Mumsnet Talk

Loneranger looks ace, wish I had a car

I really like it here:

www.wvstables.com/

They are a bit gung-ho about safety, but if you are an experienced rider I'd say it's fine.

It's not far from Wimbledon tube/tram/overground station; you can either walk or get a bus up Wimbledon Hill and you're there. Rides are on Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park - lovely!

That looks a lovely place, I love Richmond Park. I was trying to be nosey to see how much livery is but they seem to have forgotten to put the prices on the website . am guessing you'd need to take out a mortgage.

Yup. You would.

Sorry to have diverted the thread to riding in London.

My target is to make the time to ride every week down in Surrey and to really develop my skills till I can start jumping.

you need to take out a (not so small) mortgage just to have lessons there!! At £85 per hour for non-members (and membership is full so you can't become a member at the moment) it's far and away the most expensive place we've come across ...

dd has weekly lessons at Deen City Farm in Colliers Wood (can get there by bus and tube) and that's £25 for a 45 minute group lesson - mostly children but they do have some adults and quite a few advanced groups (they do dressage and jumping lessons)

And for a treat she goes for a hack in Richmond Park with Stage Lodge Stables (more expensive but not quite Wimbledon Village rates) but cantering across the park makes her soooo happy!

Yes, I was going to mention Stag Lodge. Not so close to public transport links, though.

I ride at Trent Park which is next to Oakwood tube. Not prhibitively expensive off peak.
This year I will get a custom fitted brace so I can ride pain-free. And finally gonna get my own. I'm a one horse kinda person. I am too old and don't care enough to be the kind of rider who can get on anything.

I agree that most London stables are prohibitive- I had lessons at the stables in Dulwich for a couple of years, they charged 33 for an hour's private tuition though it's probably gone up since then. That was when I lived in Brixton though so it was easy to get to, now I'm in east London and don't drive so it's not really convenient. I go hacking in Wanstead occasionally but it's not especially picturesque!

I would really like to become a good, competent rider- I'm ok at the moment but can never really afford to ride as much as I would like to, have only been on a horse a few times this year (in Mongolia and Kazakhstan so pretty amazing riding though). It seems to be a vicious circle - the most affordable way to ride more is to loan/share a horse but you can't do that without a lot of riding experience.

Yep sort out my financial situation so that I can buy a horse. Aka, get a job! (Damn you GFC! )

Horsey resolution is to get good at riding my share pony and get her going forward nicely.

On the London point I used to live in London and rode a couple of times at Trent Park - it was ok but a very large busy place so not to my personal taste and there would be more than one lesson sharing the school which I was not keen on. Other than that I just rode on weekends away in Wales but really just pony trekking.

Last year I moved out of London to the Surrey Hills and now I have a ''share' pony one day per week. It's a lot cheaper than riding lessons plus I can hack / school do what I want and I get to spend time with her too as well as just riding.

I am only a novice rider myself but my share pony is very steady, and the owners generally around tending to her other horse so it's not as though I have been thrown in at the deep end. There is also an on site instructor at the yard so I can continue my learning. I don't think you have to be an expert to share, depending on the circumstances of the share.

Croccy, that gives me some hope- I think maybe I should actually focus on learning to drive so I have s few more options with regards to stables. Your sharer sounds lovely

To actually ride my horse! He went lame almost immediately after I got him in July, and now he's better I now work too much and the weather has been too awful! Can't wait to use the nice saddle I got him and for us to get out and about!

I'd like to start riding again after over 20 years!!!!! Need to lose a bit of weight first though. I think the only thing that could carry me these days would be a shire!

Me too, got to shed loads of weight, including the half a stone I've put on over Christmas. I'm only 5'2" so it shows! I've got a new bike for Christmas but I haven't even fetched it from where it was hidden in my mum's garage yet, let alone taken any actual exercise . I did the shred this time last year but can't face it again. Will start boring calorie counting next week when dcs go back to school.
You know, shires aren't really bred to carry weight, more for pulling. A nice highland would be much better (think stags down mountains) .

Get my pony really up and together and going superbly and then start showing him very seriously. With a view to beating someone who made my life very difficult last year and also referred to my lovely boy at "that THING of Penny's" (it's beaten her pony several times I might add). Don't get mad, get even as they say...

To buy a new pony for dd1 and to send all 3 dds to pony club camp. And to sit on a very old safe pony at a hunt meet and trog along quietly at the back

dazzling same here. Would like to shed two to three stone and then find some bravery from somewhere and go out for a gentle hack on a sofa on legs type cob.
Am 6ft1 so a shire is probably what I will end up on!!

Shall we check in later in the year to see if we both managed this goal??

Pixel, where would I put my legs on a highland? Really fancy a Norwegian Fjord, or a 15hh cob dd and I could share (once I have lost the weight and she has grown a bit) but at 6ft 1 am I kidding myself??

You would be surprised where your legs go to on a highland. My mate Affrick is about 14'2 and built like a brick shit house. You would fit!
Or, try a suffolk punch!

Oh no, I have a tall friend who has a highland, he is as wide as a table so takes up plenty of leg .

Ooooh, I really really fancy a highland.... <starts to daydream...>

Will need to lose the rest of the excess weight first though, and get back into riding after a 20 odd year break....

Am determined to do it though, really would love to get back into it...

(and get a horse to share with dd...)

I want to get a car sorted first, then find someone who is looking for a sharer somewhere around me

Shouldn't be too hard in bloody Oxfordshire! I miss the whole experience, poo picking fields, feeding, grooming, even mucking out fields. But I haven't ridden seriously in about 10 years - mostly plodding on hacks whilst on holiday and popping on and off random people's horses. When I was riding regularly I was very confident, would get on anything (including random gypsy stallion I found in a field once... - I hasten to add I was a lot younger then!)
I haven't lost my confidence per se, but I do need to get out of some bad habits (flappy elbows leg contact mainly) so I have got a Groupon for 2 lessons at the stables I learnt to ride at, but it's not cheap enough for me to do it regularly! Maybe after I have quit smoking I will be able to afford it!

If anyone knows of a share going, around the North Oxfordshire area, let me know!

Brilliant hearing everyones resolutions

I've been looking for a sharer, but all the ads are for horses with ishoos. Which is not what I need.

I think it's an excellent idea to check back in a few months and see how people have progressed. Gives you something to aim for ( or hide from)