Riding in London for a beginner

[lcs]

Hello

I am hoping to take up riding again as an adult (I last rode a long time ago as a child). I live in London and have been looking into different riding schools. I have made a shortlist but would like to know what people think about them, if they have any experience of them. Although I am an adult beginner/novice, I would like to be able to learn more about caring for a horse, not just riding - is this too ambitious? I can remember helping out as a child and enjoying it lots, and I would like to be able to do something similar.
My shortlist is: (in no particular order)

Westway Stables
Aldersbrook Riding
Ealing Riding Stables
Trent Park

I would be really grateful if someone could tell me something about these, or perhaps recommend somewhere else for me to consider.

Thank you!

[Purplehorse]

I haven't been to any of these, but I always think Trent Park looks AMAZING!! Their website is really good and shows you pictures of the horses.

There is the most beautiful horse I have ever seen on there, called Gorgeous (but she is privately owned)

Sorry - not terribly helpful - but just to say I have seen their website before and it looks great.

[Peanut]

Which part of London do you live in? I don't know any of the ones you have listed but when I lived in London (SW) I used to go to Kingston Riding Centre which is just outside London and loved it there.

[Skib]

Where are you in London and how old? I dont know Trent Park.
I started riding in my sixties in London. Like others I can tell you about various schools - pros and cons. But you would need to PM me as we dont post negative comment in public on this board.
Although I suggest choosing a school and teacher carefully (as described in Learning to Ride wirth the BHS, you may well find you need to go to more than one place to get the full experience. Some schools teach adults very well, but their insurance does not allow clients to groom, tack up etc unless you pay for the priviledge as "lesson" time supervised buy a teacher.

At another riding school helping may be encouraged and the stable management course may be great - but the teaching of riding may be bullying or the choice of horses not so good.

[lcs]

Hello Peanut - I live in Bloomsbury. As it is so central there isn't really anywhere nearby. I don't mind travelling for 45mins on the tube/bus somewhere.

Hello Purplehorse - yes I know what you mean about the website, but I don't want to be 'seduced' byt a good website but not a very good teaching environment...it does look nice though!

[marchhare2006]

Hello,

I've ridden at Ealing and Trent Park.

Ealing is a nice little riding school but they don't have many horses and ponies and don't do any hacking out. The instruction I had there was good but it's more aimed at children learning to ride I think.

I ride regularly at Trent Park now. It's massive - they have around 100 horses and ponies, so there's a horse to suit everyone. The only thing about this school is that it gets very busy, particularly during school holidays and weekends and they tend to split the arenas up so there can be up to 4 lessons going on in one arena! This obviously gets a bit difficult with everyone trying to keep out of everyone's way. The instruction is good though and a lot of the instructors are young and so know the modern way of doing things. I think they are quite up for teaching stable management too.

x

[lcs]

skib - i have sent you a pm

marchhare2006 - that is very helpful thank you. I would be looking to ride during the week (daytimes) and so perhaps it wouldn't be so busy? It is also quite encouraging to know that they might be willing to start me off on the basics of stable management as well. Are they quite receptive to adults wanting to learn/re learn how to ride? Do you know if the 'Blazing Saddles' group is geared towards all types of adult riders? It looked like the sort of thing I was after on the website (1 hr lesson, then 15mins stable management afterwards)

Just a general question - do you think I would be better off in a group or having a private lesson? I am inclined to think private would be the best way to go to get the basics sorted but I also want to gain socially from this...

[Purplehorse]

There's also Wimbledon Village Stables www.wvstables.com

I haven't been there, but again it looks really good - all the riding is out on the common (including the lessons) which would be a bonus getting some fresh air in London!

[Purplehorse]

Also, I forgot to add about Wimbledon, they definitely do stable management type courses that you could get involved with.

(I was looking at all these places earlier in the year when I thought I was going to be moving to London - but luckily I didn't so I haven't had to change schools!)

[blumke99]

Epping Forest is at the end of the Central Line (Loughton) and has some OK schools with access to good forest rides.

[notpoodle]

i could also heartily recommend Lee Valley riding centre in hackney/leyton. they have super horses, super facilities and excellent instructors! and, theyre fairly central (bus ride from angel tube or hackney central trainstation).

there is also the London Equestrian Centre, Lullington garth, Mill hill, easily accessible from mill hill east tube. i used to keep my pony there and had a couple of lessons there as well - theyre very nice and cater for adult beginners :)

pm me if you want more info :)

Julia
x

[joey_olop]

Trent park is huge-was going to take my exams there and went to have a look around. No experience of it personally but it certainly looks the part :)

[madferret]

I used to ride at Trent Park too! I really liked it.

Bit manic and can be a bit daunting at first as its so huge, but afternoon's are generally quieter and I can vouch for their amazing pub rides at new year (nothing like galloping though the woods after a few G&T's!!)

Its easily accessable by tube too which is handy.

