Pony Magazine – April 2026

Summary

PONY magazine's April 2026 issue (No. 942) hands young riders a 13-page Be a Better Rider block — including Meg Elphick's polework exercise and a confidence-boosting 'Moving Up a Level' guide — alongside an Exmoor-pony breed spotlight and a Polly-the-pony travel diary.

The April 2026 issue of PONY magazine (No. 942, £4.99) lands heavy on coaching, with five Be a Better Rider features including FIT FOR THE JOB's walk-trot-canter fitness plan, FIVE WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR JUMPING (Double Up), and BEYOND THE ARENA's schooling-on-hacks lateral work. Meg Elphick, the 2024 Badminton pony competitor, contributes LINE THEM UP, a raised-pole layout that mimics a water treadmill and builds core strength. FEEL CONFIDENT… MOVING UP A LEVEL wraps the section with permission-giving advice to talk to instructors, write down worries, and celebrate small wins.

Pony care gets three feature-length treatments: HIDDEN MEANINGS, with behaviourist Lucy Chester, decodes spooking and mounting-block issues through classical conditioning; SHAPE UP tackles spring grass with weigh-tapes, strip-grazing and grazing muzzles; HAPPY TRAVELS follows staff writer Sarah as she loads Polly — the PONY mag mascot — for an arena-hire day out, walking readers through travel prep from partition to protective boots. Quizzes (EVENTING EXPERT, 13 questions across dressage, showjumping, cross-country) and a digestive-system riddle (WHAT AM I?) keep the fun-to-text ratio balanced.

Real-kid content anchors the back half. PONY SQUAD showcases 5–14 year-olds' ponies (Saxon, Philip the Highland, Dotty, Sox, Maggie) and reports the two-tone 'whinny' research where ponies produce a whistle and a vocal-fold tone simultaneously. HELP! answers seven reader questions on everything from donkey companions to centre-line head tilting, and Grid Goals closes with reader-snuggle Instagram photos. Exmoor ponies get the PONY LOVES feature, highlighting their endangered status on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust watchlist and their conservation-grazing eco credentials.

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Content Guide

▸ Cover Story

p.28 · PONY LOVES… Exmoors!

Six sub-bites sell the breed: BEST OF BRITISH native status on the Devon/Somerset moorland; FABULOUSLY FLUFFY double-layered winter coat; SMALL BUT MIGHTY hardiness on tough terrain; BECOMING RARE status on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust watchlist; GOOD FOR THE PLANET thanks to neat grazing that lets delicate plants thrive; EPIC ALL-ROUNDERS from family ponies to driving masters. The Exmoor's endangered status and conservation-grazing role give this feature a clear educational hook without losing its fun, fluffy-coat angle.

▸ Be a Better Rider

p.8 · Fit for the Job

A three-stage fitness plan for any discipline opens with a 20–60 minute walk phase on level ground, graduates to two-minute trot intervals over a few weeks, then adds short straight-line canters. The piece insists on pre-fitness vet, back, teeth, and farrier checks and reminds young riders that ponies build muscle during rest. Mix-it-up tips close with hacking, polework, lungeing and lessons, plus a diary/app tracker so riders see the gains from their hard work.

p.12 · Double Up: Five Ways to Improve Your Jumping

A numbered ladder starts with PERFECT PREP (plan the exercise before tacking up) and START SMALL (small fences build position). COOL COMBINATIONS uses grids to lock in rhythm; PRACTISE MAKES PROGRESS warns against overjumping; REAP THE REWARDS ends on celebration and treating the pony. It's a confidence-building read for riders stuck on height, with the journal-and-video tip a useful habit-builder for any junior rider preparing for showjumping success.

p.14 · Beyond the Arena: Schooling on Hacks

Five real-rides ideas reframe hacking as training time. GREAT GEAR CHANGES uses tree markers for walk-trot-walk transitions; STEP ASIDE pushes leg-yield and shoulder-in on wide tracks; HELPFUL HILLS work the topline uphill and balance on the way down. COMPANY COUNTS rides with friends for medium-trot competitions; GATES GALORE turns a hacking staple into a forehand-turn test. Top tips warn off busy roads, so the safety message lands as firmly as the lateral-work tips.

p.24 · Feel Confident… Moving Up a Level

Permission-giving advice for nervous riders. SIGNS YOU'RE READY frames the question; QUESTION TIME tells kids to ask their instructor. SECRET MESSAGES suggests writing worries down; BOOKING BACK looks at past photos and videos to see progress. SETTLING IN lets riders pick a familiar pony in their new group; STAGE SCHOOL recommends arena hire at the new level. WOBBLY MOMENTS reframes setbacks as learning, and the closing line — 'the people around you believe you can do it' — is a confidence boost in print.

p.26 · Line Them Up: Meg Elphick's Polework Exercise

Meg Elphick — the eventer whose pony Jam-Bam took her round Badminton — shares a raised-pole layout that mimics a water treadmill. Poles are set 50–80cm apart down the long side with half raised on blocks or raisers, randomly. She prefers long-reining or working in-hand at the shoulder so the pony moves freely. A six-step THE PLAN walks through warm-up, approach, contact and cool-down; PROBLEM SOLVER cuts pole numbers if the pony loses straightness. A genuinely useful, expert-sourced training tool.

▸ Pony Care Explained

p.42 · Hidden Meanings: What's Your Pony Telling You?

