Pony Magazine – March 2026

Summary

PONY Magazine March 2026 (Issue 940, £4.49) shouts extreme horse sports from the cover: horseback archery and snow polo sit alongside a scavenger hunt, easy hoof handling and a hacking guide. The Scootboot Young Rider Award offers a $1,000 AUD scholarship to riders aged 12 to 21.

Team PONY, led by editor Louise Kittle, opens on its own ponies' dream day and moves into the sports that make the cover. Horseback archery asks riders to take both hands off the reins, so trust in the pony comes first, and the side-on shot is only the start. Nina Gill, a BHS Senior Coach, sets the polework challenge with a canter stride of about 2.7m between poles.

Practical pages cover picking out feet, rugging, herd behaviour and vital signs, with a first aid test to finish. Younger readers get a horse holiday planner, a yard hunt, a Sam Dracott interview and a story about Mara and Bramble. Parents get £4.49 of reading, an Ariat voucher giveaway at page 12 and posters at page 33.

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Content Guide

▸ Extreme Sports

p.6 · PONY LOVES… — Horseback archery
PONY introduces horseback archery as one of the oldest forms of war turned into a pony sport, now growing in the UK and open to anyone, with centres offering ponies to learn on. Riders take both hands off the reins, so the pony must be trusted, and the basic side-on shot leads to turning in the saddle and shooting behind. Ask a centre whether it has a schoolmaster pony before booking a first session.

Learn all about snow polo! — SNOW WAY
The team talks through snow polo as the second extreme sport on the cover. Assistant Ed Sarah tried horseback archery in the summer and rated it. The crew admits to watching snow polo rather than playing, with snowmen and hot chocolate part of the appeal. Watch a snow polo clip with your pony-mad reader and name the rules you can spot.

▸ Training

p.8 · POLEWORK IN PROGRESS — Part three
Nina Gill, a BHS Senior Coach who runs Fancy Footwork Equestrian, adds jumps to the polework series. She sets a triangle in the middle of the school with two poles a canter stride — about 2.7m — from two sides, then two more poles facing two points of the triangle to give two rideable lines. Extra poles or blocks on the approach keep horse and rider straight. Measure one canter stride for your own pony before copying the 2.7m.

p.20 · Polly shares her tips and tricks for a fun, fab schooling session
Polly the PONY mag pony gives her own schooling-session tips in the Be a Better Rider section. The page follows the polework and riding aids entries. Pick one of Polly's games and use it to end your next school on a good note.

▸ Care

p.24 · FEEL CONFIDENT… Picking out feet
The cover's hoof handling promise gets a full page on picking out feet with confidence. It opens the Pony Care Explained section before the rug and herd pages. Run your hand down the leg before lifting, and pick out feet every single day.

p.48 · CHECK-UP TIME — Learn about your pony's vital signs
This care page teaches readers their pony's vital signs so they can tell what is normal. It sits between the happy herds page and the first aid test. Take your pony's resting breathing rate today so you know its normal number.

p.50 · THINK FAST — Test your first aid knowledge
The care section ends with a first aid knowledge test for young owners. The page follows the vital signs entry. Keep a written first aid card in your yard's feed room with the vet's number on it.

▸ Reading and Regulars

p.37 · PONY SQUAD — All the horsey news and goss!
PONY Squad carries the news and gossip for the See Yourself in PONY section. The page runs with readers' pictures under Grid Goals. Send in one picture of your pony and check back next month.

p.64 · GRID GOALS — Your best hacking pics!
Grid Goals collects readers' best hacking photographs, closing the See Yourself in PONY pages. It follows PONY Squad in the contents. Take one hacking photo this month and keep it for the next issue's entry.

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Editor's Take

The extreme sports cover is the reason PONY Magazine March 2026 stands out, and the horseback archery page delivers by explaining the hands-off reins problem rather than just showing costumes. Nina Gill's polework is the best training page, with the 2.7m canter stride and the triangle layout giving a rider something to build in the school. Weakest is the snow polo entry, which the team admits they only watched, so the page never says how the game works. The vital signs and hooves pages are the quiet value here, giving young owners checks they can do daily. Buy this for a reader who likes unusual pony sports; the care half is worth keeping for the feet and vital signs pages alone.

Strengths
• Horseback archery explains the reins problem honestly
• Nina Gill's polework gives a measured 2.7m layout
• Hoof and vital signs pages build daily checks
• Young Rider Award names a $1,000 AUD prize

Weaknesses
• Snow polo page never explains how the game works
• Some reading pages are puzzles over pony content

Verdict: Recommended — the archery and polework pages earn it, snow polo does not.