January 2022

Happy New Year! New Year’s day was spent cleaning the mirrors in the indoor school. They looked so good afterwards people thought we had new mirrors! They are such a useful tool when learning and training the horses to check rider position and way of going of the horse.

This year we are celebrating 30 years at Witham Villa so watch out for some special events as we get into the year.

In January we replaced the lights in the indoor school so it is now lovely and light and bright in there.

In February we are going to refurb our cafe with the aim of re-opening again now that Covid restrictions are easing. We will be looking for staff to work in the cafe, so please do get in touch if you would be interested in this - email withamvillarc@yahoo.co.uk.

We ran a BHS Stage 1 and BHS Stage 2 exam assessment in January, congratulations to all of those that were successful.

We run training courses for these exams here at Witham Villa and have a very high sucess rate. These are run by Louise Mellor.

We will also be running a BHS Stage 2 Teach course and assessment later this year, run by Nicola Monks

We are delighted that India and Eddie have been selected for the British Dressage National Academy for the second year running, one of only 12 athletes on this Sport England funded training.

Also, they have been selected for a place on the Under 21 International Pathway, one of 7 Junior riders. India attended her first unmounted training session in January under this pathway and is working hard to continue to develop her performance with Eddie (Escade).

They won the PSG Bronze Area Festival at Solihull and are through to the Championships at Hartpury in April.

Verity did her first High Profile show with Izzy (Issey Magic) at Vale View and was pleased to finish in 4th place on 67% in Medium 75.

December 2021

In December we were very pleased with British Dressage competition sucess for India and Eddie (Escade) at Keysoe International High Profile Show, coming 6th in the Junior Team Test with 69%, 3rd in the Junior Individual Test with 70% and winning the Junior Freestyle with 75.29%. The combination are now ranked 119th in the world.

Verity and Izzy (Issey Magic) completed qualification for Elementary Gold Freestyle, Medium Silver Freestyle and Medium Silver for British Dressage Winter Regionals which will take place in February 2022.

Over the Christmas holiday period we ran Pony Club E and D tests and were very proud of the children, achieving a 100% pass rate. They were so well prepared through our Monday night Pony Club by Aliina Atkinson our Pony Club Co-ordinator and all looked so smart. The D test candidates had an external examiner - Tom Fray.

We ran Junior Experience sessions again over this holiday period giving youngsters the opportuntiy of having some time with the horses grooming etc as well as riding.

On the horse front we are delighted to welcome Warrior - a lovely black gelding approx 16hh. He is on loan to the riding school over the winter months and will take part in both flat and jump lessons.

November 2021

November has been a great month for maintenance jobs on the yard. We have re-graded and topped up the surface in our outdoor school and it is riding beautifully. It should mean that we can use it all winter without the risk of it freezing.

We also re-graded the indoor school, so that is also riding very well now.

The highlight of the month was getting the new Monarch horse walker installed and up and running. It is a huge asset to the yard as we will be able to keep the horses exercised and happy when the weather renders the fields unfit for turnout in the winter. It is also really helful for any horses coming through re-hab ready to return to work and for the competition horses for warm up or cool down.

We have repaired the concrete surface at the entrance to the yard making it smarter and safer.

India and Eddie (Escade) had a successful second weekend at Newbold Verdon EC for the British Dressage Foundation Academy on the last weekend of November, achieving a score of 72.8% in the Junior Team Test and benefitting from input from the excellent trainers at the camp.

We are pleased that Harriet completed her level two Modern Apprenticeship with us - congratulations. She also achieved her BHS Stage 2 Complete during her time at Witham Villa.

In November we were sorry to wave Jess Thomas off. Jess has worked at Witham Villa for 23 years and during that time she has been an integral part of the development of the business to where it is today. We are so grateful for her huge contribution and wish her well in her future ventures.

October 2021

Half Term Holiday Events - it was lovely seeing the children here enjoying the special activity programme put on for them over the half term. We will be running a Christmas Holiday programme next and details for that will be out soon.