If you do go there, give pete and lilly a big kiss from me :D

[ajhainey]

Where in london are you? Do you have a car? Trent park have a fab rep from a couple of my friends that go there but not convienient for all areas of london. aj xx

[sophie33]

At the moment I ride at High Beech out in Epping Forest. I really like it. You don't get much stable management as part of your lessons, but you can book stable management lessons. However, it is a mile and a half from the nearest tube (Loughton on the Central line) and is a fairly long journey from where you live.
I used to ride at Lea Valley when I was a complete beginner. I think they were pretty good really, although I wasn't keen on the fact I kept getting a different instructor in each lesson. Might be just my experience though as I didn't go there for long.
I then went to Aldersbrook. It is smallish and friendly but I didn't find the teaching to my liking. I'll pm you if you want to know more!
Still as you can see from me it has taken a while to find a school I'm happy with, so it is probably worth trying a few before deciding for sure where to go regularly.

[lcs]

Thank you all for your very friendly and helpful replies! It seems that there is a myriad of choice out there and that perhaps I would be best to try a few lessons at different places to get a feel for things.
I will try a few out during the course of the month and let you know how I get on (if you would like to know of course!).
Trent Park sounds as though it would be worth me trying out, and perhaps also the London Equestrian Centre. Skib also very helpfully suggested one closer to me which I shall also find out more about.

I would still be interested to know if anybody has experience of Westway Stables as they seemed quite promising. If anybody could pm me with any experience of them I would be grateful.

I'm really looking forward to getting back into the saddle and think I shall be coming here more often as you are all so friendly and warm!!

[pico]

When I was thinking about looking for somewhere to do volunteer or working student time I stopped by Westway once and watched a few lessons - something I highly recommend doing as part of picking any riding school, btw -

I can't say loads about what the quality of teaching is, but the instructor I watched seemed to be doing a credible job.
One of the lessons I watched was beginners including several adult beginners (as i recall it was a mix of adult beginners and older children? It was over a year and a helf ago now, the memory grows fuzzy ;-P ). They had a mix of sizes and types of horses - to the extent that they can fit them in to the space they have that is! It's an odd place, literally right under the flyover. The arena is "roofed" by being under the flyover instead by being in a building of it's own - which was kind of cool actually - no worries about the ceiling seeming low ever there ;)

[Afellpony]

ICS I work in Bloomsbury at one of the hospitals near Queen Square.:D

[lcs]

Afellpony - that is down the road from me! Where do you ride?

[susiep2323]

[QUOTE=lcs]
Trent Park sounds as though it would be worth me trying out, and perhaps also the London Equestrian Centre. Skib also very helpfully suggested one closer to me which I shall also find out more about.

I would still be interested to know if anybody has experience of Westway Stables as they seemed quite promising. If anybody could pm me with any experience of them I would be grateful.
QUOTE]
HI I used to ride v regularly at Trent Park, it's a friendly huge yard etc etc - I am assuming you are a female cos.. On Wednesday and Friday mornings they have a female riding club called Blazing Saddles ( average age of us is I'd guess 35-45ish) - costs £22 for 1 hr ride plus 1/2 hr stable managment lecture - some of us are going to take our BHS exams through the club. It s very friendly - you just turn up at 10.15 on Wed or Fri am and off you go. Plus the added attraction of a free cuppa and slice of cake after the ride/lecture! plus horsy gossip of course.
The only drawback if you haven't ridden for some time is that in the summer holidays (which seem to go on forever) all the schools are used for the kids so you can only hack out - which means you have to be able to walk, trot canter confidently, I would really recomend it, if you not up for a canter go in Septemebr once the sprogs have disappeared! I dont go so much now as share a pony nearby but it is stil nice to ride with the girls ( hope i have'tmade it sound twee it iisnt ( and a apologies for length of post.)
Also ridden at Westway as near my manor - If you can get Sarah to teach you vv good instruction but she can be scary not horible just well scary - but she's not always available, ponies all qhite sharp, surrouindings - yuck - but again a friendly place
hope this helped
Susie

[susiep2323]

skib - i wanting to learn/re learn how to ride? Do you know if the 'Blazing Saddles' group is geared towards all types of adult riders? It looked like the sort of thing I was after on the website (1 hr lesson, then 15mins stable management afterwards)

Just a general question - do you think I would be better off in a group or having a private lesson? I am inclined to think private would be the best way to go to get the basics sorted but I also want to gain socially from this...
B saddles is for any one (female sorry lads)- some rode as kids then had long gaps some have never ridden at all til they joined - they would usuallly teach you on your own for at least the first lesson if you had litttle or no experience, and it is great socially too - there is only so much your bloke wants to know about fetlocks and forelocks mine anyway!

[susiep2323]

I haven't been to any of these, but I always think Trent Park looks AMAZING!! Their website is really good and shows you pictures of the horses.

There is the most beautiful horse I have ever seen on there, called Gorgeous (but she is privately owned)

.
She is very soppy too and loves licking your hands:)

[Purplehorse]

Ooh SusieP I think she is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!! I'm in love with her from the website - but that's lovely to hear she is soppy too and likes licking your hands!!

