Regardless of why The Corinthian (the original name of Horse Sport) was created – concocted in Aurora, Ontario’s infamous watering hole as a means to improve the nearly non-existent coverage of equestrian sport, or in a bid to attend the Olympics as part of the press corps, or a bit of both – the magazine has endured and thrived for five decades. This is a major achievement in the often fickle and fragile world of Canadian magazines, and especially in a niche market like the horse industry.
The year was 1968 and show jumping, dressage, and eventing were really starting to take off in Canada, thanks to efforts from riders including Jim Elder and Christilot Boylen. Because the Canadian teams did not have the wherewithal to travel to Europe to compete, these enterprising individuals brought Europe to Canada: Elder reproduced international jumping courses at his farm in Aurora and Boylen staged Olympic trials and imported Europe’s top judges. “Jimmy Elder was like a whirlwind,” said Muriel Lennox, one of the founders of The Corinthian along with friends and riding buddies David Shortill and Esther Peachey. “Chris was the same; she was bringing in the big-time trainers and judges. Both of them were bent on the sport hitching its trousers up and becoming world-class.”
Initiative like this deserved a voice, and with modest seed money totalling $600 (which translates to just over $4,000 today, adjusted for inflation) Shortill, Peachey, and Lennox set up shop in the basement of Peachey’s parent’s house, unbeknownst to “my poor parents,” she said, laughing. “When we started, David was the editor because he took English in university, I was the art director because I could draw, and Muriel was the sales person because she had been doing it for another magazine. Then we hired a girl to do the layouts and I did the ads after Muriel left. We hired Linda Dalnocki and I went back to doing layouts and photography [as Peachey Pictures]. I had never taken a picture in my life. They gave me a camera and told me to start using it. I loved it; I loved going to the farms to take pictures.”
The Corinthian was launched in May of 1968 during a party at the Valhalla Inn in Etobicoke, which was owned by Peachey’s father. There had been a bit of initial disagreement about the magazine’s name, but in the end David won out. “David wanted to call it The Corinthian,” said Muriel. “He was quite the hunter enthusiast and it had to do with the ‘Corinthian’ hunter classes.” (A Corinthian class is an elite appointments class where participants must also be members of a registered hunt. It is rarely seen these days. It is also coincidentally defined as “involving or displaying the highest standards of sportsmanship.”) The initial press run was “1,000 tops” according to Lennox; the fledgling publication was sold anywhere they could and liberally given away to spread the word; that first year the cover price was 75 cents and a one-year subscription cost $8.
In the pre-digital age of publication the physical act of putting a magazine together was difficult and time-consuming, not to mention messy. “We all did everything; it was just crazy,” said Peachey. “When we first started out we were cold turkey and I had no idea how to do layout. I drove back and forth to this printer in Grimsby and this old guy actually did the layout with me the first few issues. In the printing shop they set the type with the individual metal letters, printed the sheets and used the little wax machine to glue them down. He taught me how to do everything and then we were able to move it back to Toronto.” Once there, photos had to be sent out to have halftones made, and typewritten roughs were sent to a typesetter, who would return galleys (long columns of final copy) which then had to be applied to the art boards. “And if the typesetter made a mistake, you’d have to send it back.”
Attracting advertisers willing to take a risk with an unknown publication was also a major challenge. “It was so difficult,” admitted Peachey. “There was no big money in riding back then; any sport, really. It was more who you knew.” The abundance of alcohol and tobacco ads in the early issues may have not been a coincidence, as some of the execs were horse people who were persuaded to take the plunge. Lennox remembered, “I got McGuinness and they came up with this white whiskey. I remember we all had to try it out …” Other early supporters of the magazine included Rothmans of Pall Mall (before the restrictions on tobacco advertising), Jaguar, Ralston Purina, Martini and Rossi, Volvo, Joker’s Hill, Thunderhead Ranch (later Frontier Tack), Absorbine, Ardmore Stud, Thriftys, the Royal Winter Fair, and Bank of Montreal.
Finding events to report about was not a problem, even 50 years ago. “It wasn’t a big publication and there were lots of horse shows,” said Lennox. These included county fairs such as Markham and Aurora, T&NY Hunter Trials, Royal Winter Fair, Edmonton Rodeo, Quarterama, racing results as well as the yearling sales at Woodbine, foxhunting, polo, breeding, Pony Club across the country, and steeplechasing; even Western disciplines were covered. “The thing that sustained it over the years was the Canadians’ love of horses. We didn’t aspire to bigness,” said Lennox.
It was the Olympics in Mexico that first October that really gave the magazine a boost, however. “It’s like the stars came together,” explained Lennox. “We went to the Olympics. It was a really wild time. We were there when the Canadian team won the medal. That was Canada’s only gold medal at that Olympics. It’s what made me become a real live journalist and writer and author. I couldn’t believe it; I’m in the press centre at the Olympic Games in Mexico City! And all these people are asking me stuff because I was Canadian. It changed the entire complexion of the sport right then.” The arrival of such good news for Canadian equestrians could not have come at a better time. “Everything that came after that, including the success of The Corinthian, now Horse Sport, benefitted from that hugely. It was such a gift.”
Over the years, as in the evolution of all magazines, there have been owner, staff, and design changes. In October 1971, the format switched from magazine size (8.5” x 11”) to tabloid newspaper (11” x 17”). Jill Wykes became the editor in 1972. In August of that same year, The Corinthian became the voice of the Canadian Horse Council. Alice Ferrier came on board to manage the accounts and whip everyone into shape. Alice and her sister Susan Jane Anstey purchased the magazine in April 1978 when the Canadian Horse Council couldn’t make a go of it. In August 1983, the name was revised to The Corinthian Horse Sport in Canada to reflect its national coverage. March 1985 saw the format switch back to magazine size and the words “Horse Sport” emphasized to better establish its focus on the newsstand. The Corinthian was dropped from the masthead altogether in February 2005; in the fall of that year, Jennifer Anstey became the publisher/editor in chief following the passing of her mother, Susan Jane.
Horse Sport’s dedication to journalistic excellence has received recognition many times over the years. In 1984, American Horse Publications presented it with the Tabloid Cover Page and General Excellence award; in 1991 and 1992 it received the BMO Canadian Equestrian Team award for Outstanding Coverage of Equestrian Sport; in 1998 the OEF recognized it as an Industry Advisory Council founding member; and in 2010 and 2013 the magazine won the OEF Media of the Year award. Susan Jane Anstey was inducted into the Canadian Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 2007 in part for her efforts with Horse Sport, among many other contributions.
This magazine would not be enjoying its remarkable anniversary without the readers who have supported it over the years – readers who prefer a “real” magazine in their hand while they enjoy a coffee before heading to the barn or a glass of wine after a long day at the show; those whose tack room tables are always strewn with back issues; those who can’t wait for the next issue to arrive or make a special trip to the tack store to pick one up. To those loyal readers, we salute and thank you, and promise to continue to deliver on the promise that was made 50 years ago