We have been very pleased to welcome De Montfort University Equestrian Club back this autumn to start their training again. Firstly there was a taster day for new students and then a trials day for teams. Following on from this riders were selected to represent the Uni as A Team, B Team or C Team. They will then take part in the BUCS events and we wish them a successful season.

The students were lucky when it was a bright day, although cold as they came to Witham Villa to shoot their “Naked Calendar”. This has been produced annually for several years now and is used to raise money for charity.

As we went into the autumn we were very glad to get the yard washing machine repaired and working again - we were really missing it with so many items of horse wear to keep clean! If you are clearing out old towels we welcome them here at Witham Villa to use when we are drying the horses off.

We are having a horsewalker installed to enable us to help keep our horses happy and well exercised in the winter months, when the weather changes and very often the fields are not suitable for them to be turned out. This month the base was put down and the walker itself will be going up in November.

Hedging maintenance was done in October to maintain our boundaries and ensure healthy growth of our plants and trees.

We were delighted that India and Eddie (Escade) were selected for the British Dressage Foundation Camp again this year. They attended the first camp at Newbold Verdon Equestrian Centre this month. India had riding lessons with Hannah Moody and there were rider fitness sessions, goal planning sessions and so much more.

This month India and Eddie were also selected to represent Great Britain at Junior level at the International show at Keysoe International. Despite the lorry breaking down on the way and having to be rescued, we arrived at the show just in time for the trot up. We then sorted out emergency accomodation for India and myself and ended up having a wonderful show with an 8th place in the Junior Team Test followed by two second places in the Junior Individual and Junior Freestyle competitions. To be in their first internaional prize giving and stand to have the National Anthem played was really a magic moment!

Verity and Izzy (Issey Magic) were runners up in the Medium Silver Veteran Rider Championship held at Vale View, just 1% behind the winner.

September 2021

September has been a month of consolidation as we have been getting used to running our booking system online via ECPro . Overall the system has been very well received and we thank everyone for their patience when we have had the occasional glitch to resolve.

All of the group lessons at Witham Villa are graded according to rider ability and it is good to see the Rainbow Award System getting back into full swing and also to see riders progressing and moving up a group when ready. If you have any queries regarding progress please do drop us an email to withamvillarc@gmail.com and we can ask the instructor and feed back for you. Lesson times are generally taken by the same instructor every week, but of course they do have holiday to take and training courses to go on etc, so we cannot guarantee you will always have the same person. When an instructor is off then their lesson will be covered by another suitable instructor.

As we come into the Autumn and Winter months, we are very lucky to have a large indoor school so that in the event of inclement weather and being unable to continue teaching outdoors then the outdoor lesson will come inside and can share the space with the lesson already taking place indoors, meaning no-one should have to miss out on their lesson and no lessons are compromised.

Witham Villa Horses - we are very sorry that on 14th September we lost our wonderful Harrison to colic. He was an absolute superstar for us here for many years and will be greatly missed. Always in our hearts.

Covid-19. Whilst rules have been relaxed, please can we ask everyone still to be careful. We have hand sanitiser around the yard for your use, please continue to keep safe distancing wherever possible. We are continuing with the policy of no public access to the horse stable yard and horses will continue to be brought to the schools for lessons. If you hire a hat or boots please put them back on the table after use and they will be cleaned before being returned for further use.

Our monthly Thursday pole clinics and Unaffiliated dressage continue to be well supported. The Thursday dressage starts with Intro through Prelim, Novice, Elementary and is run in a very relaxed way to encourage competitors to support one another and develop their confidence and technique in a fun supportive environment. Callers available and happy to help.

It was nice this month to be able to have a staff meal out at our local pub - it had been a long time since this had been possible and it was good to have a time to socialise away from the yard.

July and August 2021

Horses and Ponies - We have welcomed several new horses and ponies to join our team of school horses over the last few months - Purdey, a 12.2hh skewbald mare who has been a child’s pony enjoying all pony club activities; Kiki, a 13.2hh skewbald mare who again was a child’s pony enjoying all activities; Minnie, a 12.2hh bay mare who had been at a jumping home; Polo, a 12.2hh piebald gelding who is currently continuing his education with our staff before being introduced into the school; Chase, a 15.2hh bay gelding who had been in the same family for many years enjoying all activities; Louis, a 16.1hh black gelding who had been in the same ownership for a long period of time enjoying flatwork and jumping.

