Moving to Cornwall?

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HelenBack

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Posting here rather than on a regional board is it will hopefully get more traffic here.

This is very much a speculative query at the moment as no decisions have anywhere near been made yet. My other half and I are considering moving to Cornwall in maybe two or three years. It has to be Cornwall (rather than somewhere like Devon) due to having other family members there, and in the first instance at least it would be in the Helston region. Before we go much further with our thoughts I'm just trying to find out a bit more about equestrian provision there. I used to ride there quite a bit as a child but that was many years ago now, I can't remember it all that well and I'm sure things have changed a lot in the meantime!

My questions are probably the usual ones. I'm vaguely aware that the hacking can be very patchy and that there possibly aren't that many competition venues, or certainly not for eventing which is what I currently do. I'm not sure how long I'll want to carry that on for though so that wouldn't be a deal breaker and really I'm interested in finding out more about the day-to-day stuff.

So first of all are there decent livery yards in the region that do have access to good hacking? I'd probably be prepared to travel up to around thirty minutes if assistance was available and my requirements are probably the same as most people's - year round turnout with a preference for herd rather than individual. Good hacking most important and it would be nice to have a school either on site or in hacking distance. Nice liveries and a decent yard owner who you can trust, doesn't have to be smart but preferably well maintained, just all the usual really!

Obvious next questions are about good farriers, vets and physios and then I would be interested in competition venues just in case I do still fancy doing a bit by then. I know there's next to no affiliated eventing down there but don't know anyting about unaffiliated or what's available in relation to show jumping, dressage or arena eventing. Like I say, that wouldn't necessarily swing a decision either way but it would be good to know so I'm aware.

So just all the usual questions about a possible new location really! If anybody lives down there now or used to and get tell me a bit about it I'd be very grateful.

Thanks!
 
Competition venues- there's pendarves, not sure if there's regular competitions anywhere else?
There used to be XC/hunter trials at Chiverton, but they've closed now and I'm not sure if there's anywhere running regular competitions of that sort now? I don't compete, so may be missing somewhere!
Hacking can be lovely, but you will almost certainly need to do a bit (or a lot) of roadwork. Not a problem if you have a horse that's good in traffic, but in the summer you'll meet a lot of tourists that don't understand how to drive on country lanes.
Livery yards I can't help with in the Helston area, but hopefully someone else will know!
There are good farriers/vets/physio- saddle fitters etc are often based mid/top end of Cornwall and the decent saddle fitters are usually very busy/difficult to get appts with (but I think that's the case nationally!).
 
SpeedyPony said:
Competition venues- there's pendarves, not sure if there's regular competitions anywhere else?
There used to be XC/hunter trials at Chiverton, but they've closed now and I'm not sure if there's anywhere running regular competitions of that sort now? I don't compete, so may be missing somewhere!
Hacking can be lovely, but you will almost certainly need to do a bit (or a lot) of roadwork. Not a problem if you have a horse that's good in traffic, but in the summer you'll meet a lot of tourists that don't understand how to drive on country lanes.
Livery yards I can't help with in the Helston area, but hopefully someone else will know!
There are good farriers/vets/physio- saddle fitters etc are often based mid/top end of Cornwall and the decent saddle fitters are usually very busy/difficult to get appts with (but I think that's the case nationally!).
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Thanks, that's helpful. I hoped I could avoid the tourists if I found a place off the main routes but I guess they can turn up anywhere! There's always riding really early in the mornings I suppose. Are there any places that are particularly good for hacking, given that I wouldn't mind travelling a bit to find the right yard?

Saddle fitters would hopefully not be too much of an issue as I have a Wow saddle so would use their recommended fitter in the region and speak to my existing fitter too. Although obviously the Wow fitter might be busy also!


meggymoo said:
Launceston run BE Horse Trials I believe.
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Yes, they're the ones I'm aware of. I think they're the only ones though, although there a handful in Devon that wouldn't be too far away.
 
