Riding schools in London

[Elbels]

Having been a happy hacker as a teenager with limited ability but lots of enthusiasm I gave up riding when my share horse died and I went to uni/got a job etc.

I'm now in my 30s without a hobby and have wanted to start riding again for ages and finally need to get my act together. I live in South East London and wondered if anyone had experience of any schools for beginners?

Wimbledon?
Richmond?
Dulwich?
Mudchute farm?

I have a car so can potentially venture into Kent too relatively easily from where we are. All I want to do is plod around and have a lovely time!

I used to ride at Stag Lodge on the edge of Richmond Park. Amazing hacking (for London) and a good range of horses for adults. They've invested massively since my day so I think they're worth checking out.

An evening speedy canter through the park to the pub on a summer's evening is blissful after a day at work!!

You might find it better to head out of London for nicer riding and slightly more value for money.

Its not Kent but www.wildwoodsriding.co.uk/ is quite good I think?

We’ve been to most of the riding schools in south London and I agree you’re probably better off heading out of the city.

Dulwich is much cheaper than any of the other places but the arenas are small and the outdoor one floods easily so is unusable in winter. The horses are mainly cob types and generally fairly dependable but there’s no hacking and the horses get virtually no turnout.

Stag Lodge now has two setups - hacking in Richmond Park and another school just down the A3. It’s ridiculously expensive and most of the teachers are pretty inexperienced. The horses also get very little turnout.

Wimbledon Village stables is even more expensive than Stag Lodge! There’s no arena on site so all lessons take place on Wimbledon Common. They have some very experienced teachers but not much capacity so hard to get a lesson at popular times. No turnout for the horses though

Deen City Farm in Collier’s Wood has a riding school with a very good, but rather scary dressage rider as the head instructor. There are a couple of talented horses but they’re not usually used in group lessons

Wildwoods in Surrey is lovely- the horses are looked after very well and they have varied work, hacking and in the school so they’re happy and sane (not the case for all riding school horses, sadly). But it’s a bit of a trek from south east London...

Definitely not Dulwich- poor teaching by teenagers. Very kick and pull. I haven't found any I would rave about to be honest and have explored quite widely. I made a lot of progress at one of the Bexley yards- they don't necessarily have the best reputation but I found one fab instructor I clicked with completely.

Do you want to hack/do dressage/jump..?

Avoid Dulwich at all costs! Just as described by PP. I made the cardinal error of checking my girth before mounting and the "teacher" asked sarcastically if I thought they didn't know how to tack up. Noseband too tight too. Poor horses...

Mottingham Stables?
No idea if they’re any good for adults though.
My 8 year old DD goes there, and I did notice an adult beginner in one of her classes recently.

That's really helpful thank you. Dulwich is just down the road but I was really worried about lack of turnout and it being a kick and pull school so that's reinforced my opinion.

I'll look at wildwood as it's probably an hour or so drive so not too bad.

My expectations are to get back into it gently, mainly a bit of schooling and then hacking.

Can you get to Bexley easily (just off A2). There is a road here called 'stable lane' with a few different riding schools that I expect would provide much better value for money than West London.

I would strongly recommend Trent Park stables in Oakwood. It's slightly out of London but you can get there on the Piccadilly line, it's one stop from Cockfosters. Really big yard with good schools and hacking. A bit more of a hassle to get to compared to central but also far more reasonably priced. Most instructors are at least decent, some are very good. Horses all seem happy and well cared for.

I totally agree about Dulwich- bit cheaper but very poor in general.

Hi OP, are you a public sector worker? If so you can join the civil service sports council and in turn the affiliated riding club which is London-based and very active and good value. They have sessions at various riding centres across the city and Home Counties.