Looking for a riding school

[Firess]

Hi everyone.

I am hoping that those in the North London / Hertfordshire area could recommend a good riding school for my teenage daughter to attend. One that can genuinely help her with improving her riding skill and horse care in general - not just plonk her on a bored / overworked horse for an hour. You know the ones I mean, where you are told to give the pony a good kicking to keep it going and outside of the hour the staff have no interest in you. Ultimately it's with the idea of getting her a horse of her own so I am looking for a school where she can build relationships with the animals and learn everything she can. I am less concerned about the price and more concerned about the atmosphere and enthusiasm.

Any suggestions would be welcome!

Thanks

 

[Steorra]

You could try South Medburn in Elstree. It's been a few years since I last went back, but they always used to have some schooled horses and ponies that weren't ploddy. They did the odd pony day etc too with horse-care classes for kids.

I've had good experiences at Trent Park in Oakwood. A couple of times I've contacted them for help with exam preparation (just my stage 1 and R&RS, nothing fancy) and they absolutely bent over backwards to help even though I'm not a regular client. However, a friend who booked a standard lesson found it was a bit of a production line on very steady neddies. If you contact them, be clear about what you want!

Contessa is further out of London, but is often highly praised.