Pony Magazine – December 2025

Summary

PONY Magazine December 2025 (Issue 937, £4.49) turns festive, with a VIP trip to the London International Horse Show to be won, Harlow's HOYS diary with Panda, and a poetry competition on page 10. The cover also promises confidence and how to jump different fences.

Harlow and Panda at HOYS opens the showing run at p12, and It's Show Time at p20 takes readers to London. A winter wish story sits at p60, gifts at p54, and festive puzzles at p66. Winter care covers muddy ponies and hoof care at p42.

Training gives the issue its usefulness: Shape Up at p6 teaches shallow loops, with the loop reaching 5m or 10m at the point level with B and E, and riders told to master it in walk first. Liberty at p4 and open-space confidence at p26 round out the section. The team's emoji answers are pure fun: Ted is the party emoji, Prince the teddy bear and Halo the sleepy one.

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Content Guide

▸ Training

p.6 · SHAPE UP — Ride shallow loops with our tips
Riders learn shallow loops along the long side, starting and finishing between two markers on the same side, moving toward the centre line and returning as they come level with B and E. Dressage tests usually ask for 5m, halfway to the centre line, or 10m, going through X. The loop must be symmetrical, so the path out looks like the path back, and riders should master it in walk before trot. Place a cone at the 5m or 10m point level with B and E as a target today.

p.16 · FENCE FINDER — Explore with in-hand hacking / Ride different jump types
The fence finder covers riding different jump types and exploring with in-hand hacking, the cover's jumping promise. Different fences ask a pony different questions. Walk your pony in hand over one new fence type before you ride it.

p.26 · FEEL CONFIDENT… Riding in open spaces
Confidence in open spaces gets its own page. Open ground changes how a pony reads everything around it. Open-space confidence comes from small, repeated exposures. Hack one field with a friend before you go alone.

p.30 · RIDER ESSENTIALS — Keep yourself safe in the saddle
Rider safety in the saddle closes the Be a Better Rider run. Safety kit only works if it fits and is fastened. Check your hat's harness and your stirrup size before every ride.

▸ Showing and Reading

p.12 · STAR OF THE SHOW — Harlow and Panda at HOYS
Harlow and Panda at HOYS give the showing pages a named pony and rider, the cover's Harlow's HOYS diary. Championship diaries show what a show actually costs in effort. Watch one HOYS class and note the turn-out routine.

p.20 · IT'S SHOW TIME — We can't wait for London!
The team looks ahead to the London International Horse Show, with the VIP family trip prize including entry to the main arena for the Shetland Pony Grand National. Show previews help readers plan what to watch. Book one London class to see before tickets sell out.

p.10 · IT'S THE… Big PONY mag poetry comp!
The poetry competition invites readers to enter, one of the issue's main reader calls. Competitions give young writers a reason to send something in. Write one short poem about your pony and enter before the closing date.

p.60 · A WINTER WISH — Curl up with our festive story
The festive story closes the reading section. Stories keep younger readers who ride less in winter. Read one story with a pony-mad child this month.

▸ Care

p.42 · MUDDY MONSTER — Get your pony sparkling! / HAPPY HOOVES
Winter care covers getting a muddy pony clean, with happy hooves tips for winter hoof care. Mud and wet ground drive most winter hoof problems. Pick out feet every day and dry the heels after turnout.

p.34 · PONY OR PHONY? — Take our true or false quiz
A true or false quiz tests what readers know about ponies. Quizzes tell children what they did not know they were missing. Do the quiz with a friend and compare answers.

p.4 · PONY LOVES… Liberty
Liberty training opens the reading section, describing how big shows such as HOYS or London International often run live liberty demos. Training from lifting a foot on cue to lying down or sitting on a beanbag needs only one pony and an enclosed area, and booking a lesson with a expert's pony works if you have none. Watching a pony loose tells you more than riding it. Spend five minutes watching your pony loose in a school this week.

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Editor's Take

The shallow loops page is the most useful thing in PONY Magazine December 2025, because the 5m and 10m marks, the B and E level point and the walk-before-trot rule give a rider something to ride the same afternoon. Harlow and Panda at HOYS and the London International preview with the Shetland Pony Grand National give the issue real shows rather than generic festive content. Weakest is the festive padding: gifts, puzzles and a poetry competition fill the back half, and the liberty page is thin for a subject that deserves more. The emoji and dream-day pages are charming but slight. Buy this for a young rider working on schooling figures; the Christmas content is secondary.

Strengths
• Shallow loops give 5m, 10m and B/E markers
• Harlow and Panda put a real pony at HOYS
• London preview names the Shetland Grand National
• Winter hoof care is timely for December

Weaknesses
• Gifts, puzzles and poetry pad the back half
• Liberty page is thin for the subject

Verdict: Recommended — the schooling figure and show reports earn it, the festive filler does not.