Millie went into the vets for an operation as she had been off work for several months and had not come sound. We are hoping this will be a success and after a period of rehabilitation she will be able to come back into work.

Holly B has gone off to be a companion to another horse out at grass - she looked like a 3 year old as they were turned out together not a 30 year old!

Suski has now gone off to a retirement home and is very happy and has settled in well

Ben is having a wonderful time in his semi-retirement home, loving his new friends, hacking and doing some flatwork lessons.

British Dressage Regional Championships - We were very proud of Alison West and Victor who competed at Keysoe in the Elementary Silver class - such an achievement for a riding school horse to qualify and compete at these championships.

Verity Saul and Izzy (Issey Magic) competed at the same regionals in the Medium Class.

British Dressage National Academy - we were delighted that India and Eddie (Escade) were selected for this academy - one of only 12 riders in the whole of the UK. They had a wonderful time in the first camp having ridden sessions with Spencer Wilton, alongside rider fitness, biomechanics, test riding and feedback, career guidance and so much more. India also attended a sports science day which was full of interesting information to help with their progression. The final event of the academy was a day at Talland School of Equitation where India had the opportunity to ride two of their schoolmasters alongside watching lessons and lectures from Charlie Hutton.

India and Eddie have now stepped up to competing at PSG in local BD shows

BD Youth Home International - India and Eddie were selected to represent North and East Region in the FEI Individual Junior Championship class riding for England. We are delighted to say that they won their class both days with plus 70% scores and took the championship.

BHS Exams -

Ride Safe - we ran a silver challenge awards session and are pleased that Jessie and Harriet both passed this exam

BHS Stage 2 and Stage 2 Teach - we are pleased that India passed both of these exams and is now going to be available for lessons

June 2021

British Horse Society Riding Schools Competition 2021 - we held the first of our qualifiers for this competition on 2nd June, congratulations to everyone who qualified through to the next round. We will be holding more qualifiers so there are still chances to qualify - check out details on our website.

Special events, school holiday activities and shows 2021- dates have now been added and are available on the website, just check out the relevant pages and get yourselves booked in!

British Dressage Winter Championships - India and Eddie competed in the Advanced Medium Silver class and finished just outside the top ten in 12th place.

Verity and Izzy competed in the Medium Silver Freestyle and had a positive time gaining experience in the buzzing atmosphere in the indoor school there. Now working on developing a new floor plan and music with the aim of qualifying again next year!

Pole clinics with Alison West - these continue to be very popular and we are now running two a month on a Thursday morning, all dates bookable via Equoevents.

Unaffiliated Dressage Competitions - run once a month on a Thursday morning - book via Equoevents.

British Dressage Affiliated Competitions - run on Mondays usually once a month

Exam Success - congratulations to Harriet, who is one of our apprentices on passing her BHS Stage 2 Care exam.

May 2021

Lessons - It is so lovely to see our clients enjoying their lessons and that we are able to use the indoor school for our adult riders again.

British Dressage - following further easing of lockdown restrictions we were able to go back to warming up in the indoor school and competing in the outdoor, thus enabling us to run long arena tests again. It was lovely to welcome everyone here to compete on both of the May bank holidays.

Horses - We are looking for more horses and ponies to join our team - please get in touch if you have a horse or pony for sale or loan that you think may be suitable for the school.

This month our wonderful Ben (Rabboeni de Haar) went off to his semi-retirement home with a friend of ours. We are delighted to let everyone know that he has settled in and is loving his new life, going off on countryside hacks with the occasional schooling session. He worked in the riding school for 15 years and has provided so many of our clients with the most fabulous learning experience - whether it was their first lesson or an advanced lesson, or to compete - he was successful in affiliated and unaffiliated dressage, university competitions both on the flat and jumping and winner of the BHS riding school competition. He will be sorely missed but so lovely for him to go from us sound and ready for the next chapter.

