My Hackney pony is Elans Little Prince who is 12 hh.  I purchased Prince three years ago as a seven-year-old entire. Having absolutely no experience of Hackneys, it was a baptism of fire! After speaking to the secretary of the Hackney Horse Society, we decided that the step was taken to have Prince gelded.

Three months later we arrived to take part in the Certius camp. Amazingly, he settled well in a quiet part of the stables. Putting to was exciting but once in harness, he decided that doing cones and obstacles was rather fun. His natural suppleness and good paces meant he could produce a promising dressage test too. He’s also stunning which helps! We continued through the summer with a couple of local club mini ODE events.

Still having high testosterone levels, careful management was always needed. We never tied up outside the lorry but he would stand well on it. We’d find a quiet spot away from everyone to park and put to.   We also soon learnt Hackneys need a relatively firm hand and we found that we could never let go or relax the hold on his headcollar.

After 2024 winter it was noticeable how much more chilled he was in company. He was also easier to handle at home, with far less prancing in from the field, and his go to ‘Hackney turbo’ reared its head far less. So, we tried a bit of Exercise Cart class showing which was great fun.  We even managed to stand in line which was brilliant because it’s not always his greatest asset, standing. He then went to Certius again and was driven by one of the Aussie team. In the intro class, when the final tally came through, he was 11th in the strongest, international class.

My overall view of owning a Hackney now is that they aren’t always an easy option. They are sharp and quick reactors, so you need to manage their environment carefully, always being aware of potential hotspots. Prince can be easily upset – he’s very intelligent which is great when you are teaching him something, but it also means he can get bored and requires distraction.

Out of my three ponies, Prince is the one that stands on the bottom rail of the fencing to watch tea being made, he’s the one that’s taught himself standing on a poly jump stand gives you a better view and if you’ve eaten dinner, pick the feeder up and chuck it over stable door. If your friend goes out to be worked before you, kick the stable wall to pieces and drive Mum mad! But on the other hand he loves his humans, and you feel once you’re on the same wavelength, he’d give his all to achieve what you’re asking.