Showjumping near East Surrey

[muddybay]

This is my first post here so I don't know if I'm doing this right! I have youngish horse (2014) I've owned him since September and we were hoping to get out to some shows before tier 4 and lockdown! Does anyone have any suggestions of places around the East Surrey area that are quite quiet and do unaffiliated?

 

[Sail_away]

I’m not sure how far you’d want to travel but Parwood, Felbridge, Merrist wood and Pachesham should be under an hour’s drive. Pachesham is probably the quietest out of those and do clear rounds and combined training as well as little ODEs. I don’t think they run over winter but it’s looking like we won’t be out and about til spring anyway! Parwood and Felbridge are both lovely facilities, I haven’t been to Felbridge for a while but have heard it’s benefited from covid regulations as smaller class sizes and better timings. Parwood is always very well run. They’re not exactly ‘quiet’ but at the moment the warmups are pretty relaxed as only a certain number of people are allowed in.
Merrist wood do lots of clear round and unaffiliateds but their indoor is spooky for a lot of horses and because their warmup is so big it gets pretty hectic. Another one that’s much nicer to go to when warmup numbers are limited! It does seem to attract people hurtling around and crashing through jumps so perhaps one to leave until your horse is a little more confident.
Never been to Farleigh court but I think they do clear rounds there?

 

[muddybay]

I’m not sure how far you’d want to travel but Parwood, Felbridge, Merrist wood and Pachesham should be under an hour’s drive. Pachesham is probably the quietest out of those and do clear rounds and combined training as well as little ODEs. I don’t think they run over winter but it’s looking like we won’t be out and about til spring anyway! Parwood and Felbridge are both lovely facilities, I haven’t been to Felbridge for a while but have heard it’s benefited from covid regulations as smaller class sizes and better timings. Parwood is always very well run. They’re not exactly ‘quiet’ but at the moment the warmups are pretty relaxed as only a certain number of people are allowed in.
Merrist wood do lots of clear round and unaffiliateds but their indoor is spooky for a lot of horses and because their warmup is so big it gets pretty hectic. Another one that’s much nicer to go to when warmup numbers are limited! It does seem to attract people hurtling around and crashing through jumps so perhaps one to leave until your horse is a little more confident.
Never been to Farleigh court but I think they do clear rounds there?

Thank you! I've been planning Felbridge but I'm still a little weary as he gets a bit overwhelmed at the moment as only being 6! I'll take a look at pachesham!

 

[Sail_away]

Thank you! I've been planning Felbridge but I'm still a little weary as he gets a bit overwhelmed at the moment as only being 6! I'll take a look at pachesham!

Felbridge has a gorgeous arena and is worth going if you can get there during the week - I’ve had some great rides there but also some terrible ones standing around for two and a half hours before your class! Their mid week clear round is worth a go, the weekends are usually packed.

 

[muddybay]

Felbridge has a gorgeous arena and is worth going if you can get there during the week - I’ve had some great rides there but also some terrible ones standing around for two and a half hours before your class! Their mid week clear round is worth a go, the weekends are usually packed.

It looks stunning I was planning to go there for some combined training before lockdown! I definitely will go some time especially as it's only about 20 minutes away.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

East Bysshe has a nice outdoor arena you can hire with jumps, also xc course there too, both good for schooling sessions away from home.
Obs closed at present tho.

Is Sands farm doable as when open they have lots of affiliated and unaff events going on.

 

[muddybay]

East Bysshe has a nice outdoor arena you can hire with jumps, also xc course there too, both good for schooling sessions away from home.
Obs closed at present tho.

Is Sands farm doable as when open they have lots of affiliated and unaff events going on.

I was going to East Bysshe as it's only ten minutes drive away but then we went into lockdown and the xc season was over! Sands farm is definitely a fine distance away I'm just not sure about taking him for his first show in an indoor when I don't know if hes been in one before!

 

[The Xmas Furry]

I was going to East Bysshe as it's only ten minutes drive away but then we went into lockdown and the xc season was over! Sands farm is definitely a fine distance away I'm just not sure about taking him for his first show in an indoor when I don't know if hes been in one before!

Worth booking a clinic or 2 at indoor venues, so he gets experience without the pressure of any comp, you'll be more relaxed too.
I always like to book training sessions and arena hire for a newbie 1st.
Both Merrist and Parwood you can do arena hire (when open) at reasonable costs, just not always reasonable times tho at the former.

 

[muddybay]

Worth booking a clinic or 2 at indoor venues, so he gets experience without the pressure of any comp, you'll be more relaxed too.
I always like to book training sessions and arena hire for a newbie 1st.
Both Merrist and Parwood you can do arena hire (when open) at reasonable costs, just not always reasonable times tho at the former.

That sounds like a good idea I don't know when indoors will be allowed to open though!
Does anyone with experience with spooky/sharp horses know if they're generally more spooky in an indoor?

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

Haven’t been to felbridge but agree Merrist wood, Parwood and pachesham have all been much more pleasant experiences since lockdowns! I love a smaller warm up class. For clear rounds the popular classes like 70 and 80 would have warm up rounds that were akin to bumper cars. Mayhem! Now it’s limited to I think 6 for jumping.

Took me a few go’s with my mare to get a forward round at merrist wood as it’s a bit spooky. Big judges box, lots of pigeons, can hear the horses in the car park etc.

Parwood has a lovely big outdoor arena but I find they dress their fences a lot more than merrist wood so the actual jumps are a bit spookier. I think both venues run pretty up to height. Maybe Parwood more than merrist wood. I had an oxer in my class at Parwood that I didn’t at merrist wood.

Pachesham are lovely and supportive. I did their baby hunter trial and had so much fun despite a very backward tricky round.

 

[muddybay]

Haven’t been to felbridge but agree Merrist wood, Parwood and pachesham have all been much more pleasant experiences since lockdowns! I love a smaller warm up class. For clear rounds the popular classes like 70 and 80 would have warm up rounds that were akin to bumper cars. Mayhem! Now it’s limited to I think 6 for jumping.

Took me a few go’s with my mare to get a forward round at merrist wood as it’s a bit spooky. Big judges box, lots of pigeons, can hear the horses in the car park etc.

Parwood has a lovely big outdoor arena but I find they dress their fences a lot more than merrist wood so the actual jumps are a bit spookier. I think both venues run pretty up to height. Maybe Parwood more than merrist wood. I had an oxer in my class at Parwood that I didn’t at merrist wood.

Pachesham are lovely and supportive. I did their baby hunter trial and had so much fun despite a very backward tricky round.

I think I'll try to get out to Pachesham it looks really friendly and not very pressurizing! I do get a bit tense in warm-ups sometimes but I have now learnt I have to be a bit more assertive otherwise I won't get to jump anything! Are both Parwood and Merrist wood outdoor?
My horse generally seems to have issues with bikes so as long as there are none of them we're fine!

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

I think I'll try to get out to Pachesham it looks really friendly and not very pressurizing! I do get a bit tense in warm-ups sometimes but I have now learnt I have to be a bit more assertive otherwise I won't get to jump anything! Are both Parwood and Merrist wood outdoor?
My horse generally seems to have issues with bikes so as long as there are none of them we're fine!

Merrist wood is warm up outdoor, arena inside and parwood is the opposite.

I hack to both with my mum on her bike but we seem to be the only crazy people that hack so I’m sure you’ll be fine ?