Management and opinions of horses kept in London

[JLF]

Hi all,

My name is Jaime Finch and I am a MSc. Equine Science student at Writtle College. As part of an Investigative Project, I am looking to seek public (horsey and non-horsey) opinions of horses that are kept in inner-London riding centres.

I have previously worked for a well known inner-London centre and am keen to research what opinions currently are of these centres and to see if any suggestions can be made in order to raise the profile of these yards. It is a short (less that 5 minute), anonymous questionnaire and I would be very grateful if you would be able to reply in order to help me increase my data pool.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me on 98306846@writtle.ac.uk. Please click on the link below to complete.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1K3B55qxYfRFYcJg3sWaNTCVB8PcpiQ1D1QpwIISXkO4/viewform

Many thanks,

Jaime

 

[Tess Love]

Done

 

[JLF]

Many thanks!

 

[Boojackson]

Done

 

[JLF]

Thank you.

 

[JLF]

Bump

 

[CobsGalore]

done!

 

[mainpower]

I have done the survey. I'm interested in your project as I learnt to ride, worked as an instructor and later had a livery yard in inner London. It's a shame that so many yards have closed down, we had a thriving pony club and two adult riding clubs. Fantastic days! If you get the opportunity contact Joyce Bellamy, who was my DC, and has done so much to promote equestrianism in London.

http://www.londongardenstrust.org/features/Bellamy.htm

 

[Suechoccy]

Done. I spent much of my first 30 years of life living and later working in East London. I learnt to ride at Snaresbrook Riding Stables (now a block of apartments) where we also had a thriving riding club.
It is so important that city folk (children and adults) get to be able to see, touch, animals including horses, and have an understanding of the natural environment, where food comes from, etc.
As a child from a poor family who adored horses from an early age, I spent lots of time patting tethered traveller horses on patches of grassland alongside factories, or leaning over fences looking at the ponies in the London riding schools, wishing I could afford a lesson.

 

[JLF]

Thank you all for filling this in. It's great to see so many different opinions. Keep them coming!
The second part of my research is a reveiw of the management and welfare of horses kept in inner London centres in order to see if suggestions can be made to increse the profile and knowledge of the yards.

 

[JLF]

Bump

 

[LinzyD]

Done. Very interested in your research. I kept a pony at part livery at Lea Valley stables in Hackney before moving out to the countryside. It was (and still is I believe) a wonderful place, with well-cared for paddocks, immaculate stables, an indoor and outdoor school, thriving Pony Club branch, lots of competitons and the best kept riding school horses I've ever seen - glossy coats, daily turnout, rest days, dressage schooling. I used to hack out round the marshes, through the car-park of the ice rink, past a scrap merchants, and in to a public park where kids galore used to come and pat my pony. I have such fond memories of this time. The yard provided work, training and recreation opportunities right in the centre of quite a deprived area of London at a very affordable price.

Conversely, the stables near Hyde Park, at the other end of the scale in terms of affluence, are a most miserable experience - dull, unstimulated horses tethered in minute stalls and trailed around with rich, unwitting would-be riders in their Barbour gear straight out of Harrods. Hideous, hard tack, scurfy coats, unkempt, hard-working horses who don't even get to lie down or turn around in their stiflingly cramped stalls.