'ride the pony' means relying on advanced information before a test.. At the School Ship we called it the 'scoop', at KP they call it the 'pony'.. I think at Navy they call it the 'skinny' or the 'gouge'.. It's a bank of questions and answers from previous years tests with hopefully a good probability of being on the exam.. Sometimes cadets over rely on 'scoops' or 'ponies' and don't study the course material. If they do that and their 'scoops' or 'ponies' 'miss' as opposed to 'hit', they'll probably end up doing poorly on the test. Scoops and Ponies have their place. I used to use them as a bank of practice problems.. Just so you know; there are no 'ponies' out in the real Merchant Marine and all tests out there are pass/fail.