Lucky you - do you ride her? What is she like?

(I work in London but live and ride outside London, so I don't really have any reason to go to Trent Park unfortunately, which is a great shame as I would love to meet Gorgeous!!!) :D

[Afellpony]

Hi Ics. I just commute to London daily to work but I live in East Sussex. I keep my pony not far from where I live.

[lcs]

Hello

That is very helpful to know - thank you. The Blazing Saddles sounds as though it would be suitable for me particularly because I want to gain socially from this. I also like the fact that there is some stable management at the end. I think I will look into starting in September when the kids are back at school because I wouldn't feel happy about going straight on a hack.

I am really looking forward to it now - last time I tried to take up riding again I had a miserable time!

[Mina]

Hi there,

I've ridden at Wimbledon Village Stables and I highly recommend them; they are really friendly, knowledgeable, and have lovely horses. The only down side is it can be rather difficult to get a lesson or hack at the weekend unless you are a member. Their website has details of membership, and they do some terrific looking courses including horse care.

I re-started riding last year, and had lessons at Aldborough Hall Equestrian Centre until recently (the website is http://raq8.uk2.net/ ). It is about a 20 minute walk from Newbury Park tube station (Central Line), and I found the quality of their teaching very professional, they have a nice range of horses, and it is more reasonably priced than a lot of places in London. However, they don't offer hacking.

Good Luck, I'm sure you'll have fun whereever you ride!

[digitalangel]

i would not recommend trent park, sorry

wimbledon is good though!

[CrisO]

I used to ride at Trent park until I started sharing. They also do courses for the BHS stages which you might want to consider as it is riding and stable management. Stage 1 is for beginners and it is quite sociable as there is a bar there and the people doing the course often went for a drink after.

[lcs]

Hello! I must confess that I have had quite a hectic time recently and so have not yet found the time to have a look round anywhere just yet, apart from Westway and that was only by chance. Somebody mentioned to me about Kentish Town City Farm which is just up the road from me, so I am hoping to go along there next week. I am also going to look at Trent Park (although perhaps digitalangel would be kind enough to pm with her opinions!) and Aldborough Hall.
I did have a look at Westway (was passing through the area and had a spare minutes) but not sure if that is going to be suitable as it was too noisy. I have problems with my hearing in one ear and think I would find it hard to catch what the instructor is saying!
I haven't logged on for a long time because of all my problems at my end but hopefully when I do find somewhere I shall tell you all about it as you have all been so helpful and friendly!!

[xhex]

Hi there!

I thought I might throw in my two (pence? :rolleyes: ) as no one has mentioned Littlebourne Equestrian Centre (http://www.littlebournefarm.com/), where I ride regularly (very friendly, lovely atmosphere, clean, gorgeous horses and ponies.. multiple arenas etc).

Westway Stables.. I'm sorry I have very strong opinions angainst this riding school for various reasons, but will shorten them down to mainly: it is situated in the middle of a (excuse my French) sh**hole, scrap yard beside it, noisy as it's under a flyover, no greenery or fields or..anything! It is tiny, they do not have many horses and/or stables, only one small arena and for some reason were never welcoming or sociable people. :confused:

There is a great little place in Stanmore (NW London) although this one is very much hidden away and not very well known (this is also a very good thing, nice little business, friendly and down to earth, relaxed atmosphere and is almost a little 'gem of a secret', so to speak). It's best to get to via car, otherwise the best option would be to travel via minicab (office right outside of Stanmore station) 7 minutes drive away from station for a few pounds.

I have not tried Ealing as I rang up to ask about hacking and they pretty much explained that they have nothing there at all or nowhere to go. This put me off from my previous experience with Westway.

I am also searching for some fantastic places around London to just simply go on hacks with .. I am very very happy currently riding at both Stanmore and Littlebourne but am curious to find some gorgeous woods/trails where other schools organise rides out etc..

[Lou-lou]

Another recommendation for Kingston Riding Centre. I took up riding as an adult (late 20s) there and it really got me hooked. I had private lessons but I believe there are adult groups you can go in to once if you prefer. They've got a good range of well cared for horses and great instructors. It gets very busy at weekends though so make sure you book well in advance. And make sure you request the same instructor each time (I got swapped about a bit too much unless I made a point of doing this). Oh, and you can go hacking in Richmond Park from there too - a big bonus. If you want to know any more please feel free to PM me.

If you are fairly mobile I would recommend getting out of London for your lessons. Now I've moved out of the capital I'm enjoying my riding even more - schools are less hectic and about half the price!

[FancY_FriesiaN]

I dont live in the London area so I know nothing about the list you have.

But if you really want to learn more about taking care of horses maybe you should volunteer! ;)

[happymom]

I love Blazing Saddles! It is fab for all levels. I started after a 20 yr break and a year later am in the advanced group. The social side is great fun.

[Skib]

This is a very old thread. From two years ago and the poster found a private arrangement to ride.