This Anglophile would love to read about your bit of the UK

kippen64

kippen64

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Joined
10 February 2012
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Australia
thinkingabouthorses.blogspot.com.au
Hi there, I am in Australia and have been a serious Anglophile since I was a small child reading English horse books. One day I will get over there but in the meantime, I would truly love to read about your part of the UK and what makes it a great place to have horses. Cheers.
 
I thought I would answer as no one else has. I am from the Midlands, Staffordshire to be more precise. I live on the edge of the countryside so have the best of both worlds

I used to regularly ride around an area called 'The Chase' http://www.visitcannockchase.co.uk/

Its a pretty good area to own horses as there are lots of yards, lots of shows and and at least 7 all year competition venues within an hour or so travel. Plus the local summer shows and XC venues. At least 3 hunt groups in easy travel too:D.

Also depending on which yard you are the hacking can be spectacular

Writing it all down has made me realise how lucky we are :D

Hope that is the sort of thing you were looking for
 
soulfull said:
I thought I would answer as no one else has. I am from the Midlands, Staffordshire to be more precise. I live on the edge of the countryside so have the best of both worlds

I used to regularly ride around an area called 'The Chase' http://www.visitcannockchase.co.uk/

Its a pretty good area to own horses as there are lots of yards, lots of shows and and at least 7 all year competition venues within an hour or so travel. Plus the local summer shows and XC venues. At least 3 hunt groups in easy travel too:D.

Also depending on which yard you are the hacking can be spectacular

Writing it all down has made me realise how lucky we are :D

Hope that is the sort of thing you were looking for
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Yes, that is precisely the type of information that I was looking for. Thank you so much!!!!
 
I'm a born & bred yorkshire lass & very proud of it. It is quite a rough area I live in so my main reason for getting my daughter into horses was to give her a focus in her life. There are so may of her friends that just hang around doing nothing other than getting into trouble :(

We are very lucky to be on a great yard with fantastic country hacking & we have a fair few show venues around us which makes competing pretty regular an easy thing to do.

We also have a fab venue literally on our doorstep which have a great xc course so we just hire it out & go for a good day out.

I feel lucky too. It's hard work & not cheap but I know where my child is & she loves the life xxx

Ps, I have tons of family in oz & I sooo want to visit!
 
I cant for the life of me understand why you would like this miserable, overcrowed, cold, wet, crap pit little country????!! I hate it! I live in the south with extortionate prices, taxed to death, and nothing to show for it! I'd rather be in OZ!!
 
maisie06 said:
I cant for the life of me understand why you would like this miserable, overcrowed, cold, wet, crap pit little country????!! I hate it! I live in the south with extortionate prices, taxed to death, and nothing to show for it! I'd rather be in OZ!!
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The history, the tradition, the horses. I have steeped myself in all of this since childhood. Then there is the music too. So want to go to the Glastonbury Music Festival. So much to see and do. Have worked out that I could spend a solid two years checking out the sights of England and still not do it full justice. Just writing this fills my heart with a strong yearning.
 
I live in the Midlands a few miles from a small town. The landscape is, like most of England, very green, but in parts, craggy with dry stone walls. The nice thing about it is the convenience. Good equestrian training facilities are varied and plentiful. Horses are dotted in fields everywhere and people hack out on the roads to get to bridlepaths, which are not as plentiful as footpaths unfortunately.
Apart from those who keep horses at home,the majority of horses are kept on livery yards where the owners either take complete care of their horses renting a stable and grazing or have part /full livery. Because its such a small island and heavily populated, grazing is a premium, so in winter, its difficult to find 24 hour turnout, so commonly horses are stabled overnight or turned out for short periods.
Equine vets, farriers, saddle fitters, dentists and 'back' people are plentiful and work to a high standard compared to some other European countries. Women riders greatly outumber men except for the top end of the competition disciplines where it is more evenly divided. A large proportion of horse owners are leisure riders who have no interest in competition apart maybe from a few local outings for fun as serious competition requires- like everywhere- a fair financial input.
Although, horse ownership in the UK is still percieved as 'posh', this is far from the truth. Owners are from a wide variety of backgrounds from professionals to youngsters working in supermarkets.
Horse breeds are varied from TB's, warmbloods, to cobs and native ponies. Children tend to ride ponies, its not usual for small children to ride horses unlike the US.
Because grazing is so rich, laminitis is a big worry as is obesity. Our weather, although not extreme by world standards, is variable and within the seasons can change daily or even hourly, making that sunny t-shirt ride suddenly become freezing with biting rain and wind.
 
