Pony Club Centres Round-Up
As many Pony Club Members head back to school, college or university, the 2025/26 affiliation year also comes to a close for The Pony Club Linked Centres. We wanted to look back at all the brilliant things our Members and Centres have been getting up to!
Centres Triumph at The Dengie Quiz National Final
In Spring the Dengie Quiz National Final took place, where teams of Centre Members showcased their dedication to equestrian learning, competing against each other in a series of quiz rounds for the Centres section title!
Centres qualified from all different areas of the UK, from Caithness, Scotland, all the way down to Devon!
Mini Quiz Championship
1st – Castle View Stables
2nd – Lucton School
3rd – Mill House
Junior/ Senior Quiz Championship
1st – Hayfield Blue
2nd – Mill House
3rd – Castle View Stables Neighs It All
Centres X Tetrathlon Have-A-Go Days
The Centres Tetrathlon and Triathlon Have-A-Go Days were developed as part of a wider project to increase Centre Member participation in the Tetrathlon and Triathlon sports within The Pony Club. The first Have-A-Go-Days took place at Ebony Horse Club (Area 11) and Fairfields Farm Riding School (Area 13), where Members from both the hosting and other local Centres took part, experiencing their first taste of these sports.
The Members experienced a fun filled day where they showcased their running fitness, tetrathlon themed colouring skills, a ridden showjumping round and educational activities themed around The Pony Club sport of Tetrathlon and Triathlon. Parents got involved too, with some even asking about how they could get started as coaches for the sports.
Do you want to get involved with the fun, by attending a Have-A-Go Day as a Member or by hosting a session at your Centre for local Members? Reach out to us! Please email [email protected] with your details and we will help organise a session in your Area.
Pony Club Linked Centre Hosts Community Experience Days
As part of The Pony Club’s partnership with Active Madrassah, an initiative which aims to increase the activity levels and overall wellbeing of children and young people who attend Madrassah*, we were pleased to facilitate a series of Pony Club Experience Days at a Pony Club Linked Centre this July for 140 young people. Thanks to the support of Eccleston Equestrian Centre, Lancashire, participants were able to gain hand-on horse riding and horse care experiences, as well as taking part in archery and unmounted games.
Working with our Linked Centres on community initiatives enables us to reach audiences and broaden access to equestrian opportunities, progressing our industry and ensuring the relevance of horses in our society for years to come.
*Madrassah settings are where 92% of the young Muslim population attend each evening to learn about Islamic teachings, limiting the opportunities for them to participate in out of school sport sessions.
Competing at The Pony Club National Championships
Well done to all the Centre and Centre Plus Members who had the opportunity to compete at The Pony Club Championships 2026; it was great to see so many Centres represented! We had Centres competing in the following sports:
- Mounted Games
- Polocrosse
- Dressage
- Show Jumping
- Horse and Pony Care (including the new Horsemanship Home International competition)
- Eventing
- Musical Ride
- The Endurostyle Challenge
We hope that everyone who took part in this event had a brilliant time, and that you are so proud of all the effort and hard work it took to get to the National Championships.
The 2026 Big Centres Sleepover, Powered by EC Pro
The EC Pro Big Centres Sleepover took place again this year – on the 18th of August over 75 Members camped overnight at The Pony Club Championships. The campers took part in a range of activities, from map reading, hobby horse pony racing to bracelet making!
Members were able to achieve two Achievement Badges during the activities – Map Reading and E-Safety – as well as their Centre Sleepover 2026 flash badge and their EC Pro goodie bag. A special thanks goes to EC Pro for providing some freshly baked cookies as well!
The evening finished with a game of rounders and a photo competition to see who could recreate the best western themed picture utilising our Cross Country course and Members fancy dress. Campers then woke up early the next morning to take part in a Fun Run together with Marcus Capel, CEO of The Pony Club.
We hope that you all enjoyed the experience of sleeping under the stars at The Pony Club Championships alongside the activities, badges and goody bags on offer!
The PCUK Pony Mag Centres Day 2026
Centres Day returned this year with an exciting partner – Pony Magazine! The day was bigger than ever before, with over 300 Members registered to attend.
The morning was filled with lots of activities including an equine dentistry demo, a meet & greet with Teddy the Shetland, Sam Dracott and mascots from H-Power and Pony Mag, along with opportunities to volunteer at the Championships to work towards the YELA awards.
