Horseback riding?

In London.  Where, how much and was the experience good or bad (in terms of treating people and animals, conditions, etc.)?

I can't give you much info as I don't do it...but I can say that there is riding in London, the treatment of horses is good and that you can't do western riding only the more formal riding (can't remember name).  A girl who came over to go to the school where I work rides quite regularly - she likes it though it's definitely different than her experience in the US.

Hi there!

I used to ride regularly when I lived in England, although I lived in the country not in London.

I good way to find a riding school or yard in your area is to contact The British Horse Society.  They can give you information on facilities that are affiliated with their organization.

http://www.bhs.org.uk/Content/Default.asp

Most places ride English saddle.  Although, from going to various horsey trade shows, Western riding is a discipline with a niche interest.  How easy it would be to find, however, I do not know.

Generally, I think the care of horses in England is outstanding.  But once you get info on local stables, just drop and have a chat.  The state of the yard speaks volumes. 

Have fun!   It's the one thing about living in England that I miss more than anything!

Are you looking for hacking opportunities or for a lesson program? or both?

aside from the bhs site already mentioned, another source of listings og riding schools in London is New Rider :
http://www.newrider.co.uk/Riding_Schools/schoolsearch.php/London.html [nofollow]

(The new rider online forum members are a friendly bunch too, if you're looking for a horse-specific UK forum)

the Association of British Riding Schools also have listings of riding schools approved by that association on their website

Personal notes on a few London area Stables:
When I was visiting in 2003 I went hacking in Richmond park on the evening hack at Stag Lodge stables http://www.ridinginlondon.com/ [nofollow]
Riding in Richmond Park was lovely, and the horses seemed well cared for. I haven't been back since moving here though, as on a student budget the cost of hacking was outside my means - especially as I'm still supporting my horse back in the USA!

More recently I spent a couple days seeing if it made sense to try to fit being a part time working pupil at Trent Park stables as a way to get back into the horse industry here. The working pupil thing turned out to not be a useful plan of action for my goals, but if one was looking for a lesson program Trent Park seemed to have some fairly good instructors, and decent school horses. I did not personally get a chance to go hacking there, but  the path leading into the woods looked promising.
http://www.trentpark.com/TPEC/Content/About.asp [nofollow]

Other than that I've been round to a few others of the London area stables either while looking at potential places to keep my horse when I ship him here, or while thinking about seeing if I could find a way to get back into working with horses. (Something I did professionally at times in the US as a sort of secondary career alongside my main one). I could tell you some impressions of those places too, but they're not based on having ridden any horses there, just on observing lessons or  the conditions at the yards and how the horses looked generally.

you can't do western riding only the more formal riding (can't remember name). 

Oh, but that's very good, cuz I don't like western riding , I'm all english and sidesaddle!!!

Hi there!

I good way to find a riding school or yard in your area is to contact The British Horse Society.  They can give you information on facilities that are affiliated with their organization.

http://www.bhs.org.uk/Content/Default.asp

Thank you so much!  That's what I'm looking for, and I was born in English saddle, not western

Are you looking for hacking opportunities or for a lesson program? or both?

I could tell you some impressions of those places too, but they're not based on having ridden any horses there, just on observing lessons or  the conditions at the yards and how the horses looked generally.

Thank you soo much.  The info is very useful.  Hacking - I understand that it's free riding, right?  And yes, I'm not really looking for lessons, as of now.  Maybe in the future I'll try to up my skills,but for now I'm good. 

And actually, I'd be interested in your viewpoints on those places very much.