Very sadly we lost little Holly in May. She was taken ill on the Wednesday with the vet attending straight away but despite the best care she could not be saved. She was kept pain free but had to be PTS on veterinary advice as her condition was only going to decline. She was another long serving member of the Witham Villa team and we are so grateful for all the joy she gave to so many, from learning to ride to again going on and giving first competition experience and getting through to the National finals of the BHS Riding Schools Competition.

Exam Success - we are delighted to announce that our 3 junior apprentices all took and passed their BHS Stage 1 exam. Congratulations to Jessie, Sarah-Jane and Laura.

British Dressage Regional Championships- India and Eddie (Escade) WON their regional class on 70% in Advanced Medium Silver giving them direct qualification to the Winter Championships. Huge congratulations and good luck at the championships at the end of June.

Verity and Izzy (Issey Magic) were 4th in Elementary Gold Freestyle on 69.4%, 5th in Medium Silver Freestyle on 69.72% and 10th in the Medium Silver class. They have now heard that they have been issued a Wild Card to compete in the Medium Freestyle at the Winter Championships at the beginning of July,

Wellington CDI this was the first International competition for India and Eddie and what a wonderful experience to ride at such a prestigious show. They were 6th in the Team test AM92, 9th in the Individual AM96 and then the highlight of the weekend was 4th place in the Freestyle on 72%. We were thrilled with this result especially as this was the first time India had managed to ride through the test to the music and the first time she had ever done a dressage to music competiton! Further to this show they were invited to compete at the Somerford Park Premier League show in the Junior Selectors class for the Europeans, again another very positive experience for them.

April 2021

Easter - We were pleased to be able to run some Junior sessions over the Easter holidays where participants learnt more about looking after their ponies as well as a riding session.

Pony Club - we are delighted that our Monday night Pony Club has been able to re-start, where the children are able to focus on learning more about horses and ponies and how to look after them as well as work on the Pony Club badges and towards the tests. Our new Pony Club Coordinator is Aliina Atkinson and she is very keen to see all of our children make progress within a fun environment.

We hosted a BD Youth Squad Assessment day enabling young riders to get squadded for the coming year. Well done Amelia who gained C+ and India B+

We welcomed a new apprentice, Laura Adderley who has joined us to train for her Modern Apprenticeship and BHS exams.

We have a new horse to join our team - Murphy. He has been showjumped previously and also taken part in general riding events. He has settled in well and enjoys both flatwork and jumping.

In April we made the decision to retire Holly B (Madame Briot) from the riding school. She is 30 this year, although she still thinks she is 3! She will now enjoy a quieter life. She has been amazing in the school over the years and we are so grateful for all she has done for us and all the joy she has given to so many riders.

India and Eddie (Escade) competed at their first BD Premier League show at Keysoe and came 4th in the FEI Junior Individual test (AM 96) with 68.68%. This has then resulted in them being selected to compete at Wellington in the CDI. This is an International show and the pair have now earned their GB Badge! This has been a dream goal and we are thrilled it has been achieved. We wish them good luck at the show in May.

Verity and Izzy (Issey Magic) are back out competing and have qualified for the BD Summer regionals at Medium level.

March 2021

Into the third month of lockdown in March. This period has been so different to the long lockdown last year as the weather has been so cold and wet resulting in very muddy fields and the horses and ponies having to stay in, with turn out only being possible in the schools. We ran on a skeleton staff to look after the horses and keep them fit and well. It was with great relief that we were able to start planning for the re-opening on Monday 29th March. and that we have been able to continue with our groups as before without any further restriction.

Regretfully the Government altered the status of the covered arenas so we are only able to teach adults in the outdoor school to start with although we can teach under 18’s inside! This will be changing again as the country makes further steps out of lockdown. Unfortunately it means we will be unable to run our dressage shows until May when the restrictions will have eased further.

A big thank you to everyone who made a donation to our Just Giving site, it really did make a difference and it was lovely to see the support for the horses.

Since we re-opened on 29th March it has been wonderful to welcome our clients back and to see happy faces and happy horses - they missed you all! One of our adult riders said that they felt like a 5 year old child on Christmas morning when they were getting ready to come. Horses and riding have such a positive effect on all of our mental health.

