Esmarelda lends a hoof at Horse & Hound's media day

The latest stop on Esmarelda's exciting world tour brought her to The Blue Fin Building on London’s Southbank (aka Horse & Hound HQ) just in time for the ‘Horse & Hound how to work in media’ day on Friday 4 October. Esmarelda reports back…

I found myself rubbing shoulders with 50-odd media wannabes of all ages, all eager to find out how to make a career in equestrian media.

We flocked upstairs for coffee and biscuits, before settling down in the sumptuous lecture theatre for a series of presentations ranging from ‘Landing your first job in equestrian media’ and ‘How to promote yourself via blogs and social media’, to ‘Creating compelling magazine and website content’, ‘Going freelance – could it work for you?’ and ‘The future of equestrian media – what it means for those working in the industry’.

As a special guest I got to help H&H brand development editor Sarah Jenkins, whose brainchild the day was, with her role as MC, as well as spending some time with the boss, publishing director Oswin Grady, in the control booth at the back of the theatre.

At lunchtime I got an exclusive tour of the nerve centre of Horse & Hound, meeting deputy editor Jaki Bell, art editor Gary Ashton-Coulton and Group Art Editor Nicky Acketts. The kind team at H&H even had a suitable sized mount on hand to allow me to show off my riding skills, but I admit I got a little carried away when it came to climbing on top of the H&H sign and get sent to the Editor’s office. She wasn’t very impressed!

So I made a quick exit back upstairs, courtesy of editorial assistant Hannah Lemieux, to collect my goodie bag for all media day attendees, which included this lovely Masta rug. Unfortunately they didn’t have one of those in my size, but the horse treats tasted great.

Before calling it a day I had to check out the impressive wall of ESMAs that H&H have collected to date. Having met the lovely team in person, I wouldn’t bet against them picking up a few more next year. Thanks for having me H&H. I’m looking forward to visiting again soon.

Esmarelda

To see all the images from Esmarelda's trip to H&H visit the Facebook album