Author’s note: the opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author.
If you’re an average trail rider, as I am, and you don’t own a horse, your riding opportunities aren’t always optimal. In the first place, you have to find a stable that offers trail rides, and in the second, you have to be able to afford the trail rides. In my experience, those two things coming together at the same time doesn’t happen often.
On my trip to London, last fall, I scheduled a ride through Hyde Park with the aptly named Hyde Park Stables. I’ve ridden with them before, and while the price is rather dear, riding through the park is a lot of fun, and gives you bragging rights, as well, should you need them. Whether you actually are or not, when riding through Hyde Park, you definitely look like a toff, and who doesn’t want that every once in a while?
But Hyde Park Stables is expensive – as of this writing, an hour-long ride costs…well, it doesn’t actually matter anymore, since I just this moment discovered that the stables closed in late October, 2018, a few weeks after my ride. Bugger! So much for feeling like a toff! I would insert a deeply unhappy emoji here, if I knew how.
Meanwhile, back when I was researching a place for the hubs to play a round of golf in the London area, I discovered Trent Park Equestrian Centre. They’re located, happily enough, right next door to Trent Park Golf Club, making it a win-win situation for both myself and the hubs. I looked over the TPEC website with keen anticipation: it sounded like they would be very willing to do the one thing that Hyde Park hadn’t, and that was allow me to canter.
Although I’d ridden with them several times, over the years, Hyde Park Stables had never let me canter. Indeed, they never let me off the short lead rope that the guide held the other end of, which is rather embarrassing if you’re a middle-aged woman who actually does know how to ride at more than one gait..
The Trent Park website assured me that if I was sufficiently adept, they would be happy to let me ride like the wind through the woods, and at a considerably lower price than Hyde Park ever was. I emailed and set up a ride to coincide with the hubs’s golf game. I couldn’t wait!
Before we actually set off down the trail, it was decided that my guide would take me to the arena and assess my ability to perform a rising trot. This was necessary in order to determine which of the 100+ horses on site would be suitable for my skill set. I was new to Trent Park, after all, and no-one wanted to put an inexperienced rider on a horse that has a fondness for bucking. Happily, after ten seconds or so of performing the aforementioned rising trot, I was given the thumb’s up and we rode off into the woods.
Well, the ride was fabulous! Not only did the guide not “pony” me (in which a rider is tethered to another rider by means of a lead rope, giving the holder of the rope a modicum of control should the other horse or rider find themselves in difficulty), but she allowed me to canter, as well – a thing that was unthinkable at Hyde Park Stables. I was in my element!
Of course, London and its outlying environs contain many stables. The one you decide to use is, first and foremost, a matter of personal choice. Some stables focus on competition. Others focus on access to riding trails. Some stables are well-managed, others are not. Only you can determine what your needs are, and which stable can best fulfill them. As for me, I may well check out other outfits in the area, but for now, my heart belongs to Trent Park Equestrian Centre.