Return of the Cosy Pony! 28. November 2012 paul.bentham@robinsons-uk.com Behind the Scenes (0) We all love a good comeback, don't we? Take That seem to be selling more music and more concert tickets than ever and how else can you describe 'Strictly Come Dancing' other than a turbo-charged, celebrity-filled version of the original, long-running 'Come Dancing'? In the spirit of looking to the past for inspiration, we've decided to re-launch one of our old favourites later this month, the Cosy Pony rug* but first, it may be necessary to remind ourselves what a Cosy Pony even was... Way, way back in 1989, we unleashed a new stable rug specifically for ponies, called the Cosy Pony. In our catalogue that year, we described it as "the quilted rug you've all been waiting for" – complete with a distinctive logo showing a pony in a bed! In its first year, it was only available in navy with red bindings and surcingles, as most quilted rugs seemed to be in those days. At a time when some stable rugs were being offered at upto £70 – around the same price as a top-of-the-range Walkman, The Cosy Pony was yours for £29.96 (for sizes 3'9" to 5'0") or £34.96 (for sizes 5'3" to 5'6") – about the same price as a shell suit. If you're old enough to remember the original Cosy Pony, you'll almost certainly remember what a Walkman and a shell suit both were! Needless to say, the Cosy Pony proved to be a hugely popular product. The no-nonsense design, clever branding and competitive pricing were, not surprisingly, a successful combination. As the 1990s dawned, it became clear that we'd found a fantastic addition to our range. In our 1990 catalogue, you can see that we'd worked hard to develop the idea even further. The logo had been improved, a dog version was added and new colour options of black with fluorescent pink or green were added to the original navy/red. A few months ago, we sent a small team to do a photo shoot in nearby St. Helens and when they got to the location, they were totally surprised to see two ponies walking across the yard wearing their original Cosy Pony Rugs. Over twenty years on, these products were still going strong! That story created something of a spark in our buying office so this winter, we'll be re-introducing the Cosy Pony stable rug to our range once more. They'll be available once again in pony sizes and in the more popular black/fluorescent green and black/fluorescent pink colours – and they'll all be offered at the cheaper 1989 price of £29.96, irrespective of size! Initially, the 2012 Cosy Pony will be offered in one of our forthcoming '16 Deals of Christmas' daily email offers, due to be emailed in December. They'll be almost identical to the original rugs in every way, with their cross surcingles, cotton lining, a 420 denier outer and 220g (or 8oz, as we used to say) filling. Just like Take That, once they're back, it'll be like they've never been away! If you like the product and the price, you could own a faithful replica of one of the most popular products we've ever offered within days of receiving that email! Of course, if you're not currently receiving regular emailed offers, you might miss this and other great offers, particularly between now and Christmas. If you'd like to receive our regular emailed offers, simply go to the 'Email Sign up' page on our website and enter your details! Many of our customers still fondly remember their first Cosy Pony Rug and the pony they bought if for. Maybe today's pony riders will be able to say the same about these products in another twenty years' time… *The 2012 Cosy Pony Rug is available to view now - and add to your wishlist - but it will only be available to purchase when it is featured on one of our daily emailed deals, later this month. Stay tuned to our website to find out which day that is! Other events in 1989: The first of 24 GPS satellites was put into orbit, enabling the concept of satellite navigation to become a reality. 'Rain Man' won the Oscar for Best Picture and one of its stars, Dustin Hoffman won the Oscar for Best Actor. The fall of the Berlin Wall: enabled free movement of Germans from East Germany to West Germany, allowing the eventual re-unification of Germany. Similar revolutions in several other Eastern Bloc countries like Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia. The World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist working in Switzerland. The first episode of 'The Simpsons' was aired on the Fox network. For 17 of the 52 weeks of 1989, the Number 1 spot in the UK Singles charts was held by Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan (or both) and (ahem)… Jive Bunny Milton and John Whitaker became European Showjumping champions at Rotterdam Virginia Leng (née Holgate) won her record fifth title at the Burghley Horse Trials Tweet