Aussie moving to London - where to ride?

classicalrider

classicalrider

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Hi everyone! Be gentle, I'm new. :)

I'm moving to London from Australia in April and my number one priority will be finding somewhere to ride!
I'll either be living west or north of London, so if you have any recommendations on good riding schools with top dressage instructors, I'd be very grateful. No car, so would have to be accessible by public transport. I have classical leanings rather than being of the school to 'pull the head in and kick up the hindlegs', so I'm keen to find good instructors who train to my preferences - poll high, open gullet, engaged hindquarters. One of my good friends here in AUS is in the Phillipe Karl instructor course.

I'm a competent rider, particularly focussed on dressage, and owned my own horses in Australia as well as rode for other people. The lovely boy in my avatar is a young, electric 14.2 welsh cob that I restarted for his owner and took out to his first club days and shows. I'm going to miss the ponies at home very much, but I'm also looking forward to seeing what the UK has to offer!

Pony dressage is just starting to get going in Australia and I'm lucky enough to be small enough to ride them so horse/pony size schoolies not an issue.
Alternatively, I may look for a horse to share. Not really sure at this stage!
But any information you forumites could give me would be fantastic. :)
 
Sorry it's early, so no car. Trent park is in the vicinity of NW London. Never been but they are a BHS training centre so can't be all bad.
 
Hiya! First of all: welcome to the forum ... And soon to the UK
Riding in London is mainly in riding schools. There are a few around, it will depend on where you will actually be based. If you are more into one on one tuition you will probably be better off trying to find a share ... Although that can be tricky without a car. I keep mine in Epping Forest, North East of London but it us miles away from public transport
 
Welcome to the UK.
Unfortunately you will find that relying on public transport, especially at weekends, will severely limit you. Land around the capital is so expensive that most horse owners and riding establishments are around 30 miles plus outside the capital. I suggest that if you have a driving license you first sign up to one of the car companies where you hire by the hour, e.g.
http://zipcar.co.uk/weblonr?gclid=CJKp64-l1K4CFZARfAodQTXQfA


Why not try
http://www.turvillevalleystud.co.uk/contact-us
They are a little further out but have a good competition record (I've never ridden there so can't give you personal experience but maybe someone here can)
 
Paris1 said:
Sorry it's early, so no car. Trent park is in the vicinity of NW London. Never been but they are a BHS training centre so can't be all bad.
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Thanks will check them out. They do seem to be a good option nearby - and it can't hurt to try a few schools.

I just sold my car here in Australia (really can't go without one here), and I feel naked already. Very odd! I may end up buying one anyway over there depending. The Zipcar scheme Herts05 mentioned looks fairly affordable and useful too, so will check that out as well.

I knew quality riding would be hard to find close in (same issue here with land) but travelling a little doesn't bother me. Cost is approximately equal to what we'd pay here for private school horse lesson. I'm more concerned about finding a school with the same principles.

I did like the look of Contessa although they are further out again in Ware. Any reviews on that school? Or on the London Eq Centre, or Frith Manor?

Thanks for your help, guys. I can research all I like, but getting actual opinions is invaluable. Naturally, every school puts itself in the best light possible and may not detail things like specific instructors, or philosophies, etc.

I guess I should put up some photos of the ponies? :)
 
On a funny note - my non-horsey mother is rather gobsmacked that I'm intending to take a few pairs of jods and two sets of boots and gaitors with me (and helmet of course).
"Where are you going to fit all your clothes?!" she says.
Clearly she doesn't understand that all a horsey person needs ARE their jods and boots! :cool:
 
Contessa is on my wish list too! sadly too far. For general riding there are a number of city farms, deen city, mudchute, and vauxhall city, all accessible by public transport. Friends recomend Mudchute, which is in the East near Canary Warf.
Don't despair there arw affordable places in the city, just avoid the southwest unless you want to spend over £50 for a ride.
 
Lee Valley Riding Centre in East London has good facilities and some very nice horses. Julia Doskar gives lessons there. She is a Gp dressage rider and very good. It is a twenty minute walk from Clapton station and there are various buses from the city that stop at the end of the drive.
 
I used to ride at Willowtree in Lee Green. SE6 I think?
The instructor there taught classically. It was 10 years ago though so I don't know what it is like now, but it is walking distance from Hither Green railway station and not too expensive. Also it's off the south circular so you can get a bus from Lewisham.
 
Also Aldborough Hall Equestrian Centre has some lovely dressage horses - all home bred thoroughbreds. They only do private lessons weekday afternoons, but I used to go to their advanced evening lessons on a Thursday which were pretty good. I thought I'd hate group lessons but actually everyone is of a good standard and works on their own and they do lots of lateral work and the like.

It's about a 20 minute walk from Newbury Park tube on the Central Line.
 