Animal training instructor Lucy Chester reframes 'naughty' behaviour as communication. EXAMINE THE EVIDENCE lists anxiety, saddle-fit and pain as common triggers; THE EFFECT OF FORCE warns that treats or pressure may suppress behaviour without solving it. KNOW THE SIGNS teaches eye-wrinkles, whites-of-eye, licking-and-chewing and yawning as stress markers. TRAINING FOR LIFE closes with classical and counterconditioning techniques for the mounting block. Best welfare article in the issue and age-appropriate without being patronising.

p.48 · Shape Up: Weight Management

A spring-grass reality check for native ponies. WEIGHT MATTERS explains 'good-doer' risk and the laminitis link; SPOT THE SIGNS pushes fortnightly weigh-taping and body-condition scoring. TURNOUT TIME covers strip grazing, grazing muzzles and track systems; FABULOUS FORAGE insists haynets must still be weighed (not gutted) and one-hour soaking cuts calories. The closing note — ponies are evolved to lose weight in winter and gain in spring — prevents panic among young owners watching their ponies drop off.

p.52 · Happy Travels: Polly Goes to Arena Hire

Staff writer Sarah and content creator Kirsty take PONY mag mascot Polly the pony out for the day. HORSEBOX PREP covers partition, ventilation and water; POLLY PREP runs through headcollar, stable sheet for a clipped pony, travel boots, tail bandage and guard; LOAD UP closes with the quick-release knot. Top tips note that adults should load nervous ponies. A lovely, photo-led practical guide that doubles as a piece of behind-the-scenes PONY-team content kids will enjoy.

▸ Quizzes & Fun

p.18 · Eventing Expert Quiz

Thirteen multiple-choice and true/false questions across DRESSAGE (which piece of equipment isn't allowed; elimination triggers), SHOWJUMPING (BE refusal count; which day the phase runs) and CROSS-COUNTRY (instant-elimination rules; 20-fault refusals). A bonus question asks what tells you which way to jump an obstacle (red flag on the right, white on the left). Score bands run from 'Rough ride' (0–4) up to 'Flying round' (9–13). Real exam-style knowledge, well pitched at 10–14 year-olds.

p.30 · What Am I? Digestive System Riddle

A 16-line rhyming riddle walks readers from teeth-chewing through oesophagus, stomach, small and large intestine, pointing out that the answer is what turns grass and hay into fuel and turns daily feeds into energy. Answers are scanned via QR or via bit.ly/PNY_QUIZ_ANSWERS. Short, satisfying and tied to the digestive-system STEM angle — sits well alongside the heavier horse-care features in the same issue.

▸ Real Stories & Regulars

p.37 · PONY Squad: Horsey News, Views and Goss

Reader-led pages mixed with science. THE SECRET OF THE WHINNY reports that ponies produce two sounds at once — a vocal-fold tone and a laryngeal whistle, the first large mammals known to do so. Fess Up Cringe-Meter runs Clemmie's confession of chatting to her loan pony Flora on a hack; SPOTTED! highlights @elphick.event.ponies and @skyes_riding. STAR HEBE AGE 5 is Caoimhe's Dotty ('one of the best ponies in the world'); India's Highland Philip and Lola's Billy appear alongside.

p.61 · Help! Your Questions Answered

Seven reader questions tackled. Bridge ways walks a nervous rider through bridling step by step; What a hoot explains owl-hole cross-country fences; All ears debunks donkeys as companions because of their attachment bonds and rain intolerance. Head on tackles centre-line head tilting (saddle-fit and straightness); Room for improvement! lists pony-themed bedroom ideas; Match the patch defines piebald vs skewbald; May there explains hayballs; Time for a pony gives the 1–3-hour daily care breakdown.

p.64 · Grid Goals: Pony Snuggle Pics

Reader-submitted Instagram cuddles close the issue, with eight @ponymaguk favourites — @2poniesandpilates, @eq_lia_and_bob_the_cob, @twogingerarabs, @ponytaleswithelsie, @isla_belle_ridingjourney and @horsemad_mj. The Instagrammer of the Month (@jemjudd1) wins Stud Muffins treats and a celebration cake. Genuinely heart-warming, very on-brand and a clever reward loop that nudges young readers to submit next month.

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Editor's Take

This issue commits hard to its core promise: coaching that actually teaches. The five Be a Better Rider features cover fitness, jumping, hacking-as-schooling, polework (from real Badminton eventer Meg Elphick) and the emotional side of stepping up — all without condescending to its 8–14 audience. Hidden Meanings (Lucy Chester on pony behaviour) is unusually thoughtful for a kids' title; Shape Up translates real laminitis-prevention science into strip-grazing and weigh-tape steps kids can run with. Real-kid content stays front-and-centre — Saxon's 1m jump story, Flora-the-chatty-loaner, Hebe-the-five-year-old-Dotty — and the Exmoor feature earns its endangered-breed education hook. The travel diary with Polly the mag mascot is the issue's secret weapon: it turns a how-to into a story. Verdict: this is the issue to hand a pony-mad 10-year-old if you want them to actually learn something between the posters and the competitions.

Strengths
• Five-feature coaching block covers fitness, jumping, hacking-schooling, polework and mindset
• Real experts — Badminton eventer Meg Elphick, behaviourist Lucy Chester — name-checked throughout
• Polly-the-pony travel diary turns safety advice into a story kids will read twice

Weaknesses
• Ad-to-article ratio is heavy, with school ads and product pages crowding the features
• Help! section occasionally over-explains basics older readers in the 12–14 bracket already know

Verdict: Essential — Best coaching block in months, anchored by named experts and a mascot-led travel feature that kids will actually finish.