Pony Club mounted games team disqualified for ‘cruelty’

THE winning team at a Pony Club mounted games final in Newcastle has been disqualified and stripped of their Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) ticket following accusations of cruelty.

Outraged competitors and spectators bombarded the Pony Club with complaints, claiming a member of the winning Cheshire Hunt North branch team had beaten his pony with a pole during the Mounted Games Zone Finals 2008 at Newcastle Racecourse on 5-6 July.

But trainer of Cheshire Hunt North, Richard Marsden, said: “The majority of the complaints came from one team. It was sour grapes.”

Helen Sear, 18, is a Pony Club member who witnessed the incident. She told H&H that a boy repeatedly hit his pony with the pole used in the litter race and thumped the pony in the head .

No action was taken by Pony Club officials on the day but Cheshire Hunt North was disqualified a week later. The East Down team have now won.

Rosalind Slinger, of the Pony Club, said: “The members are trying to put the episode behind them. A full investigation was carried out.”

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (14 August, ’08)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now