News

What a fantastic week Annabel and Otto had at the European Championship in Germany. They performed brilliantly all week, with the stand out moment being their cross country round where they finished clear and easily inside the time around a track that caused its fair share of problems. To top it off, they were part of the British team that finished in bronze medal position, and everyone at Project Pony was incredibly proud to see Annabel on the podium picking up her medal alongside her team mates.

We are delighted to announce that Annabel and Otto have been selected to represent Great Britain at this years Pony European Championship. Project Pony is very proud of Annabel, a real talent whose hard work and dedication are second to none and truly deserved this opportunity. It takes a good team to make this happen, so thank you to everyone who has played a part!

Project Pony were delighted to support the Aston le Walls International Horse Trials as the official event sponsor. It was brilliant to watch the Olympic hopefuls perform in their invitation only class, which was won by Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue, as well as seeing some of the very best of our sport competing in the 4* class which was won by Piggy March and Halo. It was also very exciting to see the best ponies in the country competing in their final trial for the Pony European Championship in Germany later this month, which was won by Annabel Ridgway, with Sofia Paul finishing second and Niamh Reid third. Thank you to everyone at Aston for making it such a brilliant weekend of sport, and also to Horse and Country TV who live streamed the cross country action throughout the weekend. 

What a week we had at Badminton 2024! A huge thank you to everyone who made it such a fantastic experience for all the Project Pony riders. So many people who played a part, with some of the highlights including Laura Collet and Zebra Products coming into the Project Pony Pavilion to speak to the riders, a virtual course walk and Q&A with Piggy March, a fascinating talk from Tiana Coudray about her journey to the top level of the sport, and a behind the scenes tour of the famous stables with the Badminton team where the pony riders got to catch up with Jonelle Price and Badminton 2024 3rd place finisher Alex Bragg, a Saturday cross country course walk with Padraig McCarthy, and a showjumping course walk in the main arena just before the final top 20 SJ session with eventing’s newest superstar and 2024 2nd place finisher Lucy Latta. To see that stars of the sport going out of their way to spend time with the next generation of talent is so great to see, bring on Badminton 2025!

Isabella and Canda had a brilliant start to their 2024 season in Kronenberg, Holland, where they finished 2nd in the CCIP2-S class. After cancelled prep runs they headed straight to Kronenberg and flew round making the courses look easy. Hopefully ann exciting season to come for this pair! 

A huge well done to two of our Project Pony riders for qualifying for the 2024 Grassroots Championships which will be held at Badminton Horse Trials in May. Imy Pugh and Mooney have qualified for the BE100 championships, and Annabel Ridgway has qualified for the BE90 championships with her own Galtee Kassy Cashel Girl, and for the BE100 championships with Emma Rugman’s Greys Village Melody.

We have just about recovered from an absolutely amazing weekend at the BEDE Events organised Osberton International Horse Trials. 

We supported the CCIP2* class at Osberton and must say a huge thank you to BEDE Events for running this class so well, it had a true championship feel about it and gave the talented riders and their ponies a proper international stage to perform on. We are also hugely grateful to Nicola Wilson, Tom McEwan, Laura Collett, and Eco-Voltz Bikes for providing some amazing prizes for the podium finishers. 

This was an extra special weekend for Project Pony as out very own Annabel Ridgway and Akim De L’Arquerie won the CCIP2*. The pair put in a brilliant performance in all three phases and finished on their dressage score of 30.6 to put them in the top spot after 3 days of competition. We are so proud of them and are looking forward to see what this exciting combination can achieve next season. 

Additionally, we ran the Project Pony All Stars @ Osberton competition, where 4 teams each consisting of 2 senior rides, 1 leading under 21 rider and 3-4 pony riders battled it out to win the title. Team 1, consisting of Oliver Townend, Tom Crisp, Isabelle Cook, Annabel Ridgway, Florence Wiles, Ellen Butler and Sophie Coles, won the competition on a final score of 215.7 and took home the prizes at the end of the week. 

It was a brilliant weekend up at Bishop Burton for Phoebe and Annabel in the PT105. Phoebe Woods and Noble Superman took the win with a leading dressage test, super showjumping round and one of three clear inside the times across country. Annabel Ridgway contested her first pony trial with Akim De L’Arquerie and the pair put in an amazing performance to finish in 4th place. Two very exciting combinations for the future! 

