Keysoe International

[stormox]

Has anyone seen the plans for the re-vamped College Equestrian Centre?
It looks very ambitious to me, a training centre, but no shows held there. Does the village have enough infrastructure to support this venture?
They are holding a meeting to discuss the plans on November 7th.
It is a shame the BE event course seems to have gone IMO.

 

[Sealine]

It's a great venue with great facilities and it is a shame it no longer runs competitions. If I was local I'd be concerned about the increase in traffic. I've been to Keysoe many times and when travelling from the South the access is via very windy B roads. Looking at the map the access doesn't look any better coming from the north.

 

[BMA2]

So what's it going to be...just a centre to hire out for training?

Or are there plans for BS, BE and BD to hold competitions there?

 

[stormox]

So what's it going to be...just a centre to hire out for training?

Or are there plans for BS, BE and BD to hold competitions there?

 

[stormox]

So what's it going to be...just a centre to hire out for training?

Or are there plans for BS, BE and BD to hold competitions there?

No competitions apparantly. Just training.

 

[Timelyattraction]

Gutted there will be no shows as im only 15 mins away but i will use it as a training venue.

 

[teapot]

Just a training venue - if you're a member of Twittereventing, the owner has got vocal before now about her plans which don't include competitions.

Re access/local village - if it's training only spread across seven days the impact will be far less than a 500 box comp on a Saturday

 

[LEC]

Well they applied retrospectively for the xc arena and it was turned down The whole thing isn’t for plebs. I am not really sure how this will all stack up or make money as they say competitions didn’t.

 

[teapot]

Well they applied retrospectively for the xc arena and it was turned down The whole thing isn’t for plebs. I am not really sure how this will all stack up or make money as they say competitions didn’t.

Ooopppss

 

[catembi]

I am fascinated by the whole thing! I am very near it & competed there for years. More recently, I used to go to the riding club that met there & so could see all the renovations. The RC training sessions aren't held there any more. I simply cannot understand how they can hope to make any money, let alone recoup the huuuuuuuuge cost of revamping the grass xc course, building all the new arenas etc etc etc etc by running a few clinics. The maths completely & utterly doesn't make sense.

The woman was very scathing on FB about competitors/running competitions, so I'm not surprised that they're not doing that. But...how is it paying for itself? I can't work it out!

 

[humblepie]

I think the owners have a lot of money

 

[LEC]

Their money comes from covid PPE and the tax payer - the charity I can see is a tax write off but the rest I don’t get. Oh well whatever floats their boat. They obviously think it will. Personally I think it’s a front for large scale housing development long term. Purchasing 540 acres….

 

[stormox]

There does seem to be a lot of car parking spaces on the picture, I am sure they cant all be just for clinics and lessons.
I wonder will they do liveries there? Or have horses for school lessons?

 

[Bobthecob15]

Their money comes from covid PPE and the tax payer - the charity I can see is a tax write off but the rest I don’t get. Oh well whatever floats their boat. They obviously think it will. Personally I think it’s a front for large scale housing development long term. Purchasing 540 acres….

My immediate thoughts too!!!

 

[teapot]

There does seem to be a lot of car parking spaces on the picture, I am sure they cant all be just for clinics and lessons.
I wonder will they do liveries there? Or have horses for school lessons?

No school horses/not a training centre in that respect (yet) but they offer pony parties, and hands on pony owning days which are non-ridden. £800 for a two hour pony party for up to ten kids too with two ponies and two members of staff Plus a thearapy centre with its own cuddle ponies. Interesting to see they're a BHS changing lives centre!

 

[claracanter]

I’m intrigued by this place. Owners are multi millionaires thanks to producing hand sanitiser during Covid. I guess it doesn’t need to stack up as a viable business? BE’d there and am gutted it’s not going to be a competition venue for any discipline. 500 acres for a training venue is excessive so maybe the housing idea is true! I’d also like to know which facilities they are offering that were previously only available on the continent

 

[Roxylola]

Anyone know how big somerford is? While they do have competitions it's very little in terms of the business I think. It's primarily training and livery. I can see it being viable especially with the changing lives stuff - lots of education type funding there

 

[ester]

I presumed they didn’t need it to make money so could do whatever they fancied.

 

[catembi]

Plans unveiled for development of world-class Keysoe International equestrian centre - Bedford Independent

Community is at the heart of future plans for Keysoe International, the equestrian centre in North Bedfordshire. A pre-planning public...

www.bedfordindependent.co.uk

Someone needs to go and report back!

