Riding school closing down

spotty_pony2

spotty_pony2

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I know this has been done before, but two big riding schools have closed down in my area in the last month - one of which I grew up at and have many wonderful childhood memories from. They definitely seem to be fading out - I wonder how anybody will possibly be able to learn to ride at this rate… I guess it really is becoming at elitist sport more than ever.
 
We're lucky where I am with 4 riding schools within a half hour drive. They are an invaluable resource and the best way for people to get a decent grounding before buying their own horse.

The riding school I go to has just put its prices up and I don't begrudge it at all. Costs are high, horses aren't cheap and it needs to be financially viable for them.
 
SEL said:
Are the sites going for housing?
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No, one the owner is retiring and her daughter is an eventer so I expect she will take over the whole yard. It’s also a livery yard but as far as I know it’s just the riding school that’s closing and the other one is a livery yard and is expanding into more of a show centre with a cafe being built and a cross country training paddock. (Second one is very local to me so great for me but I feel for all those who aren’t lucky enough to own a horse or want to have a weekly riding lesson. I would have been even more devastated had it closed when I was a child - it was my happy place as I hated school.
 
It is very sad when this happens isn't it. When I was a pony-mad kid (back in the 1960's/70's) there were at least a half-dozen riding schools in my area of East Devon. Now there is only one which is still going. One of the ones where I used to keep my first-ever pony has just announced its intention to close.

Like equine rescue centres, there are just a lot of overheads; and it isn't just that, its the H&S, Safeguarding, risk assessment/insurance, registration/documentation, and ever-rising costs such as farriers & vets, saddle fitters, etc etc which are unavoidable but which all help to supply the nails in the coffin. Also if you're running any sort of business you need people with technical know-how as everything is on-line these days - I'm just a small self-employed set-up and I don't possess the skills required now to do my annual HMRC declaration on-line, so have to pay someone else to do it. It's the way things are, and if you multiply this factor with a bigger business/charity, this all eats into the budget.

Very sad indeed.
 
spotty_pony2 said:
No, one the owner is retiring and her daughter is an eventer so I expect she will take over the whole yard. It’s also a livery yard but as far as I know it’s just the riding school that’s closing and the other one is a livery yard and is expanding into more of a show centre with a cafe being built and a cross country training paddock. (Second one is very local to me so great for me but I feel for all those who aren’t lucky enough to own a horse or want to have a weekly riding lesson. I would have been even more devastated had it closed when I was a child - it was my happy place as I hated school.
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Out of interest, which county is this please?
 
Sadly a sign of the times, and some never recovered from the lockdowns. Hugely tricky business of covering costs without making lesson prices prohibitive, and understanding what business actually means.

Where I last rode is now circa £90 for a group lesson, and every week I get an email saying ‘availability in x group, book now’…
 
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There’s one near us that’s adults only and going from strength to strength. Has now started doing hacks too (from another site), the original is based at the proprietors family home and started with her own horses so set up costs not too bad, I once calculated the weekly income from booked lessons and it was pretty good.
 
I think the ones that are surviving are having to diversify.
The childhood one I grew up at changed ownership a couple of times and the lady running it now does their own RC, they hold competitions, kids clubs, pony pamper days, clinics, groundwork lessons, lectures, farm rides and its open 7 days a week for client lessons with numerous late nights.

In my childhood it was a BHS centre that ran exams and relied heavily on working pupils. The weekends were busy with lessons and they had 2 late nights a week, they had the occasional pony day throughout the summer holidays but not too many. Mondays were shut to clients and the horses had a day off. It didn’t seem to make or need to make the money required to survive.
 
I've seen loads closing down. It's not surprising. Insurance and business rates are sky high, it's difficult to buy a safe, sound, ready to go school horse for under £10k, NI and minimum wages have gone up, the cost of everything has increased and on top of the financial issues there's the different approach to risks these days vs when most of us learnt to ride.

It's such a shame, although hopefully the good ones will continue to thrive. I would not have had access to horses were it not for local riding schools.
 
Our most local one (45 mins away) shut last year and the 2 closet now are an hour & 15 minutes away and include getting a ferry, so I'm £27 on ferry tickets before fuel or lesson cost. I was really hoping to get back into riding this year now my youngest is starting nursery but that won't be happening & its probably the end of my riding days or at least an even longer break than anticipated. I absolutely loved my childhood at the riding school.
 
spotty_pony2 said:
Yes I grew up there and worked there (with @ElleSkywalker actually!) I even bought my spotty boy from the YO. He is the last piece of Somerby I have left. ❤️
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It was such a great place. Just before Dave was broken in, me & my friend used to take turns to drive from Barrow for lessons. She had just lost her horse but wanted to keep the feeling going & I was getting myself ready for Dave! I think it was Gail we used to have a shared lesson with.
 
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