Horse blogs are just as clicky as horse people. Certain blogs come into some kind of fashion I suppose, though I can never really figure out why some are popular and other better blogs are not. I read and enjoy a few, I stopped reading and do not enjoy many more. Most are horribly designed, I’m an ex art director and I think making your blog look good is an important element. Us design-ie people are funny like that. Many horse bloggers it seems use good old blogspot, which has a really terrible interface, is owned by Goggle (eww) and looks clunky and cumbersome. Compared of course to the more streamlined and better interfaced wordpress. WordPress has the huge advantage of 3rd party templates, lots of 3rd party templates. You can really make your blog look good and unique. Blogger of course since its owned by evil Google tends to have a higher search engine ranking and much better random traffic, gee imagine that.
Back to horse blogs. I’m interested in peoples horses and all the interesting, cool and fun things they are doing with them. I want to like horse blogs (I mean I have my own right??) But I cant stand the terrible story telling, it’s atrocious. The popular blogs are not excluded from this observation. Just because you can blog doesn’t mean you SHOULD blog. It makes me crazy to see a blog get popular and the writing just plain sucks. I’m not talking technical writing, hell I never even capitalize my i’s, I have terrible grammar and when I write professionally (yes, I do that) I send out to a copy editor for proofing just because I know editing is essential when you are making money writing. What I’m talking about is telling a story… basic storytelling. It’s missing from most (not all) horse blogs. Engage your reader, get them emotionally involved, give them a pleasant distraction and most of all have something to say. All in a zippy 500-750 word blog post. A public blog isn’t a personal diary, though many horse blogs sure look like they should have a lock and be under a 12 year old girls pillow. Dear diary today I… insert boring mundane item here make sire to make it really drab. Kinda like the people who Instagram their lunch or update their Facebook status with “getting in the shower” Really? Who cares! No one!
Then there’s the worst sin of horse blogging. Being ignorant of horse matters. I clicked over to a popular blog I used to read today after a long time trying to ignore its existence and the blogger explained how she was feeding her foundered horse and it make me want to jump though the screen and bitch slap her. Theres a ton of reputable information on laminitis and founder. Read it, then follow it for fucks sake. That might be a better idea then blogging with the hopes that Internet people would support your terrible choices. Cuz thats what it looked like to me, like someone must have told her what she was doing was dangerous but … the Internet now they would support her. Ugh! This is the main reason I find it hard to read horse blogs people are selfish and stupid and have no shame about sharing that with the world. I can get over a ugly hurt my eyes 1990 called the want their web design back blog page as I know not everyones a designer or understands visual communication (I went to college for that). I can deal with the I don’t really have anything compelling to say blog post (provided there were lots of great horse pictures) but I cant get over the disingenuous and often dangerous things people post about doing with their horses. Which is why I cant deal with reading horse blogs. I know bitch, bitch, bitch.
I keep this blog to chronicle my life with my horses. Its mostly for me, so that I can look back and remember our adventures. Having horses again was not anything I thought I would ever do. I thought horses were lost to me and I don’t want to forget any of it when I’m old and gray. This blog is for me, but thats not to say I don’t know that at anytime strangers can be reading it (hello strangers!) and I want to make it worth their time, maybe make them smile or nod because they experienced something similar and now they know its not just them. I wish more “horse bloggers” would take the time to think of why they are writing a blog but then again I think that can be said for any niche of blogger (ever try to read a mommy blog? I don’t recommend it!)… I blog therefore I am? Not good enough.
yay comments. That is all!