoodwinked. I never would have spent $45 for a quarterly magazine, especially since the first quarterly issue isn't really any bigger than a monthly issue. I would have spent the $45 on something like hay or feed. Or tack. Even horse treats would have been a better way to spend the money.
 
#4 ·
Didn't know it cost that much--I'd be upset too! My sis wasn't real happy either and she has subscribed off and on for years. In fact Equus is one of the mags we grew up on as horse crazy kids. It's a real shame they are resorting to something like this--they should have been up front about it.
 
#6 ·
Most magazines have gone electronic....via the web.
Equus has been available for quite some time this way...
I still don't think so bad a deal what you paid and what you receive...
Its all in how you look at it...
3 years, 4 issues per year for $45.00 = $15 per year = $3.75 per issue plus any "extras" sent are free.
I pay way more than that for any magazine if I get from the display in the store.


All those articles and references are now found easily on their website....so when out someplace and you need it...you can access it. :cool:

I would not be happy to find out the way you describe that they went from monthly to quarterly...:frown_color:
There should of been something written in a issue and or something sent you would not easily miss.
:runninghorse2:...
jmo...
 
#7 ·
I work in the magazine industry (not with Equs) and I will tell you that more and more print magazines are doing this. It is extremely costly to print and mail a magazine and if you miss an issue and we have to mail you another it is even more expensive. People got used to the $10 subscription price when magazines were luring you in with a low price - what most consumers never took into consideration is that the $10 per year did not even cover the postage it cost to mail your magazine much less the printing costs and employer costs. the digital age is here and the print magazines are a supplement to the digital format. Advertisers do not want to pay top price for the space in a hard copy magazine that comes out once a month. They want space on a blog or page that updates and brings people to the site daily etc.

I too love my hard copy magazines- and to break your heart even more I think Horse & Rider went to this format as well. I received an email letting me know my magazines were going quarterly.
 
#8 ·
I subscribe to both - Equus and Horse & Rider. I got my H&R a while ago, Equus just yesterday. The latter has 128 pages in it. I think I'll think of it this way: 2 bucks for the magazine, $1.75 for a searchable online archive so I don't have to clip and collect articles myself.

I find it difficult to get upset about this arrangement.
 
#9 ·
Yes, the Spring issue of Equus has 128 pages, some of that devoted to dog articles (if I wanted that I would order a dog magazine). December issue had 120 pages. The gal told me that the quarterly issues would be twice as big. I still feel cheated.



I paid $45 for 36 issues.......that's their words, the offer they gave me when I renewed. If it wasn't sustainable they shouldn't have offered it. I feel like they broke their contract. Glad you guys aren't upset. I feel cheated.


I guess they don't have my email address because I was never told about the switch to quarterly (I had to call to find out because I thought I was missing issues) nor do I know anything about their searchable archives.
 
#13 ·
The December Equus was a lot thicker than most of the others. So, if you go by an earlier issue in 2018, the quarterly issue IS a lot larger. I just got my spring issue a few days ago and haven't had time to read it yet-- I, too, was wondering if I'd mistakenly let my subscription expire or what as I hadn't received an issue in awhile.



Most magazines that are even still in print have gone to six or four issues per year. Print magazines are dying. I'm just happy that Equus still exists in print format. I despise reading magazines online. Blech.

I used to subscribe to the Quarter Horse Journal. That used to be a tome; at least an inch thick or more. Now it's a fraction of the size for the same price, and you have to subcribe to more than one magazine if you also want performance horse or ranch horse articles. I dropped all of those. I dropped Horse and Rider as the articles seemed to get more basic and less interesting. The final straw was that the last year when I sent in my renewal, they sent me four of the most recent issues right away, all of which I had already bought at the newsstand, so technically my subcription expired with me receiving only a few of the newer issues.

I find that the Draft Horse Journal is my favorite horse magazine. Even if you aren't into draft horses, the health and interest articles are far better than most others, and it's a big issue on nice paper. That's also quarterly. I still get Western Horseman.

Anyone get Performance Horse magazine? I used to grab that one at Barnes and Noble but they no longer have it. Is it decent still? What about Paint Horse Journal?

I used to get Practical Horseman and Dressage Today. I think Dressage Today was absorbed by PH. Does anyone get PH in print form? Is that still worth it?
 
#14 ·
I call and canceled and got a refund of the remaining issues. The lady on the other end was very nice. She even offered to extend my subscription.

I really do wish them the best, I like Equus. But like SilverMaple said, they REALLY should have mentioned it in the December issue. I had no clue until I "missed" several issues and called to see what happened.

I guess as much as them going quarterly it was the way that it was done that irritated me. Especially since I still had this slip of paper from my renewal that said I would get 36 issues for $45. They should have:

1. told us it was happening in the December issue

2. told us why it was happening

3. made some kind of consolation prize, like a few extra issues or something for those of us who were already subscribers.

That would have made me content. Instead I felt like I was bait-and-switched.

But anyway, I am happy with the outcome.