We started to go out competing again with India and Eddie (Escade) at Newbold Verdon in Advanced Medium 96. It felt a little surreal to be out doing the things we love again. They have the second part of the British Dressage Foundation Camp in April and we look forward to seeing their progress in Juniors.

We are pleased to announce that we will be holding qualifiers for the Midlands Connemara classes in May and June in our unaffiliated Thursday shows - check out the dressage dates page.

We are looking forward to April and hopefully better weather and happy riding!

February 2021

Lessons:- As we reach the end of February we are delighted that the country is to start the journey back out of lockdown. For us here at Witham Villa this will mean that we will be able to initially reopen from Monday 29th March with groups of 5 riders. We will be updating our booking system accordingly over the next few days and as soon as this is done we will be inviting all of our existing clients to rebook . Once this is completed we will know what spaces we have available for any new clients to book in.

Payments:-We will continue to take payment for lessons via BACS. To enable us to update client payment records effectively it is essential that payment is made before the lesson is taken and that the payment reference has the name of the rider, time and date of the lesson. We thank you for your attention to this.

Competitions:- We will also be able to run our British Dressage competitions with the first one being on Easter Monday 5th April. Entries are open for this competition via Horsemonkey.

School Holiday activities:- we will be preparing an Easter Holiday programme which will be announced shortly.

Covid:- When we reopen it will again be with a strict Covid protocol as we have done throughout this pandemic. Everyone’s cooperation with this is greatly appreciated - please ensure you maintain social distancing when you are here and follow all of the government guidelines.

General:- During the current lockdown we have continued to run on a skeleton staff. The bad weather has meant the horses have had to be kept stabled as the fields have got so wet and muddy. Thankfully it is starting to improve and they have loved having some turnout back in the fields over the last few days rather than just in the outdoor school.

Teddy:- has been sold to a lovely private home where we wish him and his new owners every success .for the future.

January 2021

The New Year started full of promise and then from Tuesday 5th January we were all back into Lockdown and riding schools were one of the businesses required to close. Sadly this is despite being an outdoor activity with all required Covid precautions in place. Hopefully now the vaccination programme has been started there will be better times ahead for us all.

Whilst in the first Lockdown the weather was good, now we are in the winter months the weather conditions are poor, leading to very wet ground. This has meant we have not been able to turn out all of the horses as we did before.

Sadly we have had to furlough staff again and are running with the minimum to still ensure the well-being of all of our horses, which is our top priority.

With no riding school income we have once again started a Just Giving page and we are very grateful for all of our wonderful clients and friends that have already supported us through this. If anyone would like to donate towards the horses’ keep then this is the link:- https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/verity-saul?utm_term=Xdgr8r6Kv

We wish all of our clients good health and look forward to welcoming everyone back as soon as we are allowed.

December 2020

It was lovely to be able to get back to teaching again at the end of Lockdown 2 and we were all delighted to be able to welcome our clients back.

The National Final of the BHS Riding Schools Competition went ahead virtually in 2020 - the finalists had to complete their dressage, jumping and stable management competitions here and have them filmed. The videos were then sent off to the BHS for judging. The results were then sent back to the centres and we would like to congratulate our finalists who finished as follows:-

Class 1

14th Bella riding Daisy

Class 2

4th Maddi riding Basil

6th Constance riding Mac

10th Zara riding Harrison

Class 3

3rd Ellie riding Victor

6th Kay riding Harrison

8th Hannah riding Cinders

Class 4

7th Constance riding Mac

9th Maddi riding Basil

13th Hannah riding Holly B

Class 5

2nd Ellie riding Victor

12th Kay riding Harrison

14th Hannah riding Cinders

This resulted in Witham Villa being placed 4th in the team competition

We were delighted that Megan Wevill passed her BHS Stage 2 Teach in December. This completes Megan’s Stage 2 qualifications and she is now working towards Stage 3. Congratulations.

We hope everyone managed to have as good a Christmas as possible and we wish you all a Happy New Year.

November 2020

Well - things didn’t go to plan….. just as we were happily building lessons up again, along came lockdown number 2!