I live in the North East, there are some lovely parts, but also some scruffy parts. i live in an estate and the yard im at is on the outskirts of a town and it backs onto some fields. Its ideal for me as there is a bus stop just up the road to get there and you pass it on your way anywhere.
There are loads of livery yards around and there is the beach which is great for the horses, only about 25 mins away for me. There are a million riding clubs and a million PC branches too, but unfortunatly there aren't that many affiliated events, the odd Dressage about 45min away, only 1 affiliated showjumping event at one yard (mine) and only about 3 BE events, two of which are big ones (Burgham, they have the advanced course this year) so if you want to affiliated you have to travel.
 
Happy to oblige, although it depends on what you mean by "your bit of the UK" as I've lived and grown up in several places - all special:

Currently - live in the south east . . . technically known as the green leafy bit full of quite posh people (although we're not remotely posh) and definitely horsey country. The landscape here is very pastoral - leafy lanes, gentle hills, all very green. I'm lucky enough to keep the boy adjacent to Forestry Commission land so we have good hacking with no roadwork.

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The weather is pretty temperate (despite what you hear about it raining all the time) which means it's (usually) lovely and green in the Spring/Summer. Downside is that it's veeeeery expensive - property and land prices are ridiculous.

P
 
Another one from Yorkshire here, live in west yorkshire, but within a breath a north yorks really. There is some great hacking near me - as I noticed again yesterday as my recently recovered- just back to cantering horse reminded me as he tried to tank off :rolleyes: I'm lucky enough to live between these two places - which are a long hack out, but worth it

http://www.bramhampark.co.uk/

http://www.harewood.org/

There are a few competition venues near me, but I haven't been out and about for ages.

I also love the people over here more I have to say, no-one quite got my sense of humour in aus, sarcasm - the basis of all my wit :cool: was lost.... That said, being british, and a yorkshirewoman gives be double reason to be dour ;)

I lived in aus for a bit (Bunbury, WA) and I don't envy the riding! Although there is lots of beach stuff to do (loads in WA especially) and you get to see cool stuff like kangaroos, I did not enjoy the constant sweating, the flies (again I think these are worse in WA?) the ticks etc. I much prefer my temperate climate with lush grass and not too many nasties. :)

That said, I loved the wildnerness over in aus - did our own trip from Perth - Darwin going on Gibb River Road, you need to do it its amazing -, the water holes, the heat (just not when ridng!) and the surf.
 
I live in London, moved here from Germany just over a decade ago.
At first I kept my gelding in working livery at a small riding school in town. They have a manège and a field to ride in but all the hacking is on the road (Canary Wharf and Isle of Dogs). He spooked at his first bus but soon became the most traffic savvy horse in the world.
We left for Epping Forest a few years ago. The yard is a 40 mile round trip and I go every day ... And bought a second horse.
Epping Forest is an ancient woodland managed by the City of London and offers off-road riding in the summer and 40 miles of bridleways in the winter. They do charge a fee though and it gets rather crowded with cyclists and lose dogs at times.
We are a stones throw from the motorway and can get to a variety of show grounds within an hour. X country is within easy reach and my favourite beach is only 3 hours up the road in Norfolk.
If I didn't have to work I'd probably move to further away to Shropshire or Norfolk but this works well for now :-)
 
Want to swap kippen64? :)

I am in Lincolnshire everyone thinks it is completly flat like a snooker table!! That is true of south lincs, but I am at the bottom of a bloddy great hill, infact Lincoln has a street called steep hill which was voted the best street in England :)

Currently the weather is dull and windy :(

Not got much else to say about living in this country TBH, except say good bye to any savings you have unless you are a millionaire :)
 
mulledwhine said:
Want to swap kippen64? :)

