Losing hope of ever finding a share near London?

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solstince

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I'm feeling so frustrated right now :(

I moved from the US to the UK thinking, Yay! Off to the land of Eventing! But, of course, then I had to go and live in London. I knew it would be difficult but not this difficult! All I want is a decent horse share/loan. I'm not looking for a superstar. I'm willing to work with a younger horse, or bring a horse back into work, etc.

I'm coming from schooling USEA Prelim with a 4* trainer at a bustling private eventing barn with tons of quality horses to ride (including my own... who I sold when I left the States). I think I've accepted that I'm just not going to find this kind of environment anywhere near London? Problem is, I really can't go that far out. I live in North East London (Zone 2), and will be in Milton Keynes for work three days a week, so anything actually IN Milton Keynes or very close would probably work as well.

So, yeah, does anyone know of a share or have anything for this eventer to ride? Or can put me in contact with liveries that frequently have shares open up?
 
If you are going to be in Milton Keynes, the eventing centre is not far outside so could well be worth contacting them to see if they know of anything. Also worth contacting Aspley Guise Riding Club and Buckingham Riding Club as most their members are in the area and again could know of something. http://www.rbequestrian.co.uk/ , http://www.horsatack.co.uk/ and http://www.dennecountrystores.co.uk/ are the local saddlers who would all be worth placing a wanted add on their boards. The College Equestrian and Bury Farm are within a 30 min drive of MK so again could be worth contacting as they are decent sized competition centres with liveries and being on the pricey side are more likely to have people looking for help!

http://www.mkec.co.uk/
http://www.keysoe.com/
http://www.buryfarmestates.co.uk/
http://www.aspleyguiseridingclub.co.uk/
http://www.buckinghamridingclub.com/

There are a number of Facebook groups where people advertise all sorts so could be worth searching out and joining some of them in your target areas.

Hopefully this gives you some leads.
 
You could also try putting up a notice at mote end. Some smart horses there. And patchetts maybe, milton keynes eventing centre for nearer your work Hertfordshire horse riders on Facebook.
 
solstince said:
I'm feeling so frustrated right now :(

I moved from the US to the UK thinking, Yay! Off to the land of Eventing! But, of course, then I had to go and live in London. I knew it would be difficult but not this difficult! All I want is a decent horse share/loan. I'm not looking for a superstar. I'm willing to work with a younger horse, or bring a horse back into work, etc.

I'm coming from schooling USEA Prelim with a 4* trainer at a bustling private eventing barn with tons of quality horses to ride (including my own... who I sold when I left the States). I think I've accepted that I'm just not going to find this kind of environment anywhere near London? Problem is, I really can't go that far out. I live in North East London (Zone 2), and will be in Milton Keynes for work three days a week, so anything actually IN Milton Keynes or very close would probably work as well.

So, yeah, does anyone know of a share or have anything for this eventer to ride? Or can put me in contact with liveries that frequently have shares open up?
Click to expand...

I'm in the wrong area so can't help you directly (although I totally understand your frustration - it's quite bizarre trying to operate in a horsey world that looks sort of the same but actually works quite differently!) but are you au fait with the terms and such used here?

For example, no one is going to know that by "Prelim" you mean the equivalent of Novice eventing - they are going to think you're talking about the most basic dressage level.
 
Why not see if you can put a wanted ad up on Horsequest or maybe British eventing? say what your experience is ( translated as Tarrsteps suggested!) how often you would like to ride, think if you want to compete as well and how many days you could ride as well as what sort of horse you were looking for,,good luck!
 
Try Kate Lukas eventing in Reigate. Just on the London outskirts . She has an enormous event / livery yard and lots of American clients.
 
seabsicuit2 said:
Try Kate Lukas eventing in Reigate. Just on the London outskirts . She has an enormous event / livery yard and lots of American clients.
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OP is north/north west of London, I think, (my UK geography is non-existent.) but a similar set up near MK would be a likely place to look.
 
TarrSteps said:
I'm in the wrong area so can't help you directly (although I totally understand your frustration - it's quite bizarre trying to operate in a horsey world that looks sort of the same but actually works quite differently!) but are you au fait with the terms and such used here?

For example, no one is going to know that by "Prelim" you mean the equivalent of Novice eventing - they are going to think you're talking about the most basic dressage level.
Click to expand...

Most eventers I've spoken to here seem to be familiar with US levels and know that Prelim = Novice for eventing. But that's why I put 'USEA Prelim' just to be specific. I still have a hard time saying 'Novice' because I worry people will assume I mean USEA Novice because I'm American, which is a considerably lower level!
 
TarrSteps said:
OP is north/north west of London, I think, (my UK geography is non-existent.) but a similar set up near MK would be a likely place to look.
Click to expand...

Correct! I google'd the location and its a solid 1-2 hour drive depending on traffic one way, across London then fairly far south. Not do-able :( Too bad, looks exactly like the type of thing I'm looking for.

Anyone know of something similar in Herts? (Big bustling eventing barn?)
 
Jane_Lou said:
There are a number of Facebook groups where people advertise all sorts so could be worth searching out and joining some of them in your target areas.

Hopefully this gives you some leads.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links! Do you know of the names of any of the FB groups (besides Hertfordshire Horse Riders) that I could search for? Its a bit hard to find groups on FB unless you know the name!
 
As I said before Linton Keynes eventing centre is worth asking at as well as Washbrook farm Aston Le walls, Hertfordshire is April quite a trek if you are in Milton Keynes, you really need to be looking in Bedfordshire, buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire. Will dig out some of the fb links later.
 
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