Having heard since my daughter was 2 that she wanted to ride a horse and knowing she couldn't do it till she was 4, it's been a long wait. Naturally I'm a bit of a concerned dad and the thought of popping my little girl on a big unruly animal capable of flinging her God knows where is frankly terrifying! What a lovely surprise then to find the Boeley Equestrian Centre to be an incredibly reassuring experience.
On arrival I was warmly greeted and the check in process was simple. They even changed the pony assigned on realising how small my daughter was, which certainly helped calm any nerves! They provide a helmet for new starters and all kids in this starter class get to ride in the same indoor paddock so they can see how the others kids get on. Each rider had personal supervision and they even allowed the ponies to break into a trot so it wasn't just plodding around for an hour.
Parents get to sit in a viewing gallery and that's probably my only niggle is that this was completely unheated which for Feb meant it was an ice box. Wrap up warm!
As a first visit ever to an equestrian centre it met all my expectations for beginner classes so I'd highly recommend this to any parent with an enthusiastic show jump wannabe! read more