Courtlands Riding Stables Far

Been learning to ride there my whole life fantastic friendships built and understanding
Apr 3rd, 2022

Dec 21st, 2021

Dec 19th, 2021

Lovely place, lovely people, great horses and ponies, excellent riding tuition.
Nov 10th, 2021

Following seeing lots of positive reviews I signed up my 3 year old for a first riding lesson as he loves horses, but only saw them from afar on farms etc and loved playing out stories of riding horses as he read in books and watched on videos. I emailed first asking if they offer pony rides and got a reply that they offer childrens 30min lessons on weekends, then spoke to someone on the phone and explained the situation, said it was his birthday as well and wanted to make sure it is age appropriate as they advertise the from 3 onwards. My son was very excited about this, but when we arrived the lady who measured his helmet was rude and inappropriate. She started putting on his helmet with no warning which he didnt like, got scared and started hugging me asking me to do it instead, but in all the emotions, pushed me away. The lady told him off saying none of this in here, you need to be good to your mummy! scaring him that if he was not nice he would scare all the horses away. I took him out for a moment and we had a little chat and he was absolutely fine getting a helmet fitted then. She then made other comments asking me if he had sensory issues (he doesnt) and said to me I dont begrudge your child your life must be full on. What a horrible thing to say. Suffice to say I was not in a great mood and my son could have picked up on that, when we entered the riding school, the teacher was understanding when my son refused to go on the horse, let us wait and let me try to persuade him, but despite lots of encouragement he was scared and did not want to go. The teacher said she needed to run the class and we decided to leave as I didnt want to push my son. Their only suggestion was to force him onto the saddle as this sometimes works, which I was not willing to do out of respect towards my child but also as I knew he would just scream and then definitely scare the horses on which other children were already sitting. I frankly did not expect there would be such a large group of mostly older children. When I explained our situation over the phone I was not made aware that these are group sessions, that there would be no space for more individual approach given his age and complete lack of experience of riding. Especially that I wrote asking about pony rides, something very low key and introductory. The lesson was not appropriate for children of this age, no one was smiling and the atmosphere was almost military. The lady in the reception did also actually say to my son that there are rules inside that you need to obey so you better be a good boy. I understand that the lesson needed to be run and for the older children that would all probably be fine, but was not suited to younger complete beginners at all. When he saw accessories in the shop and he said he wanted one, the lady also made comments about you will only get one if youre a good boy and you behave yourself. Completely inappropriate. It may be that he is just too small, and I came fully prepared that he may not want to ride. I would be totally ok if we had to leave anyway just because he was not ready. But we entered the riding area both feeling tense and anxious because of the experience in the reception. When I did ask him later why was he scared he said I didnt like the lady and cried. Unfortunately, a very negative experience for us which marked his birthday badly. We will be looking for a different school, hoping this has not scarred his love for horses hes had so far.
Mar 7th, 2022