PONY Magazine – January 2017

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THE UK’S NO1 PONY MAGAZINE

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PONY XMAS DECS

EASY polework TO IMPROVE YOUR JUMPING us

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January 2017 £3.49 Issue 820

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Which horsey

discipline is perfect for you?

Use our fab flowchart to find out which discipline is right for you!

Is Charlotte Dujardin your ultimate horsey idol?

YES

NO

YES Are you a flatwork perfectionist?

NO

Do you love being in the spotlight?

YES

NO Do you love jumping?

NO

YES

YES Do you get nervous easily?

YES

NO

Are you a superaccurate rider?

YES NO

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PONY magazine

Do solid fences intimidate you?

NO

Dressage NO

You’re a total dressage diva! Perfectionist is your middle name – you love working on your moves in the school until they’re flawless. You know there’s nothing boring about dressage and love trying to up your scores each time you compete.

Do you spend all your spare time pampering your pony?

YES

Showing You love being in the spotlight with all eyes on you and your pony! You know your pony is the best, so why wouldn’t you show him off? It helps that you love pampering and preening your pony until he sparkles!

YES Is winning rosettes super-important to you?

NO

Showjumping NO

YES

Do you love new challenges?

Showjumping is your calling – you love to jump and ride the best you can. You’d rather perfect your accurate lines and approaches than storm around a cross-country course, but you’re not short of nerve – jumpoffs aren’t for the fainthearted!

Cross-country

NO Are you a total adrenalin junkie?

YES

Jumping comes naturally to you and there’s not much that scares you.

There’s nothing you love more than galloping round a cross-country course, tackling fences as you go.

You have a need for speed and there’s no doubt your fave pony does, too!

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e c i t c a r p Pole leaving the ground! en ev ut ho wit s l il sk g n i mp u j ur yo ve ro imp to Polework is a fab way s for you to try Here are three of our fave polework exercise

1. Hot to trot

Trotting poles help improve the way your pony moves, as they make him more aware of where he’s putting his hooves and how he’s using his legs, keeping him focused and creating impulsion.

Set up four poles four pigeon steps (about 1-1.35 metres) apart.

If your pony is naturally long- or short-striding, you may need to adjust them to be slightly further apart or closer together.

Ride over the middle of the poles in working trot. Your pony will make more exaggerated strides than usual, so be prepared for it to feel bouncier than his normal trot.

Try not to let your pony rush through the poles – half-halt as you approach to keep him balanced and listening to you.

Top tip

Remember to repeat these exercises on both reins.

How it helps your jumping

It encourages you to ride straight to the middle of a fence, improving your accuracy.

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PONY magazine

Top tip

Use the stripes on the poles to guide you to the middle.

Top tip

Ask a friend to help you on the ground. They can adjust the poles if your pony knocks a pole out of place.

Top tip

Start by just raising two alternate poles. Once your pony understands the question, you can raise the other two poles.

2. Raise the bar

y to pick his legs up Raised poles encourage your pon er than falling rath s, rter qua and push from his hind ’t let him rush don you if only but d, onto the forehan through the exercise! each pole on Using blocks, raise one end of for the trotting did you as alternate sides. Ride just nd your pony’s arou d ppe wra legs r you poles, keeping to stretch him w allo sides, and soften your hands to out through the exercise. s, just replace Don’t worry if he knocks any pole quiet in your stay and x Rela in. aga e them and com of it! seat – he’ll soon get the hang

How it helps your jumping

It improves your pony’s strength and impulsion, as well as improving your balance.

➤

PONY magazine

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Shout

Out! Happy Blossom

I’ve had my pony, Blossom, for a year, but lately we’ve been through a tough time. Earlier this year, she was diagnosed with stomach ulcers so I wasn’t able to ride her for two months. It was horrible to see her in pain, but now she’s healthy and happy again. I’m so proud of her and we even won the Junior Endeavour Trophy at Pony Club camp!

Cheeky Sooty This is Sooty, the pony I rode at riding camp in Cornwall.

Sooty can be cheeky and a challenge to ride! I loved jumping, going cross-country and riding Sooty bareback.

He helped me gain loads of confidence and is the best pony ever!

Amelia

Liv Prentice

MY PONY CLUB I’m a member of the Croome Hunt Pony Club and my pony, Bobby Sox, and I compete in mounted games.

We even qualified for the zones competition in Bobby Sox’s first year. I play polocrosse, too, on my other pony, Lobuna. This year, I’ve been selected for the UK under 16 squad – I’m so excited! I’ve met some amazing people and made great friends during my time in Pony Club, and everyone’s so supportive.

Maeghan Brown 56

PONY magazine

MY PONY CLUB letter prize bundle PONY’s fave My Pony Club letter receives this awesome prize bundle from Dengie, including... ✪ £10 feed voucher ✪ saddlecloth ✪ beanie hat

Reader’s email

Lady is...

I want to shout out to my amazing riding school, Hundleton Riding School – it’s the best! The staff are so friendly and helpful, and the horses are amazing. My absolute favourite horse is Angus, because he’s helped my riding so much. The stables have helped me become a better rider, I’d love see them in PONY mag!

ARIAT Awesomthe

Alice

pony of the mon

Super share This is Charlie, the pony I’ve been sharing for eight months now. He’s taught me how to jump and has built up my confidence, and now I can’t wait to compete on him. I love him to pieces and I’d love to see him in PONY mag!

Eva Pappini

King Corey This is my amazing pony, King Corey the Cob (Corey for short!). He used to pull carts at the seaside, but wasn’t cared for properly. We got him a few months ago and he was very green but, thanks to my instructor and advice from PONY mag, he’s doing really well.

We’ve even taught him to jump!

Cute!

Molly Steele

Ray of sunshine

Cool Connemara!

This is my pony, Kelso. He’s my sunshine on a rainy day! When we go to shows, Kelso always does his best. We both love cross-country and Kelso really likes the water jump! Unfortunately, he recently got a tendon injury so I can’t ride him, but hopefully I’ll be able to again soon.

This is me and my pony, Dusty’s Lad. He’s a beautiful Connemara with a cheeky personality! We love galloping through fields and we learnt so much from the galloping feature in PONY!

Eve Pratt

Joanna Earl

SUPER-CUTE PETS Lottie owned

by Francesca

Luna owned

by Emma

Teddy and Winnie owned by Uma

This is my share pony, Lady.

She was rescued by her owners when she was two and has been on an amazing journey since then. When I started riding her two years ago, she used to nap on hacks and hadn’t jumped.

Her owner and I have worked hard with her, and she now loves jumping and doesn’t nap. We’ve even been to our first show, where we came second in showjumping! I’m so proud of her.

Grace Anderson

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