Online magazine Out and About Dressage, first published in 2015 has now in 2023 been rebuilt and tailored to be more user-friendly for subscribers with smart phones and tablets.
What has not changed after seven years is the annual subscription — it continues at what we believe to be a very affordable £30. The subscription is kept at a low level because the whole ethos of the website is to promote and serve the South’s community of riders. These are people who compete and qualify for national competitions at venues in Kent, Surrey, Sussex — and more recently in Hampshire. Affiliated Dressage Results (first to third placings in gold, silver and bronze) are published from shows in these counties and include a link to the shows’ own websites for full results.
Out and About Show Reports — published two or three times a month — are available exclusively to subscribers. These share with readers people’s experiences in producing and competing their horses, and celebrate their latest achievements. Show Reports involve long days at the ringside to capture relevant and up-to-date illustrative photography. These days are followed by scheduled phone interviews and then the hard work of transcribing voice recordings and writing the articles begins.
For £30 a subscriber has 12 months’ access to all the material on the website, both to the latest Show Results and Show Reports and to all the archived material. We are rightly proud of the website’s new subscriber Search function. By entering a horse, rider or trainer name in the Search box on the front page you will locate articles in which their names feature.
Out and About’s archives include its very popular Test Analyses. The Test Analyses came into being when British Dressage published some new tests in 2016. Initially, in collaboration with List I judge Mark Ruddock, we introduced this test-specific riding tips series with the Novice 39, Advanced Medium 91 and and Medium 76. Other judges who subsequently kindly contributed to this project have included List I Leanne Wall and List I Fiona Wilson. The majority of tests now being scheduled for competitions have been covered.
Other categories of features include Trainers and Training and Opinion. Opinions (when not libellous but still interesting and relevant) are welcomed from anyone involved in competitive dressage. Mark Ruddock wrote a very good Opinion on the use of Double Bridles, Mary-Anne Horn on the importance and often neglected subject of Feel, and another contribution was about Owners.
The Horse That Made Me series is very dear to my heart as everyone has had a horse (or two) that has made a significant impact on their lives and their riding careers. Among the people featured are top local and national riders, trainers and personalities [in apha order] Sharon Edwards, Tania Grantham, Andrew Gould, Damian Hallam, Douglas Hibbert, Sara-Jane Lanning, Char Lassetter, Dannie Morgan, Dane Rawlins, Zoe Sopp, Daniel Timson, Leanne Wall and Dan Watson — as well as some based further afield like Nikki Barker, Claire Knowles and Ben Martin.
From time to time — when time allows — other feature material is posted on the website. As time so often doesn’t allow, Out and About hopes in the future to commission articles from outside contributors.The copyright of all material published on www.outandaboutdressage.co.uk is owned by Out and About Dressage Ltd.
Out and About Dressage is the retirement occupation and business of publisher, journalist and photographer Celia Cadwallader. Following a career largely spent in trade and business publishing, from the early 2000s Celia began making weekly contributions to Horse & Hound both reporting for the title’s show highlights and supplying images.