We were very lucky to have held our final BD Competitions of 2020 on 1st and 2nd November before the lockdown and had a lovely two days of competition here . We look forward to welcoming competitors back next year and in the meantime thank you all for choosing to compete here at Witham Villa. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the judges and writers who come to us and make it all possible.

Verity also managed to fit in a 2 day Covid safe dressage clinic to replace the dressage camp originally planned and enjoyed seeing the progression made by the riders and horses that attended.

Sadly all activity had to cease as we went into lockdown 2. Initial interpretation was that we would be able to continue with one to one lessons but this changed to the Government requirement for all riding schools to close for the lockdown period. Difficult times as the riding school horses do not qualify for furlough! Still, rest assured they are all being kept to the normal high standard of care and will all be ready when we are able to welcome back our clients.

The very welcome news is that we are able to re-open again from Wednesday 2nd December and will be able to run class lessons in both the outdoor school and our covered arena. Strict Tier 3 Covid regulations will apply and we ask all of our clients to be mindful of this to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone. Further details are on the home page of our website.

Please email us at withamvillarc@gmail.com to re-book.

We look forward to once again welcoming everyone back and being able to offer riding lessons to aid the physical and mental well-being for all.

October 2020

We were delighted that India was selected for the British Dressage Foundation camp, held at Newbold Verdon Equestrian Centre. She attended the first weekend camp at the beginning of October riding Eddie (Escade). Over the two days there was test riding (FEI Junior Team Test - AM 92), two lessons with Hannah Moody, goal setting and planning with Jill Day, feeding session, rider strength and fitness sessions. The weather was awful over the weekend but a very good and productive time was had, with everything being run according to the Covid restrictions. Next camp is at the beginning of November.

We held a Sunday and Monday British Dressage affiliated competition on 11th and 12th October and again it was lovely to be able to host this competition whilst maintaining social distancing etc. We welcome competitors here and love seeing the horse and rider combinations as they progress up the levels.

Over the October half term we were able to run a limited school holiday programme with Junior days, Holiday dressage league, ‘Own’ a pony days, and a fun day. A great time was had by all.

The final weekend of October saw India and Eddie compete in the Under 21 British Dressage Championships held at Vale View. This gave them an excellent opportunity to gain experience competing at a high profile show and we are looking forward to seeing their progression at this level.

Lessons continued to expand throughout October whilst maintaining strict Covid measures.

September 2020

During September we were pleased to re-start our Thursday morning Unaffiliated Dressage competitions and it was lovely to welcome back both competitors on their own horses and some of our clients competing on the school horses.

We also re-started our monthly pole clinics with Ali, which she kicked off with another great pattern of poles to challenge horses and riders and improve athleticism. whilst having fun

September saw us say a sad goodbye to Kate Jones who had been a member of our team for several years. She will be missed by both the staff and clients alike and we wish her well in her new ventures .and thank her for all her hard work in her time here at Witham Villa

We have welcomed a new apprentice, Sarah-Jane to join the team and study for her exams here .

We are very pleased to be able to let you know that Nicky had a successful hip replacement operation and is already back teaching - with renewed vigour!

We have also welcomed a new Freelance Instructor who will be teaching on Sundays - Alina Atkinson

We have a new horse here - Peg, who has come on loan to us. She is a lovely forward going quality piebald cob

As we have now been able to increase the number of children in the beginner half hour class lessons, we are pleased to inform you that the price of these is now £18 per child, plus £1.50 for hat and boot hire.

August 2020

During August we were able to increase our capacity for small group lessons at the weekend and also to open out into the evening lessons. We now offer 3/4 hour small group lessons for £25 per person. All lessons are grouped according to age and ability.

We were also able to re-open our cafe. All of our facilities are subject to current social distancing rules and there is a requirement to wear a mask when inside whilst using the viewing gallery etc.

One of the horses - Corjero -who was on loan to Witham Villa was sold and has moved on to a lovely new home to enjoy a quieter life. We loved having her here and wish her well.

Congratulations go to one of our apprentices, Megan Wevill who passed her Level 2 Modern Apprenticeship in August.