 

[Sealine]

New multi-million pound cross-country facility start of ambitious development

The all-weather cross-country facility was officially opened by Laura Collett MBE, Piggy March and presenter Sara Cox

www.yourhorse.co.uk

Not running competitions feels such a waste of all those great facilities

 

[Timelyattraction]

New multi-million pound cross-country facility start of ambitious development

The all-weather cross-country facility was officially opened by Laura Collett MBE, Piggy March and presenter Sara Cox

www.yourhorse.co.uk

Not running competitions feels such a waste of all those great facilities

They have been running monthly clear round show jumping and also done some dressage competitions and combined training competitions, so that isnt true. But they are bloody expensive! It cost me £44 to enter for two clear rounds of jumping

 

[shortstuff99]

Had got even fancier plans!

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[LEC]

I don’t really see where it’s all going but hey it’s nothing to do with us! I don't think the plan is to recoup the money spent (tax write off?) which is why I find the whole not running the big competitions thing odd as made no money so ran at a loss…. The patting ponies charity will also help with this.
Their kid is having some serious money spent on her being in training with Cian O Connor and some decent horsepower. Lucky her with all those facilities.

 

[stormox]

It looks more like a posh hotel and spa than an equestrian facility!

 

[shortstuff99]

I'm just not really sure how it is all going to fit together and fit in with the area. Can't say it is particularly in a place that would draw in lots of visitors, outside of riders using the training facilities.

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[ester]

I don’t really see where it’s all going but hey it’s nothing to do with us! I don't think the plan is to recoup the money spent (tax write off?) which is why I find the whole not running the big competitions thing odd as made no money so ran at a loss…. The patting ponies charity will also help with this.
Their kid is having some serious money spent on her being in training with Cian O Connor and some decent horsepower. Lucky her with all those facilities.

I can understand not wanting to have to deal with BS/BD/BE though if you don’t have to. All unaff stuff they have run has been fully booked well ahead of time even though it is £££

 

[humblepie]

I'm just not really sure how it is all going to fit together and fit in with the area. Can't say it is particularly in a place that would draw in lots of visitors, outside of riders using the training facilities.

[content removed]

Yes my feeling exactly re the PPE. Don't think I would go there on principal although I am not her target market anyway.

 

[Sealine]

They have been running monthly clear round show jumping and also done some dressage competitions and combined training competitions, so that isnt true. But they are bloody expensive! It cost me £44 to enter for two clear rounds of jumping

Ah sorry I didn't realise. I don't compete these days. I used to know alot of people who went there to compete but I never hear it mentioned so I thought they'd stopped. The high entry fees may explain why I don't hear it mentioned. Bury Farm is closer for dressage or SJ but Keysoe was always popular for one day events and hunter trials.

ETA - there are no competitions listed in their upcoming events

 

[Timelyattraction]

Ah sorry I didn't realise. I don't compete these days. I used to know alot of people who went there to compete but I never hear it mentioned so I thought they'd stopped. The high entry fees may explain why I don't hear it mentioned. Bury Farm is closer for dressage or SJ but Keysoe was always popular for one day events and hunter trials.

ETA - there are no competitions listed in their upcoming events

Yeah theyve not done any hunter trials or odes for a long while! They definitely had an outdoor clear round showjumping a couple weekends ago and also a combined training very recently. Just looked and can see theres nothing planned coming up event wise but they will probably slot some in. Theres a hell of a lot of clinics though

 

[honetpot]

I used to go there a lot twenty years ago, and the business model ran on a lot of volunteer labour, I stopped going as I decided I just thought there were better places to spend hours of my time, and I was supporting someones business.
Mick George spent a huge amount of Houghton near St Ives, which had an massive indoor, but I think he wasn't that interested, and was run a bit like Keysoe without the outdoors, but it had liveries. Its now not used for equestrian and we used to go to compete at both.
I suppose top end clinics are where the profit is, not turnover, you can run a huge event and still lose money, an undersubscribed clinic is a smaller risk. Clinics need less people, less wear and tear on your surface and it you have liveries you have a steady income. If you have high end goods to sell, your profit is 50% of a lot more.
There are also less people around who want to give there time, often for the whole day, for coffee, lunch and a box of chocs.