The afternoon brought even more to do, including cross country walks with Sarah MacDonald (FBHS and A Test Assessor for The Pony Club) and Simon Grieve (5* event rider and BHSI) and Tetrathlon themed games hosted by our Sports Assistant, Kate.
Throughout the day there were also opportunities for Members to volunteer in a variety of roles, helping gain some time towards their YELA awards, as well as join Pat Crann (international showjumper) for Show Jumping talks and course walks.
We finished the day with our popular hobby horse competition – Race Across The Sports! Designed to reflect aspects of the 9 Pony Club Sports, Members always love taking part to compete for the fastest time around the course.
Thank you to everyone who attended The PCUK Pony Mag Centres Day 2026, we hope you enjoyed the day just as much as we did!
Achievements
More Members have been busy progressing through our Test Training Pathway alongside the Achievement Badges, so we wanted to say a big “well done!” for all the hard work and dedication shown by achieving these milestones. We hope that you are all so proud of yourselves for all The Pony Club achievements you earn!
A special shout out goes to our Centre Members who achieved their AH and B Tests between the 1st of September 2025 and the 31st of August 2026! Their names and Centres are listed in our Roll of Honour below:
Centres Roll of Honour – Tests and YELA Awards
Yasmin Boother – Little Margate Equestrian – AH Test achieved
Isabelle Walton – Coker Brown School of Riding – AH Test achieved
Freya Mai Shemmings – Gym-Khana at Valley Farm Equestrian Centre – B Test (Horse and Pony care) achieved
Alydia Ling – Gym-Khana at Valley Farm Equestrian Centre – B Test (Horse and Pony care) achieved
Lily-Grace Robertson – Castle View Stables – B Test (Horse and Pony care) achieved
Isabelle Jefferies – Little Margate Equestrian – B Test (Horse and Pony care) achieved
Lanta Grumett – Little Margate Equestrian – B Test (Horse and Pony care) achieved
Daisy Leighton – Hayfield EC – B Test (Horse and Pony care)
Kathryn Bounds – Shardeloes Farm Equestrian Centre – YELA Gold Award
Lianna Clifton – Shardeloes Farm Equestrian Centre – YELA Gold Award
May Chamberlain – Hot to Trot School of Equitation – YELA Gold Award
Maggie Cowie-Burns – Murton Equestrian Centre – YELA Gold Award
Carrie Rudkin – Oakfield Farm Pony Club Centre – YELA Gold Award
Ava Rafferty – Fergushill Riding Stables – YELA Gold Award
New and re-joining Pony Club Linked Centres
We welcomed many new Centres to join The Pony Club Linked Centres scheme throughout the 2025/26 period, as well as some Centres who re-joined the scheme. Below is the list of Centres who joined the scheme between the 1st of September 2025 to the 31st of August 2026.
Sparsholt College – Area 14
Mullion – Newton Equestrian Centre – Area 16
Abbotsholme Equestrian Centre – Area 7
Topline Equine Academy – Area 5
Pentre Riding Stables – Area 18
Graver Weir Equestrian Centre – Area 4
Woolacombe Riding Stables – Area 15
Bentley Riding School – Area 8
Penshaw Equestrian Centre – Area 2
Warminster Saddle Club – Area 14
Princethorpe College – Area 7
Sains Hall School of Equitation – Area 8
Philpots Manor School – Area 11
Silversands Trekking Centre – Area 1
Witcham Equestrian Centre – Area 8
Ash Farm Polo Club – Area 13
New Hall School – Area 8
Wagtail Equine Therapy CIC – Area 2
Manor Farm Riding School – Area 13
Dare to Dream Pony Parties & Equine Activity Centre – Area 12
The Cavalier Centre – Area 7
Pine Lodge Riding and Holidays Ltd – Area 15
Looking Ahead
As we look back on the 2025-2026 affiliation year, we have so much to celebrate.
Every achievement, big or small, is something to be proud of and it wouldn’t be possible without our Centre Proprietors, coaches, volunteers and supporters who make these opportunities possible for Centre Members. Thank you for continuing to champion the values of The Pony Club and helping create positive experiences for thousands of young people.
We are so excited to see what opportunities and achievements our Linked Centres and their Members get up to throughout the 2026/27 affiliation period!