Ashdown Forest Riding Centre

The Ashdown Forest Riding Centre is located in the heart of the Ashdown Forest, There are 6500 acres of unspoilt beautiful heathland which is crossed with bridle paths so that you can ride for hours with no roadwork

The Forest is a designated ‘Special Area of Conservation’ and is situated in the middle of The High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

STARTING MARCH 2012 CHILDRENS PONY FUN DAY 1300-1500 £15 PER CHILD

Ashdown Forest Riding Centre welcomes new happy hackers to join our expeditions!

If you are looking for an hours escape into the beautiful Ashdown Forest or if you are wishing to rekindle a passion for horses in a relaxed atmosphere, then this could be for you.

Find out about the Trekking Centre

WHAT’S NEW

17/4/12.The easter holidays are all over and we are all back to our daily routine.The riding centre had very good trading conditions during this time and we thank all our new and existing customers for their continuing support.Lets hope the weather stays good..

We are getting ready for our first little shows with our young riders from the centre.Watch this space for the results.

Mixed news from the Anderida Stud.Our literally great horse Anderida Polaris,has had to be retired by its owner and rider Rachel Keevil.Sadly,his great size was his undoing as he was not able to withstand the vigours and stresses of competing a a very high level.He has now joined his new home where he will enjoy a life of leisure and give his new rider lots of pleasure and joy.

Anderida Musidora however is doing very well and improving all the time.She is now jumping consistenly British Novice and even jumped double clear at her first attempt in Discovery at the recent show at the Felbridge show ground.

Anderida Aniston has also now joined Rachel’s yard and we will see how she does.In any case,its great to have these 2 homebred young horses starting their competitive careers.

Both our young horses are sadly for sale.However the Anderida Stud is hoping to form a owners syndicate in order to keep these highly promising young horses.Please contact us if you wish to get involved and enjoy the joys and pleasures of the sport of show jumping.

11/3/12.All is well at the AFRC and spring looks well on its way.All our school horses are out at grass now and are very happy.They all had a big smile on their faces when they saw the gate to the field wide open and all the fresh green grass .They all put their heads down and are still stuffing themselves.It is the least we can do for them though ,as these wonderfull horses have spent 5 long months in their winter quarters,putting up with a lot of mud and difficult weather conditions.

We have lots of very promising and talented new young riders at the AFRC.A special mention to Ellie who looks to have formed a very good relationship with Domino and we look forward to Ellie joining us when we go to our first few shows during the Easter holidays.

Our promising 5yo mare,Anderida Musidora,had a very good show at Felbridge recently.A few days later however,she was not very cooperative at a show in Golden Cross EC.She does have her mother’s stroppy temperament sometimes.Lets hope that her rider and part owner Rachel ,can form a good partnership with Musidora.And then ,the good results will follow.

24/2/12.We are happy to report that the Afrc is fully back in operation after the 16 day closure due to the ice and snow.We are very proud for all our school horses which have been so well behaved after such a significant but forced holiday.On another positive note,our most experienced instructor,Mrs R.Leppard is fully back in action ,having recovered from her broken arm.Also good news with Cassie,who has made a good recovery,and has rejoined the riding school.Finally more good news from the business point of view,as the recent closure of Mitchelwood stables in Newick and the rumoured closure of the Allