PONY Big Day Out 2021

 Get the low-down on the most exciting event of the year

At 9.30am on Saturday 18 September, the gates to PONY Big Day Out opened and in came hundreds of pony-mad peeps – all super-excited to meet their fave Insta and YouTube stars and watch some epic demos! It was set to be a jam-packed day of horsey fun and, from start to finish, it certainly didn’t disappoint. The day kicked off with some meet and greet sessions with the excellent This Esme, perfectly cool Pony Nuts and totally adorable Teddy the Shetland.

  Dressage diva

First to go in an awesome line-up of demos and displays was Anna Miller and her stunning horse, Ares. They showed us how to effectively warm-up in preparation for a dressage test, then did a wonderful freestyle to music demo – we were in awe of their effortless and classy style.

Teddy’s tricks

Next up was Teddy the Shetland, who took to the stage to show off his tricks. Teddy’s a therapy pony so is fully desensitised to all sorts of things – from musical instruments to balloons – and Alice, his owner, talked us through how she taught Teddy to stand on a block, walk across a wooden plank and lie down on command. Teddy had a good roll, then lay on his back patiently waiting for Alice to give him a nice scratch on his belly – it was super-cute!

Jump to it

Soon after it was time for Pony Nuts (Gracie Tyte) and her awesome Connie, Todd, to have a gridwork lesson with top showjumper, Yazmin Pinchen. Todd was on his very best behaviour and skipped straight through every combination Gracie pointed him at – it was so awesome to see this dynamic duo in action!

After the break

Once tummies were full to the brim with chips, burgers and bacon baps, it was time for Yazmin to hop on board her seven-year-old stallion, Titanium Z, owned by Liam Payne. Tommy, as he’s known at home, was on his toes and tested Yazmin’s ability to ride and talk to the audience at the same time – it requires a lot of skill, but she did a stellar job. They flew over some massive fences and gave the audience some epic tips for jumping their own ponies.

Interviews and inspirations

We had an exciting Q&A session with This Esme – finding out about her dreams with Joey, her fave matchy-matchy set, how she keeps her grey ponies clean and so much more. The penultimate display was from the phenomenal English Vaulting Squad – wow, they’re incredibly talented! It was truly inspiring to see the vaulters performing their routines with such ease and the love they have for their horse, Ginge, who’s such a gentle giant and definitely enjoyed performing in front of the crowd, too!

Finale time

The race between Teddy the Shetland and PONY Magazine’s very own Charlie was highly anticipated and set to be a cracker. Charlie did his warm-up stretches while Teddy practised a few sprints to get himself ready – the atmosphere was super-tense, and it was all to play for. It was neck and neck until the last straight, where Teddy found a burst of energy and galloped towards the finish line to secure the win, with Charlie a few lengths behind (poor Charlie!). Well done Teddy!

An epic day!

Team PONY would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who came along to the Big Day Out – we had the best time and hope you enjoyed yourselves, too! Congratulations to those who won the PONY shop and Dengie comps, enjoy your prizes and we hope to see you all again soon!

Did you get the chance to attend PONY Big Day Out and meet your fave star? Don’t forget to tag @ponymaguk in your pics so we can see them.