Pony Magazine – January 2026

Summary

PONY Magazine January 2026 (Issue 938, £4.49) introduces Polly, the 14hh PONY pony who joins the team on page 10, and hands Meg Elphick the cover question: how to ride different ponies. On sale 10 December 2025 to 7 January 2026.

Nina Gill, a BHS Stage 4 Senior Coach who runs Fancy Footwork Equestrian, opens a three-part polework series with a triangle of three poles, promising strength, suppleness, straightness, balance, proprioception and co-ordination. The issue also covers Fell Ponies, golden oldies, riding schools and demi voltes.

Team PONY give their own ponies' mornings: Lou's Ted gets the zoomies, Sarah's Prince wants a cuddle and Alex's Halo likes a good stretch. Winter hacking runs on thermal gloves, foot warmers and hot chocolate, and care pages keep veteran ponies healthy and tummies well. Young riders can win a Schleich bundle at p24 and find posters at p32.

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Content Guide

▸ Meet Polly and Team

p.10 · WE HAVE A SECRET… Meet Polly the PONY pony!
Polly is the new PONY pony, described as 14hh, and will appear every month from this issue. Meeting the team's own pony gives young riders a real animal to follow rather than a stock picture. Say hello to one new pony at your yard this week and learn its name.

ASK THE TEAM: HOW OUR PONIES START THEIR DAY
Lou's Ted always gets the zoomies, Sarah's Prince likes a cuddle, and Alex's Halo enjoys a good stretch. The team's own ponies set the tone for the issue. Watch what your own pony does in its first five minutes out and plan around it.

▸ Training

p.6 · POLEWORK IN PROGRESS — Have a go at this epic exercise
Nina Gill, a BHS Stage 4 Senior Coach and owner of Fancy Footwork Equestrian, starts a three-part series with a triangle of three poles in the middle of the schooling area. She lists strength, suppleness, straightness, balance, proprioception and co-ordination as the gains, and says to walk each line first. Different-coloured pole sections help aiming, and a friend filming front and side shows what you cannot feel. Set three poles in a triangle and walk every line before you trot one.

p.12 · PONY MIX UP — Tips for riding different ponies
Meg Elphick shares her tips for riding different ponies, the cover's main promise. Riding one school pony well does not prepare you for the next. Change your leg aid strength on the first pony you ride that ignores you.

p.20 · SHAPE UP — Learn to ride demi voltes
The shaping-up page teaches demi voltes, a schooling figure riders meet early. Small figures expose a rider's balance faster than a 20m circle. Ride one demi volte in walk and count your strides on each half.

p.16 · FENCE FINDER — Learn about spreads and fillers
The fence finder explains spreads and fillers, the parts of a jump that change how a pony reads it. Fillers frighten ponies more than height does. Walk a pony past a new filler before you jump it.

▸ Reading

p.4 · PONY LOVES… Winter hacking
Winter hacking opens the issue, with thermal gloves, foot warmers and coats, winter zoomies and a gallop, sun, a pony breathing like a dragon pony, hot chocolate afterwards, and frost-bitten branches, mistletoe, a robin and deer. Cold weather riding is about kit and attitude. Pack a foot warmer and one hot drink before your next winter hack.

p.18 · FABULOUS FELLS — Learn about this cute breed
The breed page introduces Fell Ponies, one of Britain's native breeds. Natives carry the hardiness a first pony needs. Compare a Fell's feather and feeding with your own grazing.

p.58 · THE WORST HACK EVER — Lucy makes a terrible mistake
A story about Lucy making a terrible mistake on a hack gives young readers a mishap they can learn from. Everyone gets a hack wrong at least once. Plan your route and tell someone at home before you go.

▸ Care

p.44 · SENIOR SOLUTIONS — Keep your veteran pony healthy
The senior care page keeps veteran ponies healthy, the cover's caring for golden oldies. Older ponies need different feeding and rugging. Book a dental check for any pony over 15 this month.

p.48 · TUMMY-TASTIC — Keep your pony feeling well
The tummy page keeps a pony's digestion well, part of the Pony Care Explained section. Digestive trouble shows in droppings before it shows in behaviour. Check your pony's droppings every single day.

p.53 · HELP! — Your pony problems answered
The Help! page answers readers' pony problems, the issue's advice slot. Real questions make better reading than invented ones. Write your own pony problem to pony@djmurphy.co.uk.

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Editor's Take

Nina Gill's polework series is the reason PONY Magazine January 2026 is worth keeping, because a BHS Stage 4 coach giving three poles, a triangle and a walk-it-first rule is training a child can actually do. Meeting Polly at 14hh gives the magazine a pony readers will follow for years, and Meg Elphick's different-ponies tips answer the question every riding-school rider asks. Weakest is the middle of the issue, where puzzles, posters and the Schleich competition fill pages between the training and care sections, and the winter hacking page is more mood than method. The care pages are sound but short. Buy this for a young rider starting polework or riding different ponies.

Strengths
• Nina Gill gives three poles and a walk-first rule
• Polly at 14hh becomes a pony readers follow
• Elphick's tips cover riding different ponies
• Winter hacking lists real winter kit

Weaknesses
• Puzzles and posters pad the middle pages
• Winter hacking is mood more than method

Verdict: Recommended — the polework series and Polly's arrival make it a good start to 2026.