As a writer, I am always searching for information; always gathering news and observing trends related to horse lovers. This isn’t limited to breeding, raising, feeding and showing. It goes much further than that. Today, horse lovers have broadened into psychology, fashion, legislation and all manner of discoveries, coming at us in a bombardment of information like never before.
Like all of us, I find this information on TV, in magazines, papers, newsletters, radio, Internet, at seminars, conventions, lectures and in the movies. And, like many of us, I wonder why more of it isn’t on the sports pages of my local newspaper.
Recently, an editorial in one of the foremost horse magazines illustrated the scope of this question. I’ve been observing the writings of this editor for a while now, because very few minds in animal husbandry dare to say out loud what he is expressing. This particular editorial caught my attention as if it was written in bold print.
What was he saying that “hit the mark?” He was telling it like it is.
He was saying that, as a kid, he knew the make of a gun better than he knew anything about horses. Put into today’s perspective, kids know guns, cars and drugs better than they know horses. Why is this?
With all the media we have at our disposal, where are horses while these kids are growing up? Have they just evaporated into thin air?
For an answer, I went to a place where I so often do my best thinking. I went to a horse show. I looked around at all the people. I studied the artists and vendors at their booths. I felt the sense of excitement and the pulsing murmur of voices. It was good. It was creative.
It was inspired by the love of horses.
But, was the local newspaper covering this gathering of people? An estimated twenty-thousand people walked through the gates of that show in two days. Did reporters cover the event? I didn’t see any.
So, I asked myself: Why not? I asked myself why so many people must stumble into our world of horses instead of knowing about it as well as they know about baseball, or football or golf? And, just like the magazine editor I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I knew the power to change this was in our own hands.
But, how do we make such changes? Actually, it’s as simple as taking a piece of clay in my studio and shaping it into whatever you want it to be. The clay can be compared to “Life.” And you, as the artist, can transform that clay into whatever you want it to be.
I guess, after a lifetime of working with clay and paints, I do make it sound easier than what it is. But, not really. You see, making a sculpture in clay — or a painting, a book, a song or anything creative — is a matter of making the right choices and decisions leading up to the objective you hold in mind. If the objective is to raise the profile of our horses in the public eye, it means reaching out to decision-makers who speak to the public.
Every horse show, every dog show, every pet expo is a public event. It’s news in the town, county and state in which it happens. It’s news when thousands of people attend a special event.
Spreading this news isn’t just up to the “powers that be.” It’s up to the players, themselves, too. If your horse wins a class, or your dog show business has something new to offer, these things are of interest to the general public. It doesn’t hurt to type them up as a brief report and send them to a newspaper editor.
If enough horse lovers send reports of their victories to their local newspapers, radio stations and TV stations, these places will report them. If not, then ask why. Do whatever you must to make your stories interesting enough — important enough — for news coverage. That’s how public opinion is shaped: just like a piece of clay. And this kind of clay is in the hands of horse lovers like you.
COMMENTS & QUESTIONS
How do you write something for the newspaper?
When something like this is written for the paper, or radio or TV, it’s called a ‘press release.’ There isn’t really a special format for press releases, except that they include certain basic information. Be sure your press release is typewritten, that it includes the name of the organization holding the event, the person a reporter should contact for more information and a concise report of what happened (or what is going to happen). Brief and to the point is best when it comes to these things. And make sure everything is spelled correctly!
How do we know if an editor is going to run our story?
You don’t. All you can be sure of, is that the editor (or someone in the newsroom) has seen your story … they might run it or they might not. But, you can count on them noticing if you submit another story on down the line. And, eventually, they could very well start publishing your reports. Especially if other horse lovers in your area are doing the same thing. That kind of activity catches their attention.
Any other advice?
Yes. A lot of horse lovers are afraid of sending out press releases. Yet the more publicity horse lovers get, the stronger our numbers will be. This will have an impact on everything affecting horses in our town, our state and our whole country. Most important, it means those kids we talked about will see how their love of horses can be the ticket to a whole new world.
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Figurines, paintings, and stories by author/artist Ron Hevener are collected by animal lovers everywhere. Visitors to Hevener’s studio can see dogs, horses and wildlife that inspire novels like Fate of the Stallion, The Blue Ribbon and High Stakes. For more information about Ron Hevener, his books and his artwork, please visit: www.ronhevener.com
When I was growing up and showing our local city newspaper had a ‘horse column’ every saturday. The writer was a woman who loved horses and she highlighted every rider in the area - you did’t have to be the grand champion to be mentioned. Any kid on a horse could have their picture featured and every kid with a horse or who wished they had a horse made sure they read the column every Saturday (parents & fans too). I don’t think she was paid a lot for the column and I think if the horse show world could step out of their own shadow and volunteer articles for local papers we would have the coverage. It is the horse comunity that needs to reach out - the world will not come to us.
Lauren - April 11th, 2006 at 6:43 pmYou must be logged in to post a comment.