Which is the best area/county for riding?

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faeriequeene

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Hooray we are are no longer tied to London, and we have decided that we are going to relocate horses and all... this is such good news as we are so fed up of built-up Surrey we want to ride in proper countryside, where we are not constantly being mown down by dirvers and cyclists. However I have been scouring the country for the best place to go, we want to be reasonably near to show centres but most of all we want some lovely and safe hacking. Without doing a massive tour of Britain it is proving very overwhelming. As a first base, I just wondered what people's opinions are, somebody I know said Shropshire was definitely the best horsey county but I wondered if it might be too remote. Any advice or opinions would be appreciated.... x
 
I am biased but I love Somerset!! Where I live in particular is within a 30 minute drive of the beach, the Quantock hills and lots of lovely countryside hacking so lots of opportunities for varied riding if you have the transport. Also, within good distance of lots of equestrian centres and schooling locations plus lots of major events within a reasonable drive, i.e. Badminton. There are also lots of livery yards around, I cannot speak for how good the yards are since I do not have my own horse yet but I know that I personally would not want to be anywhere else.

Coincidentally, I was asked last week whilst training in London whether I would consider moving there as a job was becoming available. I said no because whilst I love London for a weekend, I cannot imagine living in a city when I want to buy a horse late next year. I hope you come to a decision and it is not too difficult :)
 
Gloucestershire is supposed to be the one of the best counties, especially up in the Cotswolds, if you can afford the prices.
Seems to have reasonable bridlepath network and Hartpury is of course a top competition venue. Shropshire is a bit more remote as not a commute from London, but due to historic reasons, hasn't a good bridleway network in large areas.
Bedfordshire is supposed to be good for bridlepaths.
 
Depends on your budget, and idea of hacking bliss!

My dream place to live would be Exmoor.

I think you should have a think what your dream hacking is - moor/beaches/forests.

Good luck with the move :)
 
Well it's certainly not Kent!
The ONLY good thing about kent is that you can leave it quickly on a high speed train.
 
HHO magazine said Gloucestershire, didn't they, a few years back?

It's going to depend on your budget: if you are selling a house in London, the exchange rate up north is amazing. You could get a house with land and amazing hacking in say Northumbria with a London sale.

If you can't bear the cooler temperatures and you don't want to be 'oop north', how about Herts? Depending on which bit, you have forests, rivers, houses aren't too prohibitive.

Norfolk if you want seriously cheap property and beaches not too far.
 
I grew up in Norfolk and have family in Suffolk both have fantastic hacking, well they did when I was a child anyway which was a long time ago though!

Suffolk probably has better access to competition centers but Norfolk has Burnham Market if you want to event. There is great hacking in Thetford forest. I used to live near Diss and it is very rural people kept their horses at home as most of the properties in the village I lived in had paddocks. The only thing I would say is do you need to find a job because there is not a great of work in these areas outside agriculture. My parents were self employed and ran a business that meant they could live anywhere in the UK and I always feel very lucky to have lived in that area as a child.

Example of a livery yard in area.

http://www.riddlesworthequestriancentre.co.uk/facilities/
 
. I used to keep my horse near Chingford and we had Epping Forest on our doorstep which was brilliant for hacking. I understand Leicestershire's supposed to be pretty good horse country.

Avoid South Bucks, at least the area of Bucks where I live. Hacking is dire, very few bridleways and those are flinty and/or neglected and overgrown.

I would love to have somewhere like Bodmin Moor to ride. I went on riding holidays there a couple of times in my teens and we could ride across the moor all day, it was fantastic
 
How about Cheshire???? Very horsey, good land, Central for many, many qualifiers.
But it can be pricey, definately do not go anywhere near North manchester, South lancashire, rossendale, West Yorkshire. The land is wet, wet, wet! It rains here loads !!!!!
 
When I saw the title I was going to say Surrey! Not because it's the prettiest but must be one of the most accessible particularly around the North Downs (Albury/Ranmore/Shere) where you can ride for miles and barely see a soul.
 
Again, very biased, but Hampshire - especially the New Forest! Loads of hacking, we are a maximum of an hour and a half's drive from any type of event (between us we do dressage, sj, eventing, showing) but most are a lot closer.
Plus it's beautiful to go out early morning or later in the evening, be the only person around for miles, and look out over the countryside to see ponies, cows, and deer.
 
I live in Gloucestershire and have horses here too. Where I keep my girl is 25minutes from summerhouse equestrian centre, 35 minutes from Hartpury, 15 minutes from Burrows Court, 40 minutes from Leyland Court, about an hour from West Wilts, 30 minutes from Badminton. Really is ideal hot spot for all these places and many more smaller less well known equestrian centres. All those mentioned above is time taken to travel in the trailer :). Depending where you locate in Gloucestershire the prices and hacking can vary... Where I am there are lots of livery yards DIY/part/full prices from £25 per week upwards. The hack again where I am is a bit roady but there are lots of bridle paths, woods and fields etc to hack around also.

Good luck!!
 
We're in NW hampshire. Because it's arable and shooting country there are very few fenced fields (crops don't escape), lots of set-aside and gamekeeper's tracks. If you have a good relationship with your local farmer as we do, it's bliss as we can ride for miles off road. The lanes are also plentiful, quiet and very suitable for hacking / driving. The down-side is that there are still many large private estates, whose owners and staff are much less receptive to access requests, even when it's just a 50 yard stretch of track that links two legitimate bridleways.
 
