Childhood dreams dashed - Drumnadrochit - CLOSED!

[Prancerpoos]

When I was a little girl scanning every page of my Pony magazine (in the 1960s!) there used to be an advert in the classifieds bit for pony trekking at Drumnadrochit. I used to dream of going to such an exotic place but knew it was never going to happen. So, quite a few years later, here I am planning a trip up to see a friend in the Highlands and I noticed whilst googling her address that it was near/ish to Drumnadrochit. I thought I could finally make my dream come true, only to find that it closed a few years ago.

Did anyone else on here have dreams of going places they saw advertised as a child? Maybe some of you actually got to make them come true. ?

 

[soloequestrian]

Try Loch Ness Riding at Dores - just the other side of the loch so you'd probably be able to see Drumnadrochit.
It really isn't all that exotic....

 

[Melandmary]

Oh what a shame, i worked there 1 summer about 27years ago ( now i feel old) taking holiday folk out for treks. The best bit was in the morning we would holler at the bottom gate and all the horses and ponies would come cantering down the hill in to the yard and each straight in to their own stall. Best summer job i ever had, stunning scenery too

 

[Caol Ila]

I have never thought of Drumnadrochit as the place of dreams, but I saw a yard with horses last time I drove through it.

 

[[59668]]

When I was a little girl scanning every page of my Pony magazine (in the 1960s!) there used to be an advert in the classifieds bit for pony trekking at Drumnadrochit. I used to dream of going to such an exotic place but knew it was never going to happen. So, quite a few years later, here I am planning a trip up to see a friend in the Highlands and I noticed whilst googling her address that it was near/ish to Drumnadrochit. I thought I could finally make my dream come true, only to find that it closed a few years ago.

Did anyone else on here have dreams of going places they saw advertised as a child? Maybe some of you actually got to make them come true. ?

I always used to pore longingly over the leaflet for Queen Ethelburgas school that came with Horse and Pony in the 1990s. The capes and the uniform in general, the gorgeous school, the idea of boarding and having a pony there seemed like heaven!
I know all wasn't quite as it seemed there.....but it was a dream setup to a pony mad, Malory Towers mad child.

 

[teapot]

I always used to pore longingly over the leaflet for Queen Ethelburgas school that came with Horse and Pony in the 1990s. The capes and the uniform in general, the gorgeous school, the idea of boarding and having a pony there seemed like heaven!

So did I - apparently it was a shocker of a school in reality (at the time).

Horse side was ditched https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/queen-ethelburgas-doing-away-with-the-horsey-side.696563/

 

[Lexi_]

I always used to pore longingly over the leaflet for Queen Ethelburgas school that came with Horse and Pony in the 1990s. The capes and the uniform in general, the gorgeous school, the idea of boarding and having a pony there seemed like heaven!
I know all wasn't quite as it seemed there.....but it was a dream setup to a pony mad, Malory Towers mad child.

My childhood reading taste was basically pony books and Chalet School books so it sounded like absolute heaven to me too! Alas one of my friends ended up teaching there at one point and it was so bad she very nearly had a nervous breakdown.

 

[chaps89]

I always used to pore longingly over the leaflet for Queen Ethelburgas school that came with Horse and Pony in the 1990s. The capes and the uniform in general, the gorgeous school, the idea of boarding and having a pony there seemed like heaven!
I know all wasn't quite as it seemed there.....but it was a dream setup to a pony mad, Malory Towers mad child.

Ditto!

 

[Roxylola]

I always used to pore longingly over the leaflet for Queen Ethelburgas school that came with Horse and Pony in the 1990s. The capes and the uniform in general, the gorgeous school, the idea of boarding and having a pony there seemed like heaven!
I know all wasn't quite as it seemed there.....but it was a dream setup to a pony mad, Malory Towers mad child.

Same seemed like they were living the dream, boarding school and ponies what more could there be to life

 

[ArklePig]

In cougie, not far from Drumnadrochit if I recall. I had a great time. Sorry for the dodgy pic!

https://www.highlandponytrekking.com/

 

[Bob notacob]

I kind of fell into my dream . My mother did some accounting for a racehorse trainer and I kind of latched on . Home life was BAD (not my mums fault at all. ) The yard became my home and the centre of my life . I was lucky , The trainer was Top trainer in the country that year and close to top for many more. I learned the job . Didnt get to ride work because I was too young but I did get to ride the "Pony"15,2hh of pure evil. .Err, Sacked as guvernors wifes hack ,for extreme brutality. Sacked from teaching apprentices to ride ,.....you guessed it , Lead horse for yearlings ....... sacked with extreme prejudice .... Became Mikes best friend and constant companion . Never sacked . One just had to remember that if you got dumped . Lie flat on the ground so that the following kick went over your head. Get up , catch the bastard and carry on. BHS dont teach this sort of riding .

 

[Sprout]

I had some lovely hacks out from Drumnadrochit when we were on holiday in the area many years ago, such stunning scenery.

 

[SantaVera]

I always used to pore longingly over the leaflet for Queen Ethelburgas school that came with Horse and Pony in the 1990s. The capes and the uniform in general, the gorgeous school, the idea of boarding and having a pony there seemed like heaven!
I know all wasn't quite as it seemed there.....but it was a dream setup to a pony mad, Malory Towers mad child.

me too

 

[SEL]

I used to try and persuade my mum to let me go there - a school with ponies sounded a dream.

 

[Pippity]

At one point, my dad offered to pay for me to go to boarding school. I had the advert for Queen Ethelburga's in my grubby little hand, ready to go, when he did his usual thing and announced he'd never mentioned boarding school, what was I thinking of, he wasn't made of money, etc., etc.. Bah.

 

[Starzaan]

So did I - apparently it was a shocker of a school in reality (at the time).

Horse side was ditched https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/queen-ethelburgas-doing-away-with-the-horsey-side.696563/

Can confirm.
Was the same, longing to go, and persuaded my parents to let me leave normal boarding school to go to QE. AWFUL.
Swiftly escaped and went back to my original boarding school.
It may be different now but my god it was awful then.

 

[Shizzle]

Can confirm.
Was the same, longing to go, and persuaded my parents to let me leave normal boarding school to go to QE. AWFUL.
Swiftly escaped and went back to my original boarding school.
It may be different now but my god it was awful then.

All of these broken dreams!! Noooo!! How could it be so bad?

 

[Snowfilly]

All of these broken dreams!! Noooo!! How could it be so bad?

I know a lady who attended and she still has literal nightmares about it. Apparently it was an absolute hellhole for horses and kids.

I spent my childhood looking at their ads and wishing we were rich so I could go; I’m glad I didn’t!

 

[Birker2020]

I'd always thought I'd love to go on a Bridle Rides holiday where they send you detailed maps and points to go from A to B with overnight accomodation and your suitcases driven ahead for you.

So I was very excited when my friend asked me if I wanted to go on one with her way back in 2003 on my heart horse Rommy. Her friend and her were meant to be going but her friend had broken her arm so it was sadly out of the question. It was all paid for too, so I jumped at the chance.

The first day comprised of a 17.5 mile ride with what seemed like gates every few hundred feet! We got chased by a herd of cows, my friend ripped her saddle bag off going through a narrow gateway, we stopped for lunch and my friend left her mobile phone in the pub and only realised after we'd gone about three miles, so we had to go back for it. The maps they'd given us where pretty useless with directions like turn right at the oak tree, turn left at the park bench, etc. We wasted an hour trying to navigate a cornfield and go straight through the middle as the directions told us to, before realising it was better to ride around the outside of the field.

My friends horse that had hackney in him was trotting so fast up the hill it looked like its legs were whirring, so I went much slower at a sedate trot to save Rommy's legs. It was getting dark and we were still some way off from our destination (our first overnight stop where we'd set off from that morning). I can remember being so achey and jumping off and leading before getting back on again about every half mile or so.

We rang our hosts to explain we'd be late for tea and they were proper shirty with us.

Our next days hack was 22 miles and I was absolutely dreading it as the 17.5 mile one had taken us the best part of 8 hours to navigate.

When we finally got back from our very long hack we untacked, fed and turned out the horses and then had to wait 1/2 hour for the barbecue to be started and to be hot enough to put the food on and were we starving by that point!!

Next day up bright and early for a fantastic breakfast before the start of our 22 mile ride (argggh) but we got the horses in from the field we discovered my friends horse was crippled lame (probably the rate of knots it had trotted up the hill the day before) so we went home.

I can't say I wasn't relieved it was all over! Friends horse recovered after a few day but I vowed never to do one again!

 

[Starzaan]

All of these broken dreams!! Noooo!! How could it be so bad?

Many changing goal posts, and I’m another who has nightmares about it still. Not a good place.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Are there any boarding schools left with decent riding facilities? Stonar used to be good for riding, but I see on here that it no longer is.

I did go to a horsey boarding prep school, it was completely idyllic. Like a permanent sleepover with ponies thrown in. Real life was a shock after that. It's still going, albeit it has recently been taken over by Bryanston School.

 

[[59668]]

Are there any boarding schools left with decent riding facilities? Stonar used to be good for riding, but I see on here that it no longer is.

I did go to a horsey boarding prep school, it was completely idyllic. Like a permanent sleepover with ponies thrown in. Real life was a shock after that. It's still going, albeit it has recently been taken over by Bryanston School.

Mayfield School still does

 

[teapot]

Are there any boarding schools left with decent riding facilities? Stonar used to be good for riding, but I see on here that it no longer is.

I did go to a horsey boarding prep school, it was completely idyllic. Like a permanent sleepover with ponies thrown in. Real life was a shock after that. It's still going, albeit it has recently been taken over by Bryanston School.

Bryanston, Millfield and Cranleigh still do. Stonar still does, just maybe not to the level it used to be. Then a number of much smaller schools with one small arena type. Then there are the schools who have teams and it’s up to the parents to ferry horses around for lessons/training etc.

I went to a latter smaller type, used to bunk off A-level Chemistry to hack out. Those were the days!