Theres often unaffiliated arena eventing at colraine and pendarves, Only launceston BE now.
Theres quite a few places that host BD and BS though.
There are plenty of local hunts if thats your thing, lots of fun rides.
I think there is a livery yard just on the edge of penrose estate in helston, if i remember what its called i can pm you.
Penrose is great for off road riding but busy on weekends and holidays.
 
there is also garlidna farm that has a small xc course available for hire, runs clinics on the xc and indoor and outdoor school. Might be worth asking if they do livery. Its Near helston.
 
HelenBack said:
Thanks, that's helpful. I hoped I could avoid the tourists if I found a place off the main routes but I guess they can turn up anywhere! There's always riding really early in the mornings I suppose. Are there any places that are particularly good for hacking, given that I wouldn't mind travelling a bit to find the right yard?
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Nowhere stands out particularly to my mind - the scenery is lovely and there's a lot of nice hacking to be found all over. The only thing I would caution is be careful on the moors - there are uncapped mineshafts here and there (you'd be fine on the tracks, just avoid going off-piste!). Early morning is definitely better for traffic.
If you want to ride on the beach that might be something to consider when looking at yards?
If you've lived in Cornwall before you'll probably remember, but in the winter it can be very windy- I mention it because I did know someone who moved back upcountry in part because of the wind and sideways rain.
 
Zoeypxo said:
Theres often unaffiliated arena eventing at colraine and pendarves, Only launceston BE now.
Theres quite a few places that host BD and BS though.
There are plenty of local hunts if thats your thing, lots of fun rides.
I think there is a livery yard just on the edge of penrose estate in helston, if i remember what its called i can pm you.
Penrose is great for off road riding but busy on weekends and holidays.
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Brill, thanks for that information. I looked up Garlidna Farm and the XC course looks quite good. We don't have any XC courses to hire within a reasonable drive of me and it tends to be at least a 1.5 hour trek to get to one so this is a great start! Looks like they get some good names teaching there both on the XC course and in the arena too.

Thanks for the tips on other places too, I'll go and have a look at those. And yes please, if you do remember the name of that livery yard or any others in the area do please let me know. I joined a Facebook group to see what's around but don't really want to post yet as it's so speculative at this stage and I wouldn't want to waste anybody's time.

SpeedyPony said:
Nowhere stands out particularly to my mind - the scenery is lovely and there's a lot of nice hacking to be found all over. The only thing I would caution is be careful on the moors - there are uncapped mineshafts here and there (you'd be fine on the tracks, just avoid going off-piste!). Early morning is definitely better for traffic.
If you want to ride on the beach that might be something to consider when looking at yards?
If you've lived in Cornwall before you'll probably remember, but in the winter it can be very windy- I mention it because I did know someone who moved back upcountry in part because of the wind and sideways rain.
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Thanks for that and that's a very helpful tip about riding on the moors. I do think the scenery down there is beautiful so if I could somewhere where I could explore that I think it could be lovely.

The wind is one thing that does worry me actually. It can be very windy here too but probably not as much so as there. I don't mind the wind on its own but when you add in the sideways rain it does really annoy me and I have wondered if I wouldn't like it there in winter because of that. Perhaps I need to look for somewhere with an indoor school too!
 
There is a lady who has a Facebook page called Shoestring Eventing who, I believe, moved from south Cornwall to north Cornwall so that horse things were easier to reach. But there is a Riding Club, as they were competing as one of the team last week.
 
Colraine has a lot of competitions on and then there’s Tall Trees nearer to Bude and further along The Grange - that’s in devon at Okehampton though. The Duchy holds competitions.
I think St Leonard’s are the only Cornwall BE venue. You would then have to go into Devon and beyond.

I bought a horse from Penzance at couple of years ago and the dealer was about to go XC the next day but I don’t know where it was, just that it was local.
 
We holiday on the Lizard most years and from memory there is an equestrian centre/livery yard in Mullion? Might be worth looking that one up? I have also seen bridleway markers around Poldhu?
 
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