# Horse & Country TV

Horse and Country (H&C) is an equestrian sports digital media company.

## Distribution

H&C was available on satellite television on Sky channel 184 in the United Kingdom (UK) and is also available on Amazon Prime Video in the United Kingdom and Germany and on Roku, as well as via web and mobile apps. It launched on Virgin Media Channel 298 on 21 July 2018. H&C launched to cable TV viewers in the Netherlands in June 2012. In June 2013 H&C launched in Sweden. In February 2015, H&C launched in Australia on Fetch TV. H&C launched in the US and Canada in May 2018 on Roku. H&C formed a partnership with Digital Cornucopia to enter Spain, Portugal, and Latin America in 2018.

### Removal from Sky

In December 2019, H&C announced they would be closing on Sky channel 184. As of 31 January 2020, H&C is only available through H&C's online services, apps, and other third-party distributors. It continued to be available on Virgin Media in Ireland and the UK until it was removed on 20 July 2020.

### Partnering with EQ Sports Net

In January 2020, H&C acquired the US equestrian streaming provider, EQ Sports Net (EQSN). H&C TV covers events such as the Rolex Grand Slam of Showjumping, the Longines Lumühlen Horse Trials, and the London International Horse Show from Olympia.

## Programming & production

In 2012, H&C commissioned the series Getting to Greenwich, an 8-part series profiling rider contenders for London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. H&C also commissioned Dean Dibsdall: Model Farrier, a single film about the winner of E4's Playing It Straight 2012. H&C produced in-house "Carl and Charlotte: Dressage Superstars" a 2-part series about top British Dressage riders, Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin. In 2016, H&C acquired the rights to season one and two of syndicated series Walks Around Britain. Season three was released on the platform one year later in May 2017.

## 2010 restructuring

In October 2010, Horse & Country TV was placed into administration by Chairman Heather Killen after she called in a £400,000 preferential loan on her own company, one day before a dismissal claim by former Managing Director Nick Ludlow was scheduled for court. Mr. Ludlow, who had been dismissed by Ms. Killen seven days after she completed a takeover of the television channel, alleged that his 47% ownership stake was diluted to 16% following a share issue in November 2009. This action compelled Mr. Ludlow to abandon his legal challenge and led to investors writing off £200,000 due to the company's collapse. Within months, Ms. Killen relaunched the company as H&C TV, which secured a global rights deal for highlights from the Badminton trials, thereby ending a 50-year exclusive coverage arrangement with the BBC.

## Citations

* ↑ Ashton, Suzanne (2018-07-25). "New H&C Channel on Virgin TV". Everything Horse. Archived from the original on 2021-12-02. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
* ↑ Khalsa2012-04-16T11:56:00, Balihar. "Horse and Country gallops to the Netherlands". Broadcast. Archived from the original on 2023-08-13. Retrieved 2022-04-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
* ↑ "Horse & Country TV, the International Equestrian Sports and Lifestyle Network Joins Boxer TV Access in Sweden". www.newswire.com (Press release). Archived from the original on 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
* ↑ Knox, David. "Horse & Country TV to Launch in Australia". Horse Yard. Archived from the original on 20 January 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
* ↑ Clarke, Stewart (2018-04-26). "Equestrian Channel H&C Gallops into the U.S. (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 2019-10-24. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
* ↑ "H&C and Digital Cornucopia announce partnership". Broadband TV News. 2018-10-02. Archived from the original on 2019-10-24. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
* ↑ Thomson, Stuart (2020-01-20). "Horse & Country acquires US streamer, will come of Sky at end of month". Digital TV Europe. Archived from the original on 2020-11-03. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
* ↑ "Horse & Country and EQ Sports Net Join Forces to Raise the Bar on Equestrian Sports Streaming". The Plaid Horse. 21 January 2020. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
* ↑ "Walks Around Britain on Television". Walks Around Britain. 22 January 2017. Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
* ↑ "Equestrian sports hit by collapse of Horse & Country TV". The Telegraph. 18 October 2010. Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
* ↑ "City Spy: Heather's woes in Horse & Country". Evening Standard. 4 January 2010. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
* ↑ "The millionairess, the horse trials and the almighty legal row". The Daily Telegraph. 4 March 2012. Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018.