I loved keeping the horses in Berks (just on the Hampshire border I think).
Where we are now in Devon is pretty nice, but a completely different type of horsey scene. But we've got Dartmoor on our doorstep which is pretty cool.
 
millikins said:
When I saw the title I was going to say Surrey! Not because it's the prettiest but must be one of the most accessible particularly around the North Downs (Albury/Ranmore/Shere) where you can ride for miles and barely see a soul.
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THIS ^^^^ also on North Downs -Surrey Hills on Farthing Downs. Happy Valley, Coulsdon Common and surrounding areas. We are actually quite blessed with lots of bridleways in certain parts of Surrey but agreed it's over crowded, noisy, aggressive on the roads and heavily polluted. This is why we are moving to Wales when we find the right place!
 
I am biased... But has to be the New Forest!! Can go for miles without seeing a soul, the terrain is varied, lots of natural obstacles for jumping, and can really explore. Have spent many an hour just my horse and I finding new places to go, which after three years I still do regularly! :)
 
Another vote for Hampshire - a bit more expensive than a Northern area but you're within easy travelling of very popular competition centres and there's beautiful hacking. I've grown up near Winchester and love it here.

If your budget stretches to the New Forest the hacking is to die for!
 
If you wish to be close to London then North Hertfordshire (Benington/Ardeley area) is there is an excellent network of integrated Bridleways and Byways.
Alternatively Somerset (Quantocks) Exmoor, Dartmoor, Mid Wales, Northumberland and Gloucestershire have excellent off Road Riding.
 
iaej said:
I am biased but I love Somerset!! Where I live in particular is within a 30 minute drive of the beach, the Quantock hills and lots of lovely countryside hacking so lots of opportunities for varied riding if you have the transport. Also, within good distance of lots of equestrian centres and schooling locations plus lots of major events within a reasonable drive, i.e. Badminton.
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^^^^ this :D
 
If I could be anywhere to ride it would be South West Scotland (Kirkucbright/Dumfries area) or if you want to stay in England the nearest to that would be Northumberland. Somewhere within hacking distance of a beach in both, as they both have gorgeous beaches for riding as well as countryside, forests etc.

Runners up would be Formby near Southport where I grew up and where my family still live - again there's a perfect beach and pinewoods. Not so much other hacking but hey this is my biased option!

Other runner up would be Witherslack in Cumbria - the best hacking I have ever done on holiday there - just SO many bridle paths and never bump into another soul!

How exciting that you can move anywhere - do let us know what the final choice is!

*edit* just realised you put Shropshire - I don't know it for riding, imagine it's beautiful - but Shrewsbury is my ultimate dream town to live near because of the amazing shops, places to eat, history, castle, decent transport links and then lovely countryside. I wonder if any of our members near can elaborate on how it is for riding!
 
Nativelover said:
How about Cheshire???? Very horsey, good land, Central for many, many qualifiers.
But it can be pricey, definately do not go anywhere near North manchester, South lancashire, rossendale, West Yorkshire. The land is wet, wet, wet! It rains here loads !!!!!
Click to expand...

For the prices here though she may as well stay down south haha - great for competing though!
 
Pr1nce said:
I keep mine in Leicestershire (I live in Northamptonshire) and it is lovely, lots of hills and valleys and a great bridleway network :)
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I'm also in Leicestershire. Very lovely countryside, good hills for fittening work and really well positioned for most big Competition Venues and for Hunting.
 
cobgoblin said:
Well it's certainly not Kent!
The ONLY good thing about kent is that you can leave it quickly on a high speed train.
Click to expand...

I love living in kent! I keep my horse in a rural part of it which has a fantastic bridle way network and forestry tracks where you can be out for hours. Plus there's plenty of beaches around to go to if you fancy it. Lots of show centres in the area and a very active horsey scene :)
 
I am from a very rural part of Essex and also lived near (Half a mile!) from the beach - I cannot tell you how wonderful some of the hacking was round here! Plenty of bridlepaths, varied hacking, forests and wooded areas, the beach and the roads were quite quiet too. I miss it so much! I now live near Epsom in Surrey and although some of the hacking is lovely and there is the downs of course and numerous places to hack should you wish to box and travel but it's so incredibly busy and not to mention expensive, it's the just not the same.
 
It depends on what you want to do, for competition purposes as many have said Glos takes some beating but if you want a cheaper alternative, south Worcs is excellent with loads of venues within easy travelling and the M5/M50 to get you to a lot of others. There are lots of excellent trainers in the area too. We have TROT just down the road and Castlemorton common and the Malvern Hills are within hacking distance or a quick hop in the box. We've also got several all weather gallops for hire in the area. If hacking is your thing, then the Quantocks are beautiful with lots of great paths that are rideable in all weathers, less boggy than Exmoor IMO. Also, having just spent a few days in the New Forest, that looks fantastic for hacking too. Shrops is lovely but rather remote as is Herefordshire but you get more for your money as a result.
 
The best hacking I have ever done was in the newforest. I would LOVE to move there! Thetford forest was cool and hainault\havering when I was a child. I think you need to be near a forest!
I'm in north essex and its a rubbish place to hack unless you love endless concrete road! I've been told by someone from cornwall that its the same there- loads of countryside but not allowed in it!
 
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