The 2023 British Pony Championships at Belsay International Horse Trials were supported by Project Pony for the second time this year, and what a brilliant event it was! Event organiser Laura De Wesselow and her team went above and beyond to make the week an unforgettable experience for everyone involved, including the famous Belsay cross country course which once again proved an influential track for the pony riders. Congratulations to this years winners, Jessica McCaldin riding Baramona Lass, and a special mention to our very own Noble Superman who was expertly piloted by Phoebe Woods to finish 8th.

Project Pony was delighted to collaborate with Badminton Horse Trials for the first time in 2023. We absolutely loved it and must say a big thank you to everyone who contributed to all the fantastic opportunities provided to our riders over the course of the event. There are too many highlights to mention, however a particular shout out must go to Piggy March for her afternoon spent with the Project Pony team, it was a truly amazing experience for our riders. Cross country day was as special as ever and it was a real thrill to watch the worlds best riders jumping the Project Pony Splash fence! A huge well done to the winner, Ros Canter riding Lordships Graffalo, who showed a masterclass in all three phases. 

2023 started with a bang for Project Pony with 15 riders joining us for a two day training camp at Addington Equestrian. 

We were lucky enough to be able to provide two days of the highest quality dressage training from Annabel Scrimgeour and jump training with Bruno Freire (including a course walking masterclass with Bruno), two of the best coaches around and both now firmly part of Project Pony. Out of the saddle, riders had group and individual sessions with Jenna Woolven (a leading sport psychologist and performance consultant https://mindmattersconsulting.co.uk) giving an insight into the importance of a balanced mindset  as well as Tom Hobday (Chef D’Equipe across GB youth dressage teams) providing media training with a focus on the value of learning to talk and work with owners, sponsors and the press, as well as the opportunities and challenges that come with using social media. Feedback was hugely positive and we are excited about continuing to work with them both. It was fantastic to see the riders throwing themselves into everything on offer and most importantly having so much fun and all getting on so well together. A huge thank you to everyone who made the two days possible, all at Addington for being such amazing hosts, the coaches for top class training, the experts for being trail blazers in our desire to offer young riders opportunities to develop a wider range of skills helping them beyond their equestrian ambitions, parents and support teams and of course the PONIES who make it all possible! 

We will now focus on the rest of 2023 and on ways at how we can continue to help not just the riders on our ponies or ones we are already working with but the wider eventing community and all it has to offer the young pony riders out there. We are not the answer to everything and can only do so much however certainly very willing to try and do our bit for the sport we all love so much. 

Florence and Chance had an absolutely brilliant week in Ireland representing team GB in the pony team competition at Millstreet CCIP2*-S. A beautiful dressage test and textbook double clear inside the time left them in individual second place, as well as helping team GB (made up of Florence Ashmore, Charlotte Cooke, Eliza Culloty and Freya Weekes) win the team competition! A fantastic week for all involved, well done team!

Imy and Mooney had a super week at the pony club championships, topped off by helping their team win the 90cm eventing, placing 4th individually. Well done Imy for all the hard work you have put in to get here!

Phoebe and Boris also competed in the 100cm eventing as individuals, finishing off the week with a clear inside the time round the cross country course that caused its fair share of problems. Exciting things to come for these two!

After being selected as reserve for the 2022 Pony European Championships, Florence and Chance have now been selected to compete at Millstreet International in the pony team competition. Well done Florence and good luck!

After finishing her eventing career in style by winning the Pony Trial at Oasby back in March, the amazing Jojo (Little Indian Feather) has returned back to Ireland to retire with the family who began her eventing career back in 2010. Since then Jojo has been to 3 pony europeans, won 4 medals for team GB and finished top 3 in 16 British Eventing and FEI pony classes. It is only fair that she can now enjoy her retirement after giving so much to pony eventing throughout her career!

This week saw the very first Project Pony training day, hosted at the fantastic Bombadill Equestrian. It was brilliant to meet some new riders as well as seeing some familiar faces who are already riding our ponies. Our aim is to expand our programme to enable us to support riders through training opportunities as well as through riding ponies so that we can help as many young riders as possible and help make a difference in our sport. We were extremely privileged to be joined by dressage coach Annabel Scrimgeour and jump coach Bruno Freire who provided excellent coaching for us.