I am in Lincolnshire everyone thinks it is completly flat like a snooker table!! That is true of south lincs, but I am at the bottom of a bloddy great hill, infact Lincoln has a street called steep hill which was voted the best street in England :)

Currently the weather is dull and windy :(

Not got much else to say about living in this country TBH, except say good bye to any savings you have unless you are a millionaire :)
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You wouldn't want to swap with me. I live in a town with 13,000 people and no proper facilities to keep a horse at. It's enough to drive a person to coffee. :(
 
Hi Kippen,
I am originally from Scotland but have lived in Somerset for the last 22 years. I love it here and would never move. I live in a small rural village in the Quantock Hills and keep my hairy cob on a sheep farm. We have miles and miles of hacking through woodland and on to the open moors. We often see red deer and wild ponies, but luckily my cob is not bothered by them.
We're about 40 mins from Glastonbury but have never been tempted to go! I have seen the muddy remains of people leaving too often, that has put me off !!
Being rural Somerset we have the usual things like thatched cottages, great pubs and lots of cider!! We also have the lovely cities of Bath and Exeter not too far away.
I feel so privileged to live here - if you come to the UK you must visit. My two nieces who live in NZ came over last year and loved it.
 
Hi, I live in the South East corner of Kent, near Dover, which is a large port. I rent 22 acres and 9 stables with two friends and the local hacking is great. We are also close to the historic city of Canterbury and it's beautiful cathedral. The surrounding countryside is very green, with tiny country lanes, woods and farm fields, some lovely and very old houses and farms (some thatched) and of course, the seaside towns of Ramsgate, Margate, Broadstairs and Deal (which has a pier!)
So we have the best of both worlds, although some of the seaside places are a bit past their best, and it is a great place to live. Also we are only a couple of hours from London!
 
Another from Somerset, I live near enough to the festival site to hear the music without needing to go:D . There is Glastonbury Tor nearby a real landmark visible for miles, its very wet round here, plenty of mud but the grass does grow well.

Riding out is not great, think winding country lanes bordered by hedges, plenty of wildlife we regularly see deer, foxes and badgers.

There are several vineyards in the area, grapes grow well surprisingly, as well as many traditional orchards that provide apples for local cider production.

The local hunt is very well supported and has some of the biggest and best jumping in the country, if you are brave enough.

The owners of one of my liveries are Australian they make regular trips back to Melbourne and Sydney and frequently have family and friends over to visit so I am well used to chatting about your country.
 
Hi,
I live in Whitby which is in North Yorkshire but on the coast. We have lots of Aussie connections here - Captain Cook was born not far away near Middlesbrough and he set sail on the Endeavour from Whitby harbour. There is a big statue of him on the cliff and it always has a seagull sitting on his head! There are lots of things round here named after him. Whitby is also famous as the place where Bram Stoker got his inspiration for Dracula. THere are lots and lots of people who come on holiday here.
The scenery is fantastic, we have hills, forests, moors and beaches with miles and miles of bridleway, because its also a national park. So hacking is probably some of the best in the country. The weather isn't so great so you have to be kitted up with warm clothes etc but you can ride for miles. THe beach is my favourite, followed by the moor! I prefer winter riding because the beaches get really busy as soon as there is a speck of sunshine.
There are several local hunts you can ride out with, and they all have their own Pony Club branch. There aren't very many livery yards locally though, so many people keep their horses at farms, home or in rented fields etc. There are not so many competitions locally, if you want to affiliate you need to travel about 30 miles - but there are lots of places to compete in all disciplines if you want to travel that distance. In the summer we have lots of local village shows so the summer season is very busy. Oh and there is a Riding Club branch not far from me.
On the whole I love it and wouldn't move anywhere else. I went to visit my sister a couple of years ago who lives in Brisbane and really liked it there. We went to the Whitsunday islands, Byron Bay, and lots of places in-between, and I thought it was lovely. If I had come home to living in a UK city I would seriously have considered going back to Australia to work. But as I came back here to my lovely horse and the countryside I decided to stay!!!!
 
