Northern Horse Magazine – February 2026

Summary

Issue 124 of Northern Horse Magazine for February 2026 leads on the STARS Champion of Champions at Aintree, where riding club members from across the North of England competed over four days in November, and backs it with an Eriskay pony breed feature, a Mounted Games primer, and 2026 fixture lists from clubs like Longton and Bucklow Trafford.

The STARS Champion of Champions Special anchors this issue: 2025's finale ran at Aintree from 20-23 November, and the magazine tells it through members rather than results alone. Nine-year-old Lily Marginson qualified in two classes with two clubs, six-year-old Abbie Ellis rebuilt her confidence after falls with Wyre and District, and Harriet Davy took Best Turned Out from 58 entries for Longton. Sophie Rogers adds a full class-by-class Bucklow Trafford report, and Debbie Harrison covers Mill Lane Farm's Halloween-themed in-hand fun show in Rainford, St Helens.

The Eriskay Pony Breed feature traces Scotland's rarest native pony from crofting workhorse to about 400 animals worldwide — the Rare Breeds Survival Trust still lists it as critical — and links the Eriskay Pony Society's 2025 breeding conference recording with Nottingham Trent University. Mounted Games gets a practical primer with Pony Club membership from £42, MGAGB joining rules, and the full 2026 championship calendar. Fairfax & Favor winter coats are priced at £295-£450 in Products on the Market, and the book review recommends The Mind of a Dog: Science Meets Comics.

The back half works as a planning tool for the 2026 season: Longton Riding Club prints its full dressage, show and ODE dates at Moss Lane, Leyland, including two Aintree showjumping qualifiers; Wyre & District reports a 200-guest presentation evening at Ribby Hall Village that raised £1,010; and news pages confirm Cornbury House will host the 2027 FEI Under-25 Eventing World Championships. Sarah Dean and Jacko's Lad's SSADL Grand Final win headlines the London International Horse Show report.

—————

Content Guide

▸ Cover Story

p.12 · STARS Champion of Champions Special

The 2025 STARS Champion of Champions ran at Aintree from 20-23 November, and this special tells the finals through individual riding club journeys. Nine-year-old Lily Marginson qualified with two different clubs; six-year-old Abbie Ellis came back from confidence-shattering falls to top her Young Handler points table; Harriet Davy returned from a broken arm to take Best Turned Out from 58 entries. If you chase STARS qualification, note that places go first to Points Champions and pass down to first reserve — consistent club show attendance matters as much as a single good day.

▸ Showing & Championship Reports

p.4 · Northern Riders Win at Your Horse Live In SEIB Search for a Star

Hannah Brown from Blackpool took the SEIB Search for a Star Supreme Championship at Stoneleigh with We Ride At Dawn, a grey four-year-old hunter type bought as a companion foal. Andrew Elsworth's Connemara Chilham Night Sky won In-Hand Mountain and Moorland; Chelsea Brough's Luneside Mario, bought for £50 as a six-month-old, took the Native and Rare Breeds final. The full 2025 class-by-class winner list follows — use it to pick which qualifier classes to target in the 2026 season, including the new In-Hand Rescue Horse or Pony final.

p.30 · Bucklow Trafford Riding Club STARS 2025

Sophie Rogers reports Team BTRC's four days at Aintree class by class: Bethan Marrington and New Dawn 3rd under 133cms WHP, Daisy Littleworth and Harley 3rd Ridden Plaited Coloured with Best Junior, Myla Grundy 2nd in Tiny Tots WHP. Qualification goes first to Points Champions and passes down to first reserve, so season-long consistency earns the Aintree trip, not one lucky result. The club's 2026 season and February presentation evening are flagged at the end — worth a diary entry for members.

p.32 · Mill Lane Farm

Debbie Harrison reports the yard's second in-hand fun show in Rainford, St Helens — seven classes from Best Turned Out to fancy dress, with trick-or-treat bags, rosettes to sixth and pizza trucks. Caitlin and 21-year-old Boris took the overall championship by public vote on the yard's Facebook group; Jess and loan pony Peaches were reserve. If you run a livery yard, this is a working blueprint for a low-cost, everyone-welcome show, complete with sponsorship from Omega Equine, Red Horse Products and local photographers.

p.46 · London International Horse Show 2025 Champions Report

Sarah Dean and Jacko's Lad, a 17-year-old Connemara bought from a Preston dealer, won the SSADL Grand Final on their main arena debut at LIHS; Samantha Hodgson-Clarke took Overall Reserve Cob Champion with the home-produced Percheron x Gelderlander Grane Valley Mr Newark. Class-by-class winner lists for Thursday through Monday follow. Riders aiming at this level can trace which qualifying routes — the North of England Show, Rookery — the champions came through and plan their own entries accordingly.

