Somerford park farm ride?

ycbm said:
Also you can come to me and I'll take you on a fab hack round Macclesfield Forest. I can even get the OH to bring us a picnic half way :)
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Hehe you may want to know which horse I'm bringing before you sign your life away to that!!! :D
 
Thanks everyone for the info! Apparently Boggle has been to all these places as he spent Christmas with my sharer a couple of years ago whilst I was backpacking.

Kelsall definitely closer, I guess it'll depend on how much we can be bothered to get behind the wheel etc. I'm guessing Kelsall is better for baby horse stuff if I take the youngun? Is Somerford worth the extra 10 mins in the car over Kelsall...?
 
I go to magpie cottages in the marple , its less expensive that near delamere cottages are amazing and spa with jacuzzi/ steam room sauna , off road hacking its amazing ?
 
Theyre very much on a par these days tbh, somerford is bigger, their 80 acres and grassroots is mega for xc schooling. That said personally I preferred training on my own round eland (which also isn't far) as its set out as a course and clear what jumps are what height wise.
As farm rides, I really enjoyed kelsall but we went on a glorious day in summer and the going was fabulous. Somerford has guaranteed good going 365 days - even the summer route is mostly a surface.
Both have lots of fences to pick and choose - with easy options or bigger ones.
Both have cafes, somerford has hope valley shop.
Eland also has a shop and a fab cafe for that matter though
 
If you want baby xc fences then Somerford is the place to go .. they actually have a smaller XC field dedicated to novice horses /riders as well at the 80 acre field. The smaller field starts with a log on the ground , it’s own water jump ( more inviting ) and a really good range of other jumps from 60-80cm .
kelsall , has less jumps and is more tailored to 80cm plus
To be honest you will have a fab time at any of these venues . We are very lucky to have such amazing facilities
 
Michen said:
What's with all these awesome places so close to each other...!? Don't they struggle with the competition?

We don't have places like that around here that I can think of with farm rides and huge tack shops etc!
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We are spoiled for sure. They all offer something a little different so we certainly go to all 3 (and then some), all are established livery yards as well. Eland is not on the scale of somerford- kelsall is closer and growing fast.
I guess they're all pretty easy to get to as well which helps a lot
 
Personally found Somerford better for the babies - they have good take off/landing too. Loads of options - steps, water, ditch, brushes, tyres, roll tops etc etc

Makes me realise how lucky we are - slap bang in the middle of Eland and Somerford here! However, we don’t have AS many BD, AF/Regional venues close by (not that we do that well!)
 
This reminds me that I’ve got a stack of farm ride/facilities hire vouchers for Somerford and Kelsall in the bureau at home, courtesy of fence judging over the years. Seeing as share horse isn’t here any more, I won’t be using them! Let me have a rummage tonight and I’ll happily pop them in the post to anyone that can make use of them.
 
Somerford is great.

In terms of Delamere, there are lots of nice tracks for cantering. There is a lovely grassy area around Pale Hill which is good galloping ground.

Primrose woods is a smaller area but a lovely hack too. it's just the other side of Kelsall Hill.

I like Kelsall's farm ride too. it's mainly grass with some jumps so lovely cantering/galloping areas.

Also have a look at Little Budworth common, Whitegate Way, and the Oakmere way.
 
Somerford is the better bet/easier option IMO

Kelsall can get slippy when wet OR when hot as ground bakes hard with minimal grass cover....somerford is all weather most of the way.

grass roots schooling field has xc jumps from literally a log up to a strong 90cm, loads of options.
 
Michen said:
What's with all these awesome places so close to each other...!? Don't they struggle with the competition?

We don't have places like that around here that I can think of with farm rides and huge tack shops etc!
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Cheshire is brilliant for horse facilities and events, another reason I'm knarked at being over here further NW. They all get seriously busy though, especially if you go at the wrong time. Delamere can be scary when it is literally swarming with public.
 
Flame_ said:
Cheshire is brilliant for horse facilities and events, another reason I'm knarked at being over here further NW. They all get seriously busy though, especially if you go at the wrong time. Delamere can be scary when it is literally swarming with public.
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I imagine it’s much like Greenham common near me where I sometimes box too (loads of water areas so great for training). So busy, constantly harassed by dogs, drones, screaming kids etc etc. Luckily both of my guys are absolutely fine in this sort of environment but we will definitely try and go at quieter times during the week.
 
Kelsall Hill has just opened a brand spanking new HUGE indoor complex. I expect it'll get really busy, but the welcome has always been warm and the facilities not rammed. Has been a somewhat lower-key farm ride than SPF.
I've been going since it opened many years ago and always have a wonderful feeling when there. Hope it is treated well by competitors and the ambience remains.
 
From where you’re staying Kelsall is v close, gallops are the best I’ve used, schooling and farm ride are grass so weather dependant.

Somerford will be 30 min approx drive, best xc schooling and farm ride for surfaces and choice of fences, plus Hope Valley!

Smallwood I think is a similar distance to Somerford, less fancy on grass but I LOVE it for xc schooling, nice flowing fences.

Last time we stayed in Delamere we stayed in the forest and did find the good canter tracks. It wasn’t horribly busy during the day during the week but is a popular place.

Eland is bit further I think, but also a good visit. Skylla has taken an irrational dislike but I shouldn’t hold that against them ?.
 
Flame_ said:
Yes but did you see on facebook that they were charging £50 an hour for arena hire. I can't see it being that busy, really!
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Oh I meant the venue atmosphere might change if stuff is running all the time. I always felt it to be almost a backwater, very relaxed and informal. Phil Latham is a very approachable guy. You will most likely be able to share it with a few. You'd rattle about in it on your own!
 
I love somerford. I love kelsall. If its wet and maybe slippy though I would probably rather go to somerford! I saw you mentioned formby. Again if it's a very nice day you will want to get there by at least 9am as it can get very very busy. You can also end up queuing for ages to get onto the car parks when it's a nice day. It was like that about 3 weeks ago when we had a few days of nice sun!! The stretch of beach is quite narrow (when the tide is in) too but the forest is lovely. I tend to go to ainsdale (where they trained red rum!) The beach is much longer, wider and the car park (from april) is on the beach so there's much more room for cars, so less queuing! If you need any more advice about the beaches then let me know! I go at least 5 or 6 times a year as I'm not very far away!
 
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