Where you began riding? Me, Whiteleaf...

dibbin said:
My first riding school was the Royal Brunei Armed Forces Saddle Club in Brunei, in Borneo (my dad was on loan there from the RAF at the time, we lived there for 3 years)

I started on Solo, who was a little sod of a Section A, and then moved on to Twinkle who was a NF. The horses were all so sweet.


There were monkeys :)
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So did I! Although I don’t think the club was up and running when I was there as it was in the 60s/70s. I learnt to ride on ex racing ponies that a couple of army wives had bought and they were right little sods. The sultan of Brunei kept a few horses on camp and my sister being older used to ride them. We rode on the beach most of the time and my sister says I used to fall off all the time 😂
 
I’m not sure how I’ve missed this (very old) thread before!!

I started when I was diddy and living in SW London, can’t remember what the stables was called but it would have been SW outskirts of London. I rode a pony called Pickwick.

Then we moved to Kidderminster and I think the riding school I went to was called Severn Valley, I rode a Shetland called Loopy, and presumably welshies - naughty black one called Twinkle and dun one called Funny Face 😆
 
TheChildrens Riding Stables, Fen End. Worked there weekends too.

Used to ride Astra, Sherry, Meg, Charlie and Nobby. Charlie was amazing, he used to fo mini rears do I loved riding him.

Me and my mate used to muck out the horses and tack them up. We used to feel so grown up and responsible!

I can clearly remember Mum making me Heinz chicken soup in a flask along with salami sandwiches!

I was only 14 then and about 7 stone. One of the horses, a moody mare called Gem picked me up by the neck, I had to punch her to let me go. I ended up in A& E gaving a tb injection.
 
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Mine was Hyfield Riding Stables in Crowhurst in around 2004. I remember a strawberry roan pony called Queenie and their massive barn. I also vividly remember walking into the stables for the first time and the smell of hay/horses/everything filing my lungs and heart!
 
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Any northerners who went to Whittington Mill stables in Northumberland with Mrs Findeison? I loved it there, it started with 1 full Saturday a month, beginners went on the 1st Saturday, novices on the 2nd, int on 3rd and advanced on 4th. When you moved up a level you could become a helper on your old days. We had a morning and afternoon lesson and the rest of the day would do stable management and horse first aid. I'm not sure if other places did this but I loved that I learned how to look after a pony not just ride one.
 
Dolcé said:
I started at Owlet Farm Riding School in Horsforth, Leeds, when I was 9, told them I knew how to ride and went straight out on a hack (I had never been on a horse and they must have known when I clambered on but still let me go out). I managed the steering and stopping, didn't like the trot much and the canter on the cricket pitch nearly finished me but I managed to stay on and was hooked from then. I used to ride what I thought was a huge fleabitten grey called Alex who used to star in Follifoot (Owlet used to provide the horses), he probably wasn't that big really. I went on to be an instructress and worked at the next door riding school, Lingbob, that was the posh one of the area, we livery there now and the YO still has all the old photos of the horses. We spend many happy times remembering them!
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I rode at Lingbob when I was a student in Leeds in the 1970’s. I remember a beautiful pale sun called Gilly, I loved her. Also Tinga who was great to ride but would suddenly bolt for home. Happy days!
 
Argh!! I can't remember the name of the riding school. It was up north! I remember it had indoor stables and you could get into the indoor without going outside. The hacking tracks were next to a wood/forest. I first rode a skewbald called Yogi and then a white grey with a silver mane and tail called princess.
 
For me it was Seechem school of equitation, Alvechurch in Worescestershire, at that time run by the forminable Miss Quinney. This was the late 70's early 80's. Although I was born into a horsey family and had a pony at home, my father insisted my sister and I had a weekly lesson.
Seechems had amazing facilities for the time - an indoor and an outdoor school but my favourite being the fabulous cross country course in what was called 'the park'. Miss Quinney was incredibly strict, for example, if you dropped the reins on a bridle walking across the yard you had to go back and clean the whole bridle!

Peter was and Amber were my favourite ponies. Peter was grey, probably a welsh about 12.2. Amber was similiar but chocolate dun. Both were fabulous ponies. I also remember Smokey, he was a character. He cat leaped his jumps and enjoyed a good buck in the park. I think I rode him quite a lot!!!

Sceechems still exists today, not sure if it is still a riding school?
 
Such a lovely thread!

No one in my family was horsey, but my mum had a friend who did dressage to a decent level, and I thought she was amazing. I had my first ever pony ride at a stables near where she lived in Essex, but I’ve got no idea what it was called.

I learned to ride at a trekking centre in the Highlands called Torlundy Trekking Centre. They had a mix of Highland ponies and a couple of Connemaras. I remember being carted around by an opinionated Highland called Flossie, and absolutely loving a Strawberry roan pony called Bessie, who I think was a livery. The owner’s children were a bit younger than me, and had ponies that were occasionally used. I remember having a very exciting ride out on their Shetland, which was surprisingly fast.

There was an outdoor school, and when that was too wet to use, we rode in amazing countryside. I think I probably rode there on and off for about 4 years. I was desperate for my own pony, but was never allowed one, probably quite sensibly.
 
I started at Adel Wood EC in Leeds. I was in Year 5 and my school friend used to have lessons there. I went with her one week and that was that! I used to help out as much as I could on weekends (the health and safety was very different back then! 😂) and do pony days. I always seemed to ride the naughty ones but I apparently had sticky jodhpurs. The owner Kim was ace, she sadly passed away recently. I’m not from a horsey family at all. Just bought my first horse, ~25 years later.
 
I first had lessons in a riding school in Gorredijk, Netherlands, age 8, but before that I had been riding at an icelandic horse centre in Lhee, also Netherlands, where the parents of my best friend had a weekend chalet and I often went along. I loved it there, and riding the icelandics out in the woods, the heather and sandy tracks - beautiful area.

After my parents divorced age 10, there was no money for riding, my best friend had moved away and riding was sporadic. My mother moved back to the UK, and eventually at uni I rode again, at a riding school in Shadwell, near Leeds, run by a woman called Jo. Then nothing for years and years until I got back into it in my mid forties.
 
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