Moving out of London & finding somewhere ''horsey'' to live nearby...

[Whitehorsegirl]

It looks like my London flat is going to sell much faster than expected and I want to relocate out of the capital in the next few months.

One of the factors to consider if that I want to continue to ride and take lessons weekly as I have worked so hard to get to a decent level.

I was looking at moving to somewhere commutable to the capital (up to an hour) and place like a Kent seaside town (Folkestone maybe) , Hertfordshire, bedfordshire, Essex and so on but I want to be able to access stables regularly.

Does anyone in these areas lives near to good stables/riding schools and can suggest a location? I don't drive so I want to make sure I move somewhere where I can access riding facilities by public transport fairly easily.

My other option would be more ambitious and moving to Scotland but I think I will explore the South East first. I work from home so I am pretty flexible.

One of my reasons for moving out of London is access to countryside and being able to do more activities like riding, hiking and so on.

Any ideas and suggestions are most welcome!

Hitchin in Hertfordshire is lovely and I see lots of horses about. There's lots of countryside ride on the edge of town.

*right on the edge of town (no need for a car)

Thank you for the suggestion!!

If money was no object (sadly it is😬) I’d buy a place with land in the Surrey hills - easy commute into London if you need it, some absolutely gorgeous hacking and lots and lots of horses

Wyatt Equestrian at Benenden Kent is excellent .

@Pleasedontdothat yes, Surrey would be ideal but unfortunately my budget won't stretch to that!

Admittedly haven’t been there in person for a while but what about Oakwood? Trent Park equestrian centre is within walking distance of the station. It is towards the end of the Picadilly line, around 30 min to central London and within the M25. And yet it has a rural feel and some shared ownership housing if budget is tight.

North Bedfordshire wolds are very horsey but like a lot of areas most of the riding schools have closed so you need you own. But pick the right village and the hacking is fabulous.

What is your budget, what sort of property would you like.

@BlanketsBanned tight budget, probably no more than £300,000 as I don't want to take on a mortgage again.

Would prefer somewhere that would still make travel to London possible and I don't mind up to an hour and a half by train.

But with my tight budget I am thinking of widening my search to places like Scotland, Welsh Border and so on if the above is not feasible.

I can work anywhere with an internet connection. My main requirements are a small town or village that is safe and peaceful with access to open spaces and a rail station that can link to a city. And of course somewhere where I can have access a riding school/stables.

I grew up in the countryside with access to the sea close by and I am just fed up of big city living and want to downsize and be somewhere quiet but not completely isolated.

How about Kenilworth in Warwickshire? It’s 1.5 - 2 hours to London Euston depending on what trains you catch, so on the edge of your acceptable journey time. But you’d get a 2-3 bed house for your budget, and it’s horsey.

We live in North London and my daughter rides every day. The biggest riding school with the easiest public transport is Trent Park (3 minute walk from Oakwood tube station), but we keep our pony at Kings Oak in Enfield which is a jumping yard with really brilliant instructors. There are many riding schools in Enfield all around Kings Oak, but all of them are bus rides away from train stations.

Thank you again for all the suggestions. I will look them up. :)

If you're thinking of Scotland, I'd recommend where I am in South Ayrshire. Maidens, Girvan, Ayr. Coastal and quite a few good stables dotted around.

@GalactiCat I am actually going for a riding holiday in Scotland at the end of August and it will be a big test as to whether I could move there full time.

I like the idea but I am just a bit worried that in practice that it will be such drastic move although I think in my situation it would give a much better quality of life.

Thank you so much for suggesting places with stables!

Where are you going for your riding holiday?
I would look more into Scotland I've lived in really rural parts of Scotland and in a couple of the cities but also lived in the Home Counties when I was little. Looking back I'm so glad my parents made the decision to move us up north. Scotland definitely has its faults but I would never consider going back to England. When I lived rurally I was right by the sea and I loved it. There's so much more open space and whenever I go back down to England I just feel claustrophobic 😂. There's loads of horsey places as well. I would look around the central belt so you have easy access to the main cities and then it's only a four ish hour train from Edinburgh or glasgow to London. I wouldn't recommend going too rural like we did unless you had strong connections and family as I would imagine that might feel quite isolating.
Good luck with your search :)

what about somewhere like Tunbridge Wells, it's about 1.5hrs by train to London, semi rural but has everything you need, there are quite a few stables and riding places.
www.whatsonintunbridgewells.com/horse-riding/

İ live in a rural bit of central Scotland Riding Stables that do lessons are much teater than they used to be when I was young and Stables with public transport virtually non existant. Rural public transport is generally really bad in Scotland. There might be some Stables with lessons near Glasgow but the hacking would not be as good as down south, we don't have as many bridleways.

There are some lovely Stables in Scotland, particularly for trekking, I sometimes go when on holiday, however many of them are seasonal, not all of them so lessons and you will really struggle if you don't drive. Not impossiblebut you will not have a big choice, plus £300,000 is not a large budget for the nice horsey bits of Scotland.

I'm in North Herts, very near to Hitchin which is lovely and awash with stables and yards. I'd definitely look there. It also has excellent transport links and is near to the A1M. All my horsey friends are at stables in and around Hitchin.

I moved up from Southern England. I'd never go back!

But @FlamingGoat do you drive? As I said before, I live in Central Scotland, in a "naucec quite horsey area with good pony club branches etc. But it's mostly livery yards or properties with their own paddocks and Stables. All the riding schools around where I lived as a child closed or turned into livery yards. There is one about 5 miles from where I live but the bus doesn't go anywhere near it (and is a very limited service). I would not recommend my area at all unless OP wanted to buy her own horse but hopefully someone with knowledge of areas I don't have experience of will help. However, remember that the OP DOES NOT DRIVE.

I think not driving will really limit you. I live on the Herts/Cambs/Beds border, loads of riding stables plus only 40 minutes into Kings Cross from places like Royston or St Neots. But the stables are all a few miles out of town, so difficult to reach if you don't drive.

£300,000 would get you a lovely house in my bit of Scotland, you'd even get a bit of land for your own horse in my village.
Our local stables all give riding lessons and I know quite a few people who give lessons too.

See how you go with the riding holiday. It may surprise you up here 🙂

No, I don't drive and I've managed quite well in the 10 years I've been here. I'm very rural on a farm.

Our stables are all within bus routes, the bus stops to let the girls off at our local one. I suppose I'm lucky that it's well set up round here.

I've just got myself an Ebike this week so there's no stopping me now!