Meet the PONY Team

Meet the PONY Team

Meet Team PONY! They're bonkers for all things horsey - plus some other stuff too! Read on to find out more...

PONY Mag is the UK's No 1 horsey teen mag - does that make the PONY Team the UK's No 1 horsey team? Meet the lot of them here, and decide for yourself!

Janet - PONY Editor

Goes bonkers for

Riding nappy ponies, tidying up, Dachshunds, recycling baler string and writing pony books

Hates

Being cold, ponies who won't stand still, losing anything, mushrooms and queuing - unless she's at the front

Specialist subject

Donkeys and mules. Yup, really!

Fave TV show

Cowboy films 'cos of all the horses!

Fave breed of horse or pony

All of them

Give her the right hump by...

asking her to do the hoovering.

Make her smile by ...

showing her a picture of a guinea pig

Fave holiday destination?

Scotland on a motorbike - vrooooooommmm!

Top horsey moment

Performing a musical ride with five friends and their horses - with no saddles or bridles

Penny - PONY Deputy Editor

My mum’s best friend had horses and my sister and I used to be allowed to have a sit on when we went to visit. We begged for riding lessons and the summer that my sister was 10 and I was seven we were allowed to go on a beginners own-a-pony week. I think my parents thought that ponies were just a phase we would grow out of – how wrong they were! Now both much older (not telling you how old!) we are both still horse-mad!

I stayed at the same riding stables, Shey Copse in Woking, until I was 17. I absolutely loved it there and I made some great horsey friends who are still my bezzies today. My first pony love was a little Dartmoor called Snip. He cantered like a rocking horse and his special trick was taking his bridle off as soon as you’d tacked him up! He was very cheeky but I loved him loads. When I outgrew Snip I moved on to Aran. She (odd name for a mare, I know!) could be a bit of a moody mare but we had a great bond. I took Snip and Aran to local shows and used to loan them in the school holidays. One of the funniest moments I remember with Aran was when two of my friends came to watch me at the local show. They were on their bikes and challenged me to a race across the field. I said, “Yeah alright then!” thinking I’d win easily but Aran promptly bucked me off in her excitement and galloped off around the field with her reins and stirrups flying everywhere! How embarrassing!

All I ever really wanted to do was work with horses but the ’rents were really keen for me to do A Levels first – just so I had some further education to fall back on in case the horsey thing didn’t work out. And I’m so glad I did, or I may never have got my job at PONY.

So I went to college to do my A Levels, but I knew there was no WAY I’d survive it without finally having my own pony. Luckily, when I was 16 my dad gave my sister and I some money that he’d been saving up for us since we were babies. We both decided we wanted a horse, so that’s what we bought! I bought Buddy from my then instructor. She had been bred as show pony but never really took to it. She was fidgety and inquisitive and wouldn’t stand still in the line-up. I used to look after her for my instructor and had always admired her, although I’d never been allowed to ride her. But when she went up for sale I simply had to have her! That was 14 years ago and I still own her today. She is a very special little pony and is currently on loan to a girl called Sophie who totally adores her!

After A Levels, I finally got a job with horses! I applied for Pen and Dug working pupil/student jobs that were advertised in Horse & Hound and got offered a place at The Mill in Byfleet. It was a competition and livery yard that offered training for BHS exams. I spent two brilliant years there and passed my BHS stages 1, 2 and 3 and gaining loads of riding experience. I particularly used to enjoy breaking and training the young horses. After two years though I realised that working with horses full time (especially out in the cold British winter!) wasn’t really for me. So I went to university, got a degree in English and started applying for jobs in publishing. Imagine my excitement when I came across an advert for an editorial assistant at PONY Magazine! And the rest, as they say, is history!

I love..

Duggie, Colonel (ahhh), Friesian cows (ahhh), chocolate (any kind, I'm not fussy), PONY reader artwork (got LOADS proudly displayed on wall next to my desk), TV quiz shows (Eggheads, Mastermind, University Challenge... am I a saddo?) and sushi (yum, yummy, yumo!)

I hate...

People who are fakes, people ignoring my emails, bargy ponies

Make me happy by...

Take me camping, or better still, take me to a festival!

PONY’s Senior Editorial Assistant, Lucy King

I was 13 when I first became interested in horses and I started working at a local riding school in return for rides. My parents were convinced it was just a phase I was going through, but the more time I spent around horses, the more addicted I became! I moved from one riding school to another, then started to work on a friend's private yard. When I started she had three horses, and I used to cycle the 15 miles to the yard, but now she has over 30 as she breeds Miniature Shetlands!

By 15, I was totally hooked on horses and was determined to go to horsey college, but changed my mind at the last minute (actually the day before I started) and went to do AS levels instead. But it wasn't me and the next year, off I tootled to do a Higher National Diploma in Equine Studies. I loved the course but managed to dislocate my kneecap so I started to home study the course instead, bought Embers and began working at a saddlery.

Embers is my 15.1hh Appaloosa X cob, who will be turning 21 this year. I bought him when he was 13 and despite my parents saying we would only view horses within a two-hour distance of where we lived, I persuaded them to drive the five hours to go and view him! Luckily, he was perfect and had been bred by the lady I bought him from. This meant I was told his life-story and I have lots of pictures of him as a foal!

After the saddlery I did a few other jobs, including working (and living) on a private yard, which was great, except for the early starts in the winter with the rain and wind! Luckily, not long after I left the yard, the Editorial Assistant's position became free on PONY, and here I am!

Working on PONY is a fantastic job and in the time I've been here (over four-and-a-half years now!) I've met some amazing PONY readers and been on some fab horsey adventures! I've tried side saddle, polo, tentpegging, polocrosse and horseball, and there are some great things planned for this year, but it's all very hush-hush at the moment, so you'll just have to keep your eyes peeled!

Quickfire questions

Most embarrassing fess up... I once fell off my friend's horse when it was standing still! I was doing round the world, and was facing backwards when my friend's horse decided to buck. I half fell/half slid off!

Favourite horsey piece of equipment... my Bates Caprilli saddle!

Secret horsey obsession... tentpegging - I went and tried it, loved it and wish there was somewhere nearby to do it!

Necessary extravagance... nice riding boots - I can't stand being uncomfortable when riding!

Best horsey moment... when Embers, who is my first horse, walked off the horse lorry the day he arrived from Leicestershire. He settled in straight away and I'd spent weeks buying everything I could possibly need!

Something horsey I've always wanted to do... I did Western riding in 2011, so my 2012 aim is to try my hand at either endurance or cross country!

I think tack cleaning... is boring, which is why my tack is always dirty!

Best horsey holiday... going to Hangleton in Sussex, before I owned Embers. I did loads of riding and got to go up on the downs and down to the beach - I went three or four years running and loved it!

The first pony I ever rode... was called Jake. He was a small black pony, who was blind in one eye. He spooked with me in my second lesson when a lorry approached him on his blind side and I still remember being praised by my instructor for clinging on!

What are the qualities you most like in a horse? Calm, sensible and quiet - but Embers is more cheeky and mischievious!

Which talent would you most like to have? I'd love to be really good at sticking in the saddle when things go wrong, but I tend to go for flying lessons instead!

Lucy and Embers