I live in the Lake District. From a horsey point of view it's kind of quiet compared to other places but there's quite a few yards, and nice hacking. The actual area itself is named 'lake district' not because of the lakes, but because it rains so much!!! :rolleyes: It's miserable, it's quite nice when it's not rainy though.

Everyone says it's a lovely place and they like the hills etc but I've lived here all my life so i don't really see it in a good a way as others do! I live on the outskirts of a town so we're kind of half in the country and half not. Live on a main road but have big fields behind the house. Horsey wise it's a nice area though as there's lots of nice places to hack :)
 
I have just moved to Grantham in Lincolnshire, it's my first experience of living in a town, and Oh! What a town! It's very scary!

This part of Lincolnshire is on the edge of the Vale of Belvoir Hunt, Grafton hunt, Pytchley, Quorn and Cottesmore so you can imagine the old hunt country that was written about in all your books.

Further south is the Lincolnshire/Cambridgeshire fens which is mainly reclaimed land and barely reaches above sea level! The best thing about Grantham is the east coast main line which gets you into central London in just over 1hour!

I'm sure you could manage a trip around the UK with HHO people offering you a bed for a couple of nights at a time!
 
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Devon :)

Speaks for it'self really! I have lived all over the UK but love it here. Hacking is fab, got local hunt/pony club etc etc

Would like to explore Oz but am such a softy I can't bear being away from my horse for long enough to make it worthwhile going! One day though!! :)
 
Another one from the south east. I live in Surrey and I love it! The villages are pretty and there are some really nice places to ride. My horse is currently kept inbetween Horsell and Chobham common which is good because you can vary where you go. My house backs on to the canal so the dog always gets a good walk/swin :D. It is expensive though for houses, land, livery and most little shops can charge way over the odds for things but I don't think this is just in Surrey :D :o
 
I live in the middle of Lincolnshire Fens, about 2 miles from the nearest village, on a farm. It is FLAT, and I mean FLAT around here, you can see for miles.
The best things are the big skies and the people. The weather also suits me, as it is the driest part of UK with the climate not so different from home (and home is southern Poland).
The horsey scene is active, with quite a few venues within easy driving distance, the hacking is OK, but does involve roadwork.
And it's rather windy :D
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I am from Lancashire... In an area sandwiched between pendle hill, the Bowland fells and the Yorkshire dales.... All designated area of outstanding natural beauty! The riding is nice, lots of leafy country lanes and some good bridlepaths... I am actually only about 3 miles from the trans pennine bridleway. We are also near gisburn forest which is lovely and the beach is about an hour away in the wagon!

Competition wise, we're very lucky... Lots of comp centres and riding clubs nearby. We also have two sets of gallops less than half an hour away, a fabulous farm rude at craven country ride, plus other XC inc crow wood, somerford and kelsall about hour and half away.

I'll post some photos later :-)
 
maisie06 said:
I cant for the life of me understand why you would like this miserable, overcrowed, cold, wet, crap pit little country????!! I hate it! I live in the south with extortionate prices, taxed to death, and nothing to show for it! I'd rather be in OZ!!
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Yep can see where you're coming from :D to be honest if I didnt have a reasonble foot on the property ladder, aged parents who would be on there own , and some great friends I would have been out of here years ago!!!, Im not supprised so many younger people with a bit of get up and go leave here unless they are in a very well paid job or going to inherit money things look fairly bleak for most of us ...
 
Does Scotland interest you at all? I live in Central Scotland, near Kippen in fact, and it's nice and rural but close to plenty of shops and whatnot. It doesn't rain every day, just most days ;) today we have horizontal rain and quite a high wind but that didn't stop the ponies going out. It's very horsey around here, there are numerous livery yards, studs, riding schools and plenty riding club/pony club branches. We have excellent off-road hacking and are within driving distance to the beach. Unfortunately we also have midges :(
 
maisie06 said:
I cant for the life of me understand why you would like this miserable, overcrowed, cold, wet, crap pit little country????!!
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This made me smile as it proves it’s all relative reallly. I’ve just moved here from Ireland and thinks it’s wonderfully dry and cheap! lol! If you want damp, miserable and expensive you need to go a little further west :D
 
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