Prepping Eclipse for his first Ag Show:
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Eclipse of the amazing canter. Can you believe he's only 14.2hh?
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Jimbob (now retired) out for a hoon on XC:
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Jimbob wants more carrots please:
picture.php
 
ghostie said:
Also Aldborough Hall Equestrian Centre has some lovely dressage horses - all home bred thoroughbreds. They only do private lessons weekday afternoons, but I used to go to their advanced evening lessons on a Thursday which were pretty good. I thought I'd hate group lessons but actually everyone is of a good standard and works on their own and they do lots of lateral work and the like.

It's about a 20 minute walk from Newbury Park tube on the Central Line.
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Oh thanks, just checked and that's a possibility. Good to know that the standard is decent and teach laterals. :)
 
ghostie said:
Lee Valley Riding Centre in East London has good facilities and some very nice horses. Julia Doskar gives lessons there. She is a Gp dressage rider and very good. It is a twenty minute walk from Clapton station and there are various buses from the city that stop at the end of the drive.
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Cheers for that. They look accessible as well.

noblesteed said:
I used to ride at Willowtree in Lee Green. SE6 I think?
The instructor there taught classically. It was 10 years ago though so I don't know what it is like now, but it is walking distance from Hither Green railway station and not too expensive. Also it's off the south circular so you can get a bus from Lewisham.
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Closer than I thought. I'll look them up and maybe give them a call to see if they're still teaching on the same wavelength.

Thanks!!
 
I'd definitely recommend mudchute - especially the advanced group class. I really enjoyed my lessons there and they are very reasonable.

I've had lessons at quite a few places in London since moving here 9 yrs ago (trent park, aldborough, south medburn) and they were my favourite and cheapest :) it's hard to get hold of them but worth it.

Happy to help with other recommendations - I looked at a lot of yards at uni (for the riding club) all had to be easyish to reach from public transport in south west London.
 
If you want one on one tuition I'd definitely recommend Julia Doskar as she is excellent and very classical in her style, but for a group my preference would be Aldborough over Lee Valley. The advantage of Lee Valley though is that they do lessons from 7am until late in the evening during the week as well as weekends, so it's easier to fit around work commitments. They have three/four arenas (sometimes three big, sometimes two big and two smaller) so they have a lot of flexibility.

Should have said, Lee Valley is not massively far from Leyton tube station, you could walk it in half an hour or bus/walk in about 20 minutes.
 
I've also tried Aldersbrook but not sure that they'd offer what you want in terms of tuition and they don't have so many decent horses. Plus their indoor school is pretty small, and their outdoor one is a really odd irregular shape which can be a bit distracting!
 
ghostie said:
If you want one on one tuition I'd definitely recommend Julia Doskar as she is excellent and very classical in her style,.
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I have a feeling that Julia is heading back home (Austria or germany, can't remember!) so I don't think she is around much longer, if at all!
If you're got a decent job (or won the lottery) then have a look at Riding Club London - they organise high level clinics in Sj/dressage/xc/hunting etc all at places easily accesible from London and provides a decent social circle as well so there would usually be someone to bum a lift off...
 
I have ridden at both trent park and London equestrian centre though not for many years.

Trent park has a wide variety of horses and when I rode there I was in the advanced group but in the end left to get a share as the horses they put me on frightened me. Even though I was competent I did not really enjoy riding the advanced group horses and I really wanted to ride a pony being quite short but they said as I was in the advanced group I had to ride the advanced horses. I was unable to go into a different group either they were not very flexible.

I then shared for about 4 years and when my share horse got sold I rode at London
Equestrian Centre whilst I was looking for a pony to buy. I rode in the evening I think it was either Tues or Thus and my instructor was Anne. She is freelance and teaches one evening a week and comes from a classical dressage background and go to Spain to train. There are a wide range of horses and ponies to ride including some working liveries but they are not going to be dressage horses as such so no flashy warmbloods as riding schools cani't afford to buy mega expensive competition horses.

I then bought my own pony nearly 5 years ago and I still have lessons with Anne but she comes to livery yard I keep my pony at. There are often horses to share at the yard where I l keep my pony which is accessible by public transport.
 
Sounds like there's plenty of opportunity to share/ride! :) Can't wait.
If I get stuck in the meantime, off to the riding schools I'll go.

Who knows, if I can get enough freelance work going, I may be able to get my horse fix even more.

Anybody need a professional editor/proofreader? :)
 
Paris1 said:
Contessa is on my wish list too! sadly too far. For general riding there are a number of city farms, deen city, mudchute, and vauxhall city, all accessible by public transport. Friends recomend Mudchute, which is in the East near Canary Warf.
Don't despair there arw affordable places in the city, just avoid the southwest unless you want to spend over £50 for a ride.
Click to expand...

Contessa springs to mind I am North London but you will need a car. Its very direct straight up A10(or you can A1 to A414 towards Hertford pick up A10. Must be somewhere a bit nearer though? Good luck am sure you will find somewhere to ride there are loads of places around London in the counties/suburbs
 
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