As for other magazines, I JUST subscribed to The Horse. Within the last couple of weeks so I haven't gotten it yet but I used to be a subscriber and I really like the magazine because it focuses on horse health, which I think it important and enlightening no matter how you ride or keep your horses. A lot of other magazines focus on training, which while important in general isn't as important to me because I just want to trail ride my already broke horse. I've tried training and it isn't for me. I'm at the point that I just want to enjoy a broke horse on leisurely trail rides like this: :cowboy:

I used to get Western Horseman. It's a good magazine. I just let it expire because it seems to be more for the ranching and rodeo crowd. Which is fine, I DO ride western. But again, I'm not that into training or ranching lifestyles.

What I wish, and it probably doesn't exist, is a magazine for pleasure trail riders. One that went into horse health, reviews of different saddles and tack, hoof boots, etc. Like actual reviews and comparisons from people who have used and tried different things. Maybe some articles on different breeds and why they make good trail horses. Getting the best ride out of your gaited (and non-gaited) horses. But I don't think that is out there? There used to be a Trail Rider magazine but I heard that it merged with Horse and Rider? I never subscribed to that, but it seems like I've seen a few back issues somewhere.

The Draft Journal sounds interesting. I like drafts. I've never owned one and they are rare in my area. But I always thought they were really cool.
 
#16 ·
I also subscribed to TR and was not thrilled with the merge. I am not really a fan of H&R as I don't find much applies to what I do, but I am trying to take what I can out of it. Doubt I will renew.

I also subscribe to Equus and don't mind the change in format. I wasn't very good about keeping up with reading them every month anyway!
 
#18 ·
I never have subscribed to Equus but years ago my sister in law used to, I enjoyed reading it. Too bad they are going to quarterly and magazines as a whole are disappearing. I really do prefer getting magazines in the mail. I feel like it is a present and get a little excitement pawing through the pages when it arrives!
As a kid, my mom bought me a subscription to Horse Illustrated. It had a two-page picture to pull out, my room was plastered in those pullout pictures. Lol!
I used to enjoy Horse & Rider but wasn't thrilled the last time I subscribed. The Quarter Horse Journal isn't what it used to be either.

I get Quarter Horse News. I think it is $35/year but it comes twice a month. It has a training article occasionally, it is mainly show results for NRCHA, NRHA, and NCHA. But I love the Equistats reports and the big thick Stallion Register book.
If I'm in town I'll pick up a copy of Western Horseman.

@SilverMaple Funny you mention Performance Horse Digest, I re-subscribed last week($20/year), I have not got it for years.
It does still come in print, I'll let you know when it comes if it is still good.
 
#19 ·
@COWCHICK77 Please let me know if you like it! If so, I may get it again.

I may be losing my mind, but I am 90% sure that about a year ago, I bought a backissue of the Quarter Horse Journal, Ranch Horse Journal and Performance Horse Journal from AQHA trying to decide which I wanted. All three were rather thin, so I passed on all. I just looked a few minutes ago, and it now sounds like one subscription to the Journal now includes the others? I'm confused..... Maybe I'll subscribe for a year and give it a shot. I don't have a QH right now, but I do like keeping up on what the lines I like are producing, trends in the industry, and what sires are consistently throwing good foals for future reference.
 
#20 ·
Will do!

You're not imaging things. I subscribed to the QH journal two years ago thinking the ranch stuff would be in it, it wasn't. Looked on the website and had to subscribe to them individually like you said. So I let the subscription lapse.
Perhaps they changed it back to the big thick JC Penny catalog like Journal? Lol!

I gave up my AQHA membership and after hearing about the disaster of the revamped website I probably won't renew very soon. I liked being able to pull reports easily.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Does anyone else subscribe to Equus? Do you feel cheated? I feel like the magazine could now just go out of business at any moment and leave me hanging. I feel swindled. :mad:
Yep, same story here.
Equus used to be a good mag, but they have gone downhill over the last couple of years, and now this. And they have been sending e-mail links to something they call "Equus Extra" (something like that), which is nothing but a rehash of old material surrounded by ads for products. I haven't figured out how to unsubscribe, either.
Personally, I subscribe because I _want_ a paper magazine for reading material in the (er, um) _library_. If it wasn't printed on such hard slick paper, I'd move the Equus stack over to the right-hand side of The Throne, where it belongs :-p
I will not be re-subscribing.
(edit to add) And I'm a loooong-time internet geek. I don't approve of the paradigm of paying for e-content. "What, you don't like my ad-blocker? Bye-bye!" "You want me to pay a _subscription_ to read your cheesy on-line newspaper? Good luck with _that_ project."
Way-plenty of good and still free content out there if you take the time to look for it.
 
#23 ·
I don't think that's unreasonable. I subscribe to a quarterly art magazine that's $50/year. Call and complain and try to get a refund if you feel swindled but I'd rather have 4 issues a year than zero. Publishing is expensive, subscriptions are down, magazines are doing what they can to survive. :shrug:
 
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