* The gospel was ‘Horse and Pony’ magazine and Freddie the chestnut pony was god. The posters covered every inch of your wall, the free stickers ended up on every school book and some of you might even remember the day the magazine went from black and white to colour!
* You wanted to ride and own Downlands Cancara the black stallion who was the Lloyd’s Bank mascot and Milton the ultimate show jumping gelding
* You owned a long Puffa coat, it had stud fasteners, made you look twice the width you were and bunched up when you sat in the saddle!
* You had a back protector which consisted of several chunks of foam attached by material with two dubious ‘nappy’ straps which fastened between the legs. Every riding school had one weird kid who left these on even when not on a horse.
* You tried and failed to make a wisp in the style of those in the old pony club manual.
* You read the saddle club, Jill and Ginny books cover to cover
* You dreamed, thanks to these books, of riding in a gymkhana
* You remember getting a free ‘Winergy’ treat bar for horses at the ‘Kerrygold Dublin Horse Show’.
* The three ring / Dutch gag made an appearance and you wondered what the heck it was
* Horse equipment and accessories came in basic colours – black, white, navy, red, green, brown. Purple, Pink, Baby Blue and Bling had yet to be invented.
* Besides you would be killed by the old skool instructors for even thinking of using something in anything except those colours (you know who you are!)
* It was perfectly acceptable to ride bareback or without reins (or both).
* You adopted the ‘5 second rule’ when dropping food on the tack room floor.
* You watched the cartoon ‘Wildfire’ and ‘Follyfoot’ on tv
* You owned a sweatshirt with a picture of a horse on front
* You were told by at least one adult to bring some baler twine, a hoof pick and coins for a pay phone out hacking with you.
* Outdoor rugs were New Zealand Rugs and a grackle was the old style under the cheekbones type
* You really really wanted one of those matching sets of a hat silk, XC sweatshirt and a pony rug like the girls in the magazines and catalogues
* You owned a body brush with a rainbow patterned strap
* Nigel Coupe and Karen Dixon rocked!
* you still now how to apply perfect exercise bandages because when growing up fancy affordable tendon boots didnt exist!
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Equestrian Reality 
Ah Horse & Pony, Milton & Cancara were all part of my childhood also – although only rare treats as couldn’t get H&P out here, so only got the magazines when I was back in Ireland for the summer!
Also loved the Saddle Club & Ginny, missed out on the Jill books…now i feel short changed!
The Jill books were amazing!! Jills gymkhana was the first full none school book I ever read!!
HA HA LOVE THIS. I HAD FREDDIE FOR A FEW YEARS WHEN I WAS 8-11 THEN SAILOR. DOES ANYONE REMEMBER SAILOR THE BRIGHT BAY PONY THAT WAS FREDDIE’S ‘BEST FRIEND’.
Yes!! Sailor was fab too. Oh my god – are you the real Ali???!
wow yes I remember Sailor he was the bigger bay one. Were you the girl who was in all the articles in H & P with the ponies? This has just made my life 😀
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brill I will check it out thank you
does anyone remember the ‘Win a Pony’ competition? It might have been Pony magazine. And a girl won and got a horse called Mishka. And lessons and tack etc etc
God, I was so envious! (And it shows because I still remember it now😳)
Oh my word…. I was so envious of her, was her name Naomi and her family called her Nonni? Still have that issue of H&P. I really has hoped I would win a pony.
i remember claire and flair one of the first win a pony girls and yes i was well jealous!!!
A fantastic post, shared on my Facebook page! Every word is true. The good old days, kids growing up now just don’t know what they’re missing!
Would love it if you would back link my most recent post!?
http://wp.me/p2TfC2-tx
Love this Lorna!! Great memories 💖
Horse & Pony magazines were my go to read as well as any Jill, Gunny and Black Stallion books.
Does anyone have any of the 1980’s magazines by any chance?
I’m looking for the article written about the Dancing Arabian Horses of Wales with Silent Fire and Reida a mare that I became the owner of in 1989 and remained with me until she passed away aged 35 in 2011. I would love to have a scanned copy if possibly 1983 or 1984?
I remember Silent King too related to Silent Fire but died in a tragic trailer accident, if I recall correctly.
Oh man. You just reminded me of a horrible story I heard about an incident with a horse in a trailer. Not sure if it was in H&P, but I only had one horsey friend and it seems to gruesome to print in a kids mag but I remember reading a lot about trailer safety back then so not sure😕
omg i tried to find the arabian dancing horses from wales the other day!my dad took a mass of photos for them!!!!!
I read Horse and Pony in the ’80s and remember both Silent King, who had to be euthanized due to one of his legs going through the floor of the trailer, and Freddie. I’m that much too old for the Jill books and Saddle Club, but I LOVED The Adventures of Black Beauty, and to this day I have every single Walter Farley Black Stallion book, plus read all the Marguerite Henry books as well.