Advantages: well maintained, good facilities, hacking in Trent Park, easy to get to Disadvantages: busy, disorganised, expensive
***Facilities***
Trent Park Equestrian Centre (TPEC) is close to Oakwood Station (Piccadilly Line) and also has plenty of parking. They have a large selection of horses (over 100) so can cater for various abilities and the horses themselves seem fairly happy. The yard is always being cleaned and the three schooling areas (two of which are under cover) are well maintained. There's a small cafe and other clients seem friendly. Generally, the instructors that I have been placed with have been friendly, enthusiastic and attentive.
***Riding Wear***
You can rent boots, crops and hats from TPEC for your lesson. They also sell a limited range of riding wear. The kit can be expensive, so I would advise you to perservere with renting if you are new to riding, untill you are sure you want to continue.
***Time keeping***
The centre has ...
Advantages: Good instructors; lovely horses and very patient instructors Disadvantages: Can be pricey if you have private lessons, but other than that there are none.
I too am an older rider at Callum Park and I would say to anyone who is thinking of taking up horse riding - then this is the place to come if you live within travelling distance. Yes it is a bit expensive, but all decent riding schools are nowadays. Whether you want to just learn the basics, or develop skills in jumping and dressage, there are instructors and horses to suit your requirements.
I regularly join the hacks in the summer months and I also take part in the group jumping lessons, both of which I enjoy. I have also learned a lot and my basic riding skills have really improved.
I would urge anyone to give it a go. As long as you have the correct riding wear, then the only expense is the weekly lesson (and if you join in group lessons then the cost is very reasonable).
Go on, have a go, you won't regret it. ...
Advantages: Good base for South Lakes Disadvantages: Evening entertainment needs to be improved.
This year for our holiday there was a big decision to make as to where we all wanted to go. Normally we tend to book about a year in advance but decided about this time last year that we would take a chance see what happens and try to pick up a last minute bargain. Six weeks before anticipated date of departure (leave pre-booked from work earlier in the year) no decision had been made as normally we would opt for mainland Spain but where slightly put off by the sharp downturn in the value of the Europe to the pound and with two teenagers who don't come cheap we envisaged a large spend here.
After much deliberating and a family discussion as to what type of holiday everyone wanted surprisingly a caravan holiday came out on top so off to trawl the internet I stumbled on a reduced rate holiday with Haven at Lakeland saving just ...
