Nicest ditch schooling course in glos/worcs area?

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Matafleur

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Hi,

Can anyone give suggestions as to a lovely course to build a youngsters confidence over ditches within about an hour of Junc 9 M5?

I'd like nice little ditches building up to a fairly normal sized ditch if possible.

Thanks
 
Funnily enough, I'm not in any way a Hilltop (Ledbury) fan, but it is great for ditch schooling, they have baby ditch, mummy ditch and daddy ditch next to each other, plus trakehners of different sizes. Also Lincomb (Stourport), but I'd say they have a mini ditch then go straight to quite big ones (apart from rather uninviting ditch in top field), with not too much in the middle...
 
Can I ask why you are not a Ledbury fan? I went in the spring but having fallen off recently broken 4 yr old in the first 5 minutes we mainly hacked around and played in the water. I will have to go back specifically for ditch practice.

We had a trip to Lincomb pencilled in anyway so even if we just do the mini ditch I'm sure it will be good for her.

Thanks for the advice
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I would say Pauntley, but Im not sure about ditches there. I know that they have at least one
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However they have a nice sunken road and several steps in different sizes. Other than that I can only thing of, as TD said Hilltop
 
No decent ditches at Pauntley, the only open didtch is spooky and narrow (as in a bit skinny) - spent 3 hours - yes literally - trying to get a nappy baby over it once
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I guess my reservations about Hilltop are firstly the terrain: as the name suggests, it is hardly the flattest venue and I think babies find coping with the terrain as well as the new experience of XC quite tough; secondly the distances in some of the combinations which are a bit freestyle
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and thirdly the attitude of the proprietors which has, in the past, been somewhat frosty and unhelpful on occasion (and I'm not a difficult punter, honest!) although tbf, whenever I've been more recently, eg taught PC there at Easter, they were better so maybe they've chilled out a bit
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It is well-maintained and there's nothing dangerous there, just prefer others. My faves would be Lincomb and Stockland Lovell, I think...
 
Leyland Court, just north of bristol, is excellent with lots and stuff for youngsters to jump, good ground etc... they have website aswell

other than that i would suggest pontispool or stockland lovell
 
k_o is right, Leyland Court would be another good one - nice ditch in schooling field, a few other more challenging ones around the course. Again, well-maintained venue, helpful proprietors
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I have walked Pauntley but never ridden it, was not a big fan just walking it to be honest!

I am keen to avoid the 3 hour battle! It's very difficult if the face of the ditch is skinny and they think they can just run round it! I fear she may not be a ditch natural although I think she should be quite bold with most things. I have had the chap who broke her put her over a ditch for me as I am a bit ditchy myself and they had a bit of a row about it but after about ten minutes she was popping back and forth over it with no fuss even when I got on and did it.

I do know what you mean about Hilltop with regard to organisers! But I think it could be worthwhile on the ditch front.

I was obviously seduced by the pretty pictures on the Tack Farm site!
 
The "beginner" ditches at both Lincomb and LC have wings on them - very helpful
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Don't fall into the trap of attempting the first ditch you come to at Lincomb as it is quite wide for a baby and for some reason they always look at it, even more experienced horses. THere is a much friendlier one once you go down to the bottom field - you can't miss it.
 
Ooo, never heard of that one. I will google, thanks!

I can't really face the trek to Pontispool or SL for schooling at this stage, I'm very lazy about where I'll travel to!
 
Thank you, I will make sure we press on to find a little ditch.

Kick_on, do you have a link for Leyland Court, google didn't instantly find anything...

Thanks
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Pontispool has two really good ditches for training. One actually has a bit of earth so you can walk over if necessary! I found this really useful with my baby and now he jumps ditches with no problem. They are both in the schooling field which has a great variety of fences and is perfect for young horses (or not so confident riders like me
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) although it sounds like a bit of a trek for you.
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It's not miles and miles, I would travel for a BE event or even probably if we were seriously preparing for a comp but at the moment we are just having a little play about so I'd rather keep the diesel costs down!
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