Congratulations to another of our apprentices, Harriet Davidson who passed her BHS Stage 1 Care and Riding.

We look forward to continuing to increase our services as we come in to September and are very grateful for all of our clients’ assistance in enabling us to remain compliant to regulations.

July 2020

As restrictions eased we have been delighted to be able to re-start beginner lessons, running with small groups of 3 to be able to remain compliant with the current Government guidelines.

It was very good to welcome back members of staff who had been furloughed. As ever, we remain very grateful to our dedicated staff - Team Witham Villa.

We ran our first British Dressage competitions since lockdown in March and it was a pleasure to be able to welcome competitors and their horses back.. Our own horses have done well with Izzy (Issey Magic) competing for the first time at Medium level and scoring plus 70% and qualifying for the silver Regionals at her first attempt. Eddie (Escade) has qualified for the Advanced Medium Regionals and has now stated to compete at Advanced level, achieving plus 70% in his first attempt at Prix St Georges.

Dexter (Crossdrum Dexter) is now a working livery having been sold during lockdown and his new owner has made a good start competing him at affiliated Prelim level.

Basil, Holly B and Cinders have all enjoyed being back out competing in dressage too.

June 2020

June has seen us slowly expand on the lessons that we are able to teach and it has been lovely to welcome some more of our riders back. We are following Government guidance closely and ensuring suitable precautions are in place for everyone’s safety.

We are operating a new system at the front entrance with an in gate and out gate. Hand sanitiser stations are there and around the yard. For lessons please only come onto the yard 5 minutes before the lesson is due to start and stay in the holding area between the indoor and outdoor schools. Horses will be brought into the school for you. Tack Cleaning takes place between lessons to ensure everyone’s safety. Please keep a distance of 2 metres from other people. No spectators are allowed except in the case of children when one adult is allowed for each child.

Sadly we have been unable to re-start beginner and very novice riders back yet but are hoping to be able to do so once social distancing goes to 1 metre.

The yard is looking very smart after its facelift over lockdown and the stables all stayed nice and dry in the wet weather having been re-roofed.

From 4th July indoor schools are able to be fully used again so we are pleased to be able to resume our dressage competitions. We are running on Sunday 5th July Prelim and Novice and Monday 20th July Prelim to Advanced Medium. These competitions will be run under British Dressage Covid Guidance so please ensure that you are compliant.

April and May 2020

UPDATE - 28th May, we are now starting to teach private lessons using the riding school horses as well as for clients on their own horses. These will initially be for our intermediate and advanced riders only and will take place on weekdays.

Lockdown continued into April….and May…..

We have used lockdown to enable us to do all the Spring Cleaning jobs that are always so difficult to find the time to do normally…

So, we have…..

• Power washed and disinfected every stable (43)

• Painted every stable - they are now a very smart black and silver

• Power washed the outdoor school boards and white rails

• Power washed the indoor school

• Power washed the barn

• Washed and sorted all of the rugs from the winter and had repairs done as necessary.

• Sorted and catalogued all of our tack

• Painted the washing machine area, tack rooms, reception, gallery and toilets

• Harrowed, rolled, re-seeded and topped the fields

• Provided daily care for all of the horses and ponies to ensure they are all well

• To top it all off we have had the extremely old leaky stable roofs replaced and that work has just been finished. The yard is really looking smart now.

Our little on-site team has worked very hard but we have had fun working together (socially distanced) and are very grateful for the voluntary work that our families have done. We are also grateful to the remainder of our staff currently still on furlough and are so looking forward to the time that we are back up and running and are able to welcome them back.

We have started to teach clients here on their own horses and are shortly going to be able to start to teach our experienced clients on the school horses on a one-to-one private lesson basis and will then expand from there according to Government guidance.

We have set up hand sanitiser stations around the yard - both gates of the indoor and outdoor schools and outside reception.

As lessons re-start we are taking payment ahead of the lesson via BACS. All current social distancing measures are in force, so sadly no spectators for any adult lessons and only one parent per child. We appreciate everyone’s co-operation in keeping us all safe.