XC Hire in Surrey

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MJ_1993

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Hi,

What Cross Country Course would you recommend for babies? I say babies they are 7 and 8 but quite low mileage.

One if very spooky so needs to be open, inviting and small.

I'm not too far from Chertsey.

Thanks =)
 
LMEQ! Woolgars is a mix of little fences spread over a nice farm ride with some larger fences in one area with a small water complex. If you didn't end up jumping much it wouldn't be a wasted journey. East Bysshe is good too and lots of little things. Not Surrey, but Coombelands is lovely!
 
Twesledown, LMEQ, woolgars, Munstead, Chobham Chasers.
The latter is a very baby friendly as if open (closed if ground wet) there is 1 field with 15 or so v small jumps, then a track round several fields with 60-70cm jumps, just about all visible from box area. :) adjacent to Fairoaks airfield on the Chertsey Road, Chobham.
 
I think it was someone of here that had a blog post where they pretty much reviewed most courses in Surrey, gosh I wish I could remember where I found it, I shall go hunting...

The new Twesledown looks amazing, I can't wait to take my (soon to be) 4 yr old there in the summer.
 
Thanks so much everyone!

I like the look of woolgars but seeing as you just turn up there could be other people there? Which isn't really what i want for one of the horses, He's just not ready for all that excitement just yet, lol!

Does anyone have any pics of Munstead baby jumps? All their jumps look quite beastly!
 
Woolgars is a huge site (working farm) and been very quiet when I have taken daughter. Even if you meet anyone else there is space to avoid each other. You have to ask permission to accompany on foot.
 
There's a new place Waggoners, near Gatwick that you can have sole use of during the week. I have heard mixed reviews about the jumps and hosts though. It's all weather, there's an arena with fixed fences and some out on tracks. There may suit you better if you don't want others on course. They have a FB page with lots on jump pics and videos. I have only been to Woolgars a handful of times and haven't seen anyone else around. East Bysshe similar.
 
A bit further out but you could try Rogate near Peterborough. Almost all their fences have 5 or 6 height options - expect the really technical ones. So you could school over the 30cm one and if feeling brave try the 60cm next to it etc. (Top heights 1m I think) The owners are really helpful and as long as you can be flexible about timings it should be possible to find a slot where no-one else has booked in. But even if there was someone else on course there are 3 vast distinct areas - 4 if you include the forest but - so you could just move to the next section to keep away from them,
 
Newlands said:
There's a new place Waggoners, near Gatwick that you can have sole use of during the week. I have heard mixed reviews about the jumps and hosts though. It's all weather, there's an arena with fixed fences and some out on tracks. There may suit you better if you don't want others on course. They have a FB page with lots on jump pics and videos. I have only been to Woolgars a handful of times and haven't seen anyone else around. East Bysshe similar.
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I have reservations about going here. AFAIK they don't have planning permission which means any insurance they'd have would be invalid. I've also heard reports that the fences aren't fixed, so personally this is a no go for me.
 
As far as I am aware Munstead jumps start at 1ft 6'' - they do also run BE events from there, so that would explain the more meaty....they have improved the water complex
 
Munstead and Tweseldown are both lovely, Tweseldown especially has had a lot of work done on it this year, and their 'schooling field' is great for babies.
LMEQ has always offered a decent choice for babies, and it's all in a relatively small enclosed space. You rarely get it to yourself though unfortunately.
I'm another who's heard mixed reports on Waggoners.
Woolgars is lovely, and I've never seen anyone else there. It's much more like a nice hack with some jumps than a full XC course.
 
Not seen many baby jumps at Munstead!

Tweseldown is lovely.

There's a place in Essex called Stanford Rivers that is perfect for babies (or nervous riders, like me :) ), but probably too far for you.

As for Waggoners... I went of foot with a couple of friends. Their gallops aren't long enough for an actual gallop. The all-weather XC is a novel idea, but it does mean it's very small. You can do the whole lot within 10 mins if you don't take much time between. The jumps in the area are very tightly packed, too - 2 horses makes it seem crowded.

Again, a great idea but not sure how well executed it is. The concerns already raised are worrying... It's cheap enough for a quick fix on a more established horse, I'd say. Oh, and stay off the grass :D
 
JennBags said:
Yes, that alone was enough to make me question going there!
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....and don't ask if they need any help or workers!!! The replies I have seen from that and how badly the grass issues were publicly addressed put me off without the jump issues and I'm only 5 mins away! I wouldn't be surprised about PP given who owns it! How about Felcourt, I haven't been but hear it's nice and small!
 
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