▸ Features

p.36 · The Eriskay Pony Breed

The feature traces the Outer Hebrides' native pony from crofting workhorse to near-extinction, when roughly twenty purebreds survived on the Isle of Eriskay by the early 1970s. Today around 400 exist worldwide and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust still classes the breed as critical, with fewer than 300 breeding females. The magazine points to the Eriskay Pony Society and Nottingham Trent University's 2025 breeding conference recording. Anyone wanting a hardy, gentle 12-13.2hh native will find the society contact details and genetics resources here.

p.52 · Mounted Games: Fast, Fun and Full of Team Spirit

A start-to-finish primer on gymkhana-style team racing: how Pony Club Branch membership works (riding members from £88 a year), the progression from April Area competitions to the Prince Philip Cup at HOYS, and MGAGB — founded 1984, over 2,000 members — for riders who age out. Common games from Bending and Mug Shuffle to Sword Lancers are explained in plain terms. Membership must be paid by 28 February to avoid a £20 late fee; the full 2026 calendar from the Scottish Championships in April to the End of Season Show in September is printed.

p.7 · Winter Wardrobe Wonders from Fairfax & Favor

The Products on the Market page prices three Fairfax & Favor winter coats: the fleece-lined Nancy jacket at £295, the Lexi padded jacket at £360, and the water-resistant Lexi long-line coat at £450, all navy and sized XS-XL. Taped seams, detachable hoods and faux-fur trims are the recurring features across the range. If you are budgeting for one winter purchase, this price ladder gives a clear read on what British-made technical equestrian outerwear costs right now.

p.39 · Book Review: The Mind of a Dog

The editors rate The Mind of a Dog: Science Meets Comics by animal behaviour scientist Dr Helena Telkanranta, illustrated by Maija Karala and Ville Sinkkonen for Arador Publishing. Across 80 pages the comic format covers how dogs think, feel and perceive their environment, with reward-based training advice and QR codes to further resources. It is pitched squarely at horse owners whose yards come with dogs, and it is available via Amazon and book retailers now — a sensible gift pick for equestrian households.

▸ Riding Club Diary

p.42 · Wyre & District Riding Club Presentation Evening

Over 200 members and guests filled the Woodlands Suite at Ribby Hall Village for the 2025 season awards, where a raffle and spa voucher auction raised £1,010 — £500 went to the Bowel Cancer Trust and hampers were collected for women's refuges through the STARS initiative. Awards were presented by David Bennett and Sharon Howarth. Clubs planning their own evenings can copy the format: 5.30pm doors, 6.15pm food, 7.30pm presentations, with photographs sold afterwards via Bobby Jo Imaging.

p.34 · Longton Riding Club 2026 Dates

The club prints its complete 2026 fixture card for Moss Lane, Leyland: dressage on eight dates from 2nd May, shows fortnightly from 3rd May, and an ODE on 13th September. Two dates — 17th May and 30th August — carry Aintree showjumping qualifiers, with the championship on the August fixture. Schedules and pre-entry details sit at longtonridingclub.com; note the reserve dates of 25th and 26th July before booking anything else that month.

▸ News & Awards

p.44 · Cornbury House to Host 2027 FEI Under-25 Eventing World Championships

Cornbury House Horse Trials in Oxfordshire is confirmed as host of the 2027 FEI Under-25 Eventing World Championships, running 8-12 September alongside the British Eventing Young Horse Championships and under-21 classes. The inaugural championship runs at Millstreet, Ireland in 2026 before moving to Britain. Founded by David Howden, the venue's 2026 fixture is 9-13 September. Young Northern eventers eyeing the bridge from Young Rider teams to senior internationals now have a British target date to plan towards.

p.45 · Northern Region Spotlight Award Winners

Isla Morgan (October) and Babs Allen (November) took the Northern Region Spotlight Awards, each presented with a UVEX Exential 3 riding helmet from Zebra Products. Both stories stress comeback and partnership: Isla returning from an early setback to strong results with her pony, Babs recognised for years of quiet dedication. The awards appear to run monthly across the region — ask your club or riding school how to put a rider forward for the 2026 round.

—————

Editor's Take

This is a community paper, not a consumer glossy, and it succeeds on those terms: the STARS special profiles real riding club members — a six-year-old rebuilding confidence after falls, a girl winning Best Turned Out from 58 entries — in a way national titles never bother with. The Eriskay feature and the Mounted Games primer show the editors can write genuine features when they choose. The weaknesses are production values: full-page ads and repeated order-your-printed-copy spreads consume perhaps a third of the issue, results lists of names fill pages without context, and the copy needed a proofreader ("Throphy Show", "Worceestershire"). Buy it if your club, yard or child appears in it; browse the Eriskay and Mounted Games pieces if not. For Northern riding club families it works as diary and keepsake, which is exactly its job.

Strengths
• STARS special tells Aintree through named riding club members, not just results
• Eriskay pony feature links breed history to live conservation resources
• Mounted Games primer prints 2026 MGAGB dates and exact membership fees

Weaknesses
• Ad and self-promo spreads crowd out editorial across roughly a third of pages
• Typos and lightly edited reader submissions suggest no proofreading pass

Verdict: Selective read — Deep grassroots club coverage and a genuine fixtures diary; thin for anyone outside the Northern riding club scene.