Western Horse Review is Canada’s leading western riding magazine. As well as covering western equine events from coast to coast, content in Western Horse Review consists of training how-to’s, inspirational horse and equine profiles, health care instruction, acreage management, ranch, cowboy and western lifestyle pieces and all things related to the experience of western riding in Canada.

Western Horse Review readers are multifaceted horse people with a keen interest in the care of their horses. Over 70% of our readers own their own part-time horse business. Most own their property and many travel regularly. They ride recreationally and over 80% attend competitions regularly.

As Canada’s leading western riding magazine, we strive to hire writers who are experts in their field. Our service pieces provide information for a sophisticated readership, top competitors, and horse owners who are committed to the well-being of their animals. Features must be original, and provide reliable information from expert industry sources. We expect articles to be well written and well researched.

Writers are encouraged to review past issues of the magazine to familiarize themselves with Western Horse Review’s tone and style.

Payment for accepted freelance articles range from $25 to $350. We do not pay by the word and the amount of required editing or additional work (for instance cutlines, lead-ins, titles, photography) required to get the work to a publishable state will help determine payment. In short, not only the best written, but the most complete features garner the highest payments.

Most feature articles run from 1,500 words to 4,000 words. Shorter pieces from 100 to 800 words.

Western Horse Review Departments:

Riders Journal: Round-up of newsworthy stories about the horse industry, events in the horse world and special focus stories. (100 to 600 words)

Equi-Health Updates: Stories of the latest medical research, veterinary and health updates. (100 to 600 words)

Western Art: Feature story on a western style artist. Should include five to six excellent quality shots of artwork as well as a “mug” shot of the artist. (800 to 1,200 words)

Hands On: A one page story with photos describing the mechanics or process of an equine-related chore or project. Past examples include attaching a three-point hitch, fixing a barbed wire fence, tail braiding, deworming etc. (500 to 900 words)

Hooked on Horses: A one page Q&A style interview with a horseperson, along with profile shot. This should be queried with WHR before interviewing to ensure the interview subject is appropriate to the column and will be considered. (800 to 1,000 words)

Weekend Warriors Profile: A one page Q&A style interview with a horseperson, along with profile shot. This should be queried with WHR before interviewing to ensure the interview subject is appropriate to the column and will be considered. (800 to 1,000 words)

Zone In: A two page feature of the Ride Files featuring short training pieces with Canadian trainers. This should be queried ahead of time to ensure the subject and expert will work with our readership. How-to photos are essential for this piece. (800 to 1,200 words)

Point of View: A one page feature expressing the viewpoint of an issue or controversy in the industry. Note: you need to have some area of expertise in the issue to be qualified to write about it. (800 to 1,200 words)

If you have a story or story idea, submit your query to the editor, Ingrid Schulz, at ingrids@efirehose.net

Your query should contain an outline of the story along with notes on who you plan to interview and relevant sidebars and illustrations/photos.

Photography: Excellent photographs are a must for any article in the magazine. We do rely on writers to supply some photos when appropriate and conceivable. In these cases, we need top quality prints or 300 dpi digital shots. We also have a file of stock photography from Canadian photographers. If you are a photographer and would like us to review your work, please send us an envelope of prints (stamped with your identification on the back), or a selection of low-res digital photographs on CD, which we may keep on file.

Payment for photographs vary from $5 to $100.

Illustrations: We like to use cartoons occasionally and illustrations for certain editorial features. Touch base with us, if you are interested in either of the above.

Please note: Please do not be offended if we are not able to respond to your query. We are a very small staff and cannot reply to every correspondence we receive. If we are interested in your piece or story idea, we’ll get back to you. If you don’t hear from us, don’t hesitate to try again at a later time.