Competition Livery within commuting distance of Moorgate/Liverpool Street/Kings Cross

hmccord

hmccord

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Hello there, hoping for some help from those of you who have competition horses based to the North and North East of London. I have made the decision to bring my showjumping mare to London and I work near Moorgate tube so I'm trying to find somewhere that would be within a 40/45 min commute of there.
Ideally I'm looking for somewhere where the yard members compete BSJA or where BSJA competitions are held as I currently do not own any transport and would like to be able to go with others to BSJA shows (I would obviously pay for this), a good quality arena and set of jumps for schooling. I'm not overly bothered about the amount of hacking but some turnout would be required.
So far from google I have looked into the likes of Harold's Park, Woodredon EC, Little Munden and Northlaw Manor. I'm getting a list together so that I can go out and visit them all shortly. Any experiences or recommendations would be very much appreciated.
Thank you!
 
My eventer is bound for Harolds Park farm for full livery. It is a DIY yard but there is a lady there who provides all livery services so i will be enlisting her to do my lad for me. Good facilities however if you were driving out of Central London it would prob take a good bit longer than 50 mins. I have lived in Holborn and my commute out to essex was usually well over an hour at peak times and that wasnt going as far out as where the yard is located.
Woodredden is abit closer however i personally ruled this yard out on things i was told about it and stuff i saw whilst visiting it. It does have good facilities such as indoor school, etc.
both yards are fairly large so i imagine there will be no shortage of other liveries going out to compete.
Other yards i know of are Pipers farm and 2 more in the same area which i cant remember the names of. There are 3 or 4 yards around Lippitts Hill which is just outside of Loughton in Essex.
When you say commute do you mean to get train or tube to the yard? I dont think any of the yards listed above are particularly close to a tube/ train station- woodreddon is close enough to central line but not a walkable distance. i think you would need to drive to all of the ones ive mentioned.
 
Would be usefuly to know if you need the yard to be accessible by public transport.

Anyway I'm at Northaw and do use public transport. It's a train to Cuffley then a bus. Buses are not frequent (one an hour) but are reliable as long as you allow for the fact they may be a couple of minutes early. Taxi from the station is £5 Or you can do the same to Potters Bar which is a bit further but the same bus going in a different direction.

It has a huge school and full set of jumps as well as a small cross country course. There are regular clinics held there but no BSJA shows - it's a livery yard rather than a competition centre. It's very mixed and there are people who go out and compete affilated as well as happy hackers. So you would find like minded people but it's not just competition people. Depends what you prefer.
There is daily turnout and hacking on their own land as well as bridlepaths.

I'm really happy there and on 5 day livery and been really impressed with how my horse had been looked after, especially since he's been lame and causing extra work.

I did have to go on a waiting list though before a space came up so not sure at the moment.

You might also want to consider Patchetts which is further west but easy to get to if you're driving as it's all motorway. They have affilated shows there and also offer livery.
 
Nicoll farm near Elstree station is very easy to get to from Kings X St Pancras (4 trains an hour 21-23 min journey) as it is about 5 min walk from Elstree station. It is extremely SJ focused & I think they transport clients to shows. I kept my mare there over 20 years ago & I know people who were there then who are still there (with different horses!!).
 
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Super! Thank you everybody for replying. Ideally I'd want to be able to get to the farm by public transport or my bike from train station. Lots more phone calls to make by the sounds of things and then a few day trips out and about.
 
hmccord said:
Super! Thank you everybody for replying. Ideally I'd want to be able to get to the farm by public transport or my bike from train station. Lots more phone calls to make by the sounds of things and then a few day trips out and about.
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Lee Valley in Hackney. I cycle to/from Liverpool St, so right next to Moorgate. Takes 30 mins if I obey all the traffic lights!
 
Booked in to see Nicoll Farm and Caldecote Farm on Sunday as they either have a space or one coming available soon, Lee Valley is little bit steep, been trying to get in touch with Patchetts for the past few days but no luck so far ... fingers crossed we find the right place. Thank you for the recommendations so far everybody :-)
 
There is a girl on our yard who has a SJ at Patchetts it is very expensive but they do have BSJA shows on site and there is an instructor there who takes groups of clients out to big shows in the lorry.

I am not sure if you can get their by public transport and I think it would take you longer than 45 minutes, I think watford might be the nearest station.

I work in Farringdon and I go to Chorleywood to get to the yard i am at and it takes about an hour then I have 20 minutes walk or £4 taxi ride.
 
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SO1 said:
I am not sure if you can get their by public transport and I think it would take you longer than 45 minutes, I think watford might be the nearest station.
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It's just a bit further than I where I used to be. Train to Radlett from Kings Cross (also stops at a few places in the city) then a 602 bus to Hilfield Lane or very doable by bike.

But it is quite expensive, I could be wrong but can't imagine it being any cheaper than Lee Valley.

Just noticed you mentioned little munden, that would be more difficult by public transport but if you are looking in that area, look at Hill Farm in Radlett, lovely yard, I've got friends there though I would say maybe more dressage focused.
You can hack to Patchetts for affilated show from both of those.
 
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I saw your message but am away at a show and for some reason can't reply to PMs with my iPhone - I leave in East London and am at a small competition yard and know of a lot of the others - will pm you tomorrow when I'm back at work!
 
You could try Greenacres Equestrian in Harpenden, Herts. It would be 25mins on train from Kings Cross then 10min bike ride from there. They are a SJ yard and are at shows 3-4 times a week, huge outdoor school with full set of show jumps, indoor school and smaller outdoor school. TO is limited unless you are happy turning out in a large group, there is a riding school there so you have to work around that for school use.
 
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