Last checked October 2026
Most branches order a small core: a fleece or hoodie members live in, a polo for rallies and camp, and a gilet or softshell for the adults running things. The decision that matters is not what to order but who pays. Branch-funded bulk orders strand money in unsold sizes; member-paid ordering, where each family buys their own, costs the branch nothing and removes the stock problem entirely.
Pony Club branches are run by volunteers who already have enough to do. Kit is usually someone's side project, and it goes wrong in predictable ways: too much stock in the wrong sizes, a badge that comes back looking like a smudge, and a treasurer carrying the float.
Key takeaways
- Three or four garments covers almost every branch, not a catalogue
- Member-paid ordering means no branch money at risk and no leftover stock
- Branch badges are usually drawn for print and need redrawing for thread
- Children's sizing runs wider than adult sizing and needs its own mark size
- Order before camp and before the autumn intake, not during them
- A badge drawn once is reused free on every order afterwards
What branches usually order
| Piece | Who wears it | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Hoodie or fleece | Members | The single highest-uptake item; worn far beyond rallies |
| Polo shirt | Members | Camp, rallies and summer; cheap enough to buy two |
| Gilet or softshell | DCs, instructors, parent helpers | Makes the people running the day identifiable |
| Beanie | Everyone, winter | Low cost, high visibility, no sizing problem |
| Saddlecloth | Teams at competitions | Branch identity where other branches see it |
Resist the urge to offer everything. A branch that lists fourteen items splits demand across all of them and ends up with awkward quantities of each. Three or four pieces, available all year, beats a big seasonal catalogue.
The ordering question is the real one
Do not buy stock. Member-paid ordering means each family orders and pays for their own kit, it is stitched to order, and the branch never handles money, boxes or leftover smalls. The treasurer's exposure goes to zero and nobody has to run a cupboard.
The traditional model — branch buys fifty, sells them at rallies, hopes to break even — fails for a reason that has nothing to do with enthusiasm. You cannot predict the size split of a membership that changes every September. You will sell the age 9-10s and be left with the age 13-14s, and that stock sits for two years.
It also makes someone personally responsible for stock, which is a volunteer job nobody wants twice.
Your branch badge probably needs redrawing
Most branch badges were drawn for a blazer pocket, a printed newsletter or a website header. Thread is a different medium with real physical limits, and a badge that looks sharp on screen can lose its outline entirely at 60mm on a fleece.
What typically has to change
- Fine outlines — a one-pixel keyline has no thread equivalent and either vanishes or thickens
- Small lettering — branch names ringed around a badge often need setting larger or dropping
- Close colours — two similar greens that separate on screen merge in thread
- Detail density — crests with horses, buckles and scrolls need simplifying for small sizes
- Fleece versus polo — pile swallows detail, so a bolder version is often drawn for fleece
This is the step most suppliers run through software in a few minutes and give away free, which is exactly why club kit so often comes back disappointing. We charge for it and do it properly: see how we draw a mark, or commission the Mark directly.
The file is drawn once. Every order after that uses it at no further charge, so a branch pays for the drawing in its first year and never again.
Children's sizing changes the mark
A crest sized for an adult chest looks oversized on an age 7-8 hoodie, and the same badge at the same dimensions sits differently relative to the seams. Any decent supplier will scale it. Ask whether they are scaling the artwork or redrawing it, because scaling alone degrades fine detail at the small end.
When to order
Two windows matter. Spring, so kit exists before camp and the summer rally programme. And early autumn, after the September intake, when you know who your new members are. Ordering in the middle of either is how branches end up paying for rush turnaround on something that was predictable in February.
Rowley & Bowes works with Pony Club branches, riding clubs and schools alongside the racing yards and studs around Newmarket. We set up a branch ordering page, members buy their own, and nothing comes out of branch funds.
Sorting branch kit for next season?
Send us your badge in whatever form you have it, even a photograph of a blazer, and we will tell you honestly what it will do in thread.
Send an enquiryFrequently asked questions
What is the minimum order for Pony Club branded clothing?
With us there is no minimum. One hoodie is stitched to the same standard as a hundred, which is the point of member-paid ordering: families order individually as they need kit rather than the branch committing to a bulk run. Suppliers who impose minimums of twenty-five or fifty are protecting their own setup costs, and that is what pushes branches into buying stock they then have to sell.
Can you embroider our existing branch badge?
Almost always, but it usually needs redrawing first. Branch badges tend to have been designed for print or for a blazer pocket, and thread cannot reproduce fine keylines, very small lettering or closely matched colours. We redraw it for thread, proof it at every size it will appear, and send you a stitched sample before anything goes into production. The file is then reused free on all later orders.
Should the branch buy stock or let members order individually?
Individually, in almost every case. Branch membership turns over each September, so the size split is unpredictable and bulk orders reliably leave unsold sizes. Member-paid ordering puts no branch money at risk, needs no storage, and means no volunteer is left running a kit cupboard or chasing payments at rallies.
What should a branch order first?
A hoodie or fleece for members and a gilet for the people running rallies. Those two cover the great majority of demand. Add a polo before camp and a beanie before winter if there is appetite. A short list that is available all year works better than a large seasonal catalogue, which splits demand and leaves odd quantities of everything.