Producing ponies for the ring is a tough gig, particularly when you’re producing ponies for children to ride. Sara Parrott gives some insight into the job when chatting with showing editor Bethan Simons on the latest episode of The Horse & Hound Podcast.
“It’s brilliant and it’s scary and it’s fun,” says Sara. “You get a lot of ups and downs with it, and you have to have a sense of humour but it’s also really rewarding when you get it right.” She continues: “My favourite class is the first-riddens, which definitely go wrong more than they go right, but when it goes right and they take a leap forward, it’s brilliant.”
Sara has produced ponies alongside her partner Craig Elenor at their Yorkshire base for the past decade, despite this not being their original plan.
“Funnily enough, when I moved up [from Essex] I had some horses to show, and Craig had in-handers,” says Sara. “There was never any plan to show ponies. They weren’t on the agenda; they weren’t on the business plan. We got sent two lead-reins for a client and it just took off from there”.
Sara also explains that she hasn’t always produced professionally: “I worked in different yards until I was about 23, and then I decided that you couldn’t earn any money out of horses – which is probably still true! – and so I worked as a housing officer for five or six years before I met Craig.”
She credits this with helping her to deal with the “people-facing” aspects of the role, dealing with the children, their parents and extended families.
Currently, Sara has 27 ponies “in”, from lead-reins to intermediates. Planning ahead is key with any team of this size, but Sara explains that because there are children involved, she’s often trying to plan a year ahead.
“Finding ponies, you have to be much more ahead of yourself than if you were finding horses for yourself. It’s just about matching ponies and riders together. You absolutely have to match the personality to the pony, but you’re also anticipating where they’re going to be in a year’s time which isn’t so difficult when you know your children.”
When working with the children, Sara operates on a “stacking the odds in your favour” philosophy, whereby you set them up to succeed in small incremental steps.
“Every time they ride, it needs to be positive and a step forwards, so with a first ridden we’ll halve the school so they are confident and you’re in control of the situation. Stack everything up so you have small wins.”
In an era when we’re being increasingly encouraged to be aware of pony welfare, Sara shares some tips on balancing ensuring the welfare of the pony with the safety of the child, something she says is “not easy” and she encourages “managing as best as you can” with tips including allowing lots of downtime, time in the field, and not having them too fit.
Sara and Craig ended their 2024 season on a high, as they produced Heather Clay’s lead-rein pony Derw Dream Boy to land one of the most coveted titles in showing; the Horse of the Year Show supreme pony championship.
Reflecting on that aspirational feat, Sara says: “At the time you don’t realise what you’re doing, because you’re working.” Rather, she shares that it was only after they got home and she was walking her dogs, that the achievement hit her.
Hear more about Sara and Craig’s yard, their successes and Sara’s thoughts on the industry, on episode 163 of The Horse & Hound Podcast.
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