Never ridden, or not since school: six private lessons on a steady cob, then a group of four adults, from £45
Adult beginners
For adults who have never ridden, or who stopped at twelve and want to start again: a course of six thirty-minute private lessons on one of the school cobs, then adult groups of four on weekday evenings and Sunday mornings. £255 for the course, £45 for a group hour.
Adults learn to ride differently from children: more slowly at first, because they know what can go wrong, and then faster, because they understand what they are being told. The course is built for that.
The adult beginners' course is six private lessons of thirty minutes, ideally a week apart, on one of three school cobs chosen for adults: Major, Duke and Molly, all over fifteen hands, all unflappable. The first lesson is mounting and dismounting, the halt, walk on, steering and how to fall asleep on a horse's neck without falling off; by the sixth most adults are rising to the trot on their own, and some are cantering on the lunge.
After the course you join an adult group lesson, four riders at most, for an hour on a Tuesday or Thursday evening or a Sunday morning. The groups are mixed ages and mostly people who started in their thirties, forties and fifties. Nobody in them is going to the Olympics. Several are going hacking on the farm tracks next spring, which is what most of them came for.
Our cobs carry riders up to fifteen stone (95kg) including hat and boots. We ask your weight privately when you book, because it decides which horse you ride; above that we cannot safely mount you, and we would rather say so on the phone than at the mounting block. Fitness matters more than people expect: riding uses the inside of the legs and the core, and the first two lessons ache.
You can do the whole course on a hired hat and in boots with a heel; we suggest you buy a hat before you join a group, and we will tell you which one fits.
What is included
- Six private thirty-minute lessons on a school cob
- Major, Duke or Molly: big, steady and kind
- Weekday evening and Sunday morning groups after
- Riders up to fifteen stone (95kg)
- Hat lent free for the first three lessons
- Hacking on the farm tracks once you can trot
What it costs
£255 for six private thirty-minute lessons, or £48 for one. Adult groups £45 for an hour, four riders at most. The lesson finder suggests the right lesson from the rider's age and ability and shows the next day with a place; the livery page shows the stables free now.
Questions about adult beginners
Am I too old to start?
Our oldest beginner was seventy-one and now hacks every Saturday. If you can climb a flight of stairs and get up off the floor, you can learn to ride. Tell us about bad backs, new hips and knees when you book.
Why private lessons first?
Because an adult who is nervous in a group stiffens, and a stiff rider bounces. Six private lessons give you the halt, the steering and the rising trot with nobody watching, so you join a group able to do what it does.
Can I book one lesson to try?
Yes, at £48. Most people who try one book the rest of the course, and the first lesson counts towards it if you do.
Find the lesson, then book the first one.
Tell us the rider's age and what they can do now and we suggest the lesson and the next day with a place. Every new rider starts with a private lesson so we can choose the right horse. Or ring Sian in the office.