About Mein Pferd

Mein Pferd

Mein Pferd is a German-language monthly magazine for leisure riders, published in Hamburg. Appearing since 2005 in the Jahr Top Special Verlag, it addresses recreational equestrians with reporting on horse health, riding instruction, equipment, and the various riding disciplines. The target group is primarily leisure riders between the ages of twenty and forty — the largest and most commercially significant segment of the German equestrian market. The editor-in-chief is Lara Wassermann; the publishing house is led by managing director Alexandra Jahr. In the German equestrian press, where titles such as St. Georg and Reiter Revue address the tournament sport and Cavallo the active leisure rider, Mein Pferd occupies the position of the friendly monthly companion for the recreational horse owner: practical, health-oriented, and close to the everyday life of rider and horse.

Overview

The magazine presents itself as the magazine for leisure, hobby, sport, and fun around the horse. Published monthly, it covers the topics that shape the daily life of recreational riders: horse health and veterinary knowledge translated for the layperson, riding instruction and training tips for horse and rider, equipment and product news — from saddles and bridles to stable technology — and the various riding disciplines, from dressage and jumping at the leisure level to western riding, trail riding, and ground work.

The magazine's readership is defined by riding style and life stage: leisure riders, predominantly women between twenty and forty, who keep their horses as partners in their free time rather than as sports equipment. This audience — the backbone of the German equestrian population, which numbers in the millions of riders and horse owners — values practical usefulness over tournament coverage: how to keep the horse healthy, how to train effectively with limited time alongside job and family, and which products genuinely serve horse welfare.

The magazine is published by the Jahr Top Special Verlag of Hamburg, the special-interest publishing house of the Jahr media group, which also publishes equestrian and lifestyle titles. The ISSN of the magazine is 1861-4205. The Hamburg State and University Library catalogs the magazine's issues in its publication server, documenting the title's continuous monthly publication through the 2010s and into the 2020s.

History

Mein Pferd has been published monthly since 2005 in the Jahr Top Special Verlag — a launch that responded to the growth of the leisure-riding segment in German equestrianism. While the established equestrian press had traditionally oriented itself toward tournament sport and breeding, the expanding population of recreational riders — riding schools, leisure stables, and the growing number of privately kept horses — created the audience for a magazine that would address their specific needs: health, training, and equipment for the non-competitive rider.

At the end of 2011, the magazine absorbed the Pegasus — Freizeit im Sattel title, which the Jahr Top Special Verlag had taken over; Pegasus subscribers subsequently received Mein Pferd. This consolidation strengthened the title's position in the leisure-riding segment and brought together the readerships of two magazines serving the same audience.

Over its two decades of publication, the magazine has tracked the professionalization of leisure riding: the growing veterinary and behavioral knowledge available to horse owners, the rise of alternative training methods and ground work, the increasing importance of species-appropriate husbandry and stable management, and the digitalization of the equestrian community through social media and online platforms. The print monthly has maintained its role as the curated, editorially verified companion in this environment — health and training advice that has passed editorial and expert review.

Coverage and Content

The editorial coverage of Mein Pferd follows the annual and daily rhythms of horse keeping. Horse health is the standing core: veterinary topics translated for the horse owner — from colic prevention and hoof care to vaccination, deworming, and the recognition of lameness — alongside feeding science and the growing field of equine physiotherapy and alternative healing methods. The magazine's health reporting is consistently framed around the owner's agency: what the rider can observe, prevent, and do.

Riding instruction and training form the second pillar: training tips for the leisure rider's reality — limited time, varied horses, and the goal of harmonious partnership rather than tournament placings. Articles address the rider's seat and aids, the horse's gymnastic development, ground work and lunging, and the specific training paths of the various riding disciplines at the leisure level. Equipment and product news covers saddles, bridles, rugs, and stable technology, with the practical question of fit and horse welfare as the consistent editorial standard.

The magazine also reports on the equestrian lifestyle: travel with horses, leisure-riding regions, and the community life of riding stables and clubs. Seasonal topics — winter feeding, summer pasture management, the show season from the spectator's perspective — structure the issues through the year. Across all sections, the tone is encouraging and practice-oriented, addressing readers as partners of their horses rather than as athletes. The editorial mix deliberately balances expert knowledge with emotional resonance: the horse as a sporting partner, a responsibility, and a source of everyday joy — the three dimensions that define the leisure rider's relationship with the animal.

Organization and Ownership

Mein Pferd is published by the Jahr Top Special Verlag of Hamburg, the special-interest publishing house associated with the Jahr media group. The managing director (Geschäftsführer) named for the publishing house is Alexandra Jahr; the editor-in-chief of the magazine is Lara Wassermann. The publishing house's program includes equestrian and lifestyle special-interest titles, with Mein Pferd as its dedicated leisure-riding magazine.

The magazine appears monthly. Subscription and single-copy sales are handled through the publisher and the press retail trade. The Hamburg State and University Library's publication server catalogs the magazine's issues — from the mid-2010s through 2021 and beyond — documenting its continuous publication under the ISSN 1861-4205. This archival record underscores the title's two decades of uninterrupted monthly publication, a stability that few special-interest magazines in the equestrian segment can match.

Circulation figures for the current year are not publicly confirmed in freely available sources. The title's market position rests on its dedicated leisure-riding focus within the German equestrian press, where it serves the recreational segment alongside the tournament-oriented and breeding-oriented titles of competing publishers. The absorption of the Pegasus title at the end of 2011 consolidated this position and remains the most significant structural event in the magazine's publishing history — a merger that united two leisure-riding readerships under the Mein Pferd masthead and gave the title additional reach in the stable and riding-school distribution channels.

Digital Presence

The magazine's digital home is mein-pferd.de, where the publisher presents the title, its subscription options, and selected editorial content. The site serves as the service portal for readers and subscribers, extending the monthly print rhythm with online articles, product news, and service content for the leisure-riding community.

The title's readership — leisure riders between twenty and forty — belongs to the digitally native generations, and the magazine's community extends into the social networks where equestrians exchange training videos, health questions, and stable life. The publisher's digital infrastructure supports the title with online subscription management and e-paper formats, while the Hamburg State and University Library's digital cataloging of the print issues preserves the magazine's publishing history for researchers. The mein-pferd.de portal thus functions as the digital companion to the print monthly: the same practical, health-oriented editorial promise, delivered across the channels where the leisure-riding community lives.