Where to ride south London

[rwdrwm]

Hi there.
I've been riding all my life so very competent.
I went to QE when we were able to take our own horses for those who may remember.. (definitely showing my age)!
I'm sadly not in a position to own but I have before and would be up for a share arrangement.
I took a break due to work commitments but I'm now looking to get back into it.
I've looked at Wimbledon but it's so expensive and pretentious.
Dulwich seems to be more of a riding school for novices and children.
I'm more of a happy hacker now rather than ambitious jumper, shower etc.
I'm 38, so not really looking for a yard with lots of children.
I'm in south London so any suggestions?

Where in south London are you? Kingsmead, which is about 15 mins outside Croydon, does a lot of hacking and has a number of older riders.

Perfect. That's not far from me. I'll check it out. Thank you!

Yes…another recommendation for Kingsmead! They have some fab horses and super coaches

Brilliant, thank you. My question would be if they're as good as you say do they get very busy?

They get quite busy but they've really sorted out their booking system so it's much easier to find a class now - it was almost impossible for a while because of the way it worked but not such a problem any more.

Thank you. I'm happy to take a couple of classes as I know they need to assess your level of ability. But is it possible to book just hacking on a familiar horse after that do you know?

We go to Stag lodge stables. Find all the staff really welcoming. They have two sites. https://staglodgestables.com/

Fantastic, thank you!

If you fancy a go at western, southern schoolmasters are good, in Surrey.
If you're a public sector employee it's worth joining the civil service riding club for their amazing riding opportunities, ignore me if not

I’ve a friend who rides at Kingston riding centre, pricey but they have some nice horses, and she enjoys it. She’s a decent rider and has owned.

I've never tired Western but it would be great to give it a go!
I also had no idea that there was a civil service riding club! That sounds fab. I don't qualify for that unfortunately... thank you so much for the suggestions x

I’d also definitely recommend Kingsmead - the hacking is fantastic and they put on a lot of sessions for adult riders.

Stag Lodge is very expensive and the instruction isn’t great - wouldn’t recommend. Also wouldn’t recommend Dulwich or Deen City Farm for an adult.

Kingston is well thought of but is extremely expensive - they do have a nice indoor though.

Wildwoods is good and also has great hacking - more expensive than Kingsmead and harder to book lessons.

I don’t know what Chessington is like for adults - my dd had a few jumping lessons there many years ago and they were good.

Wildwoods is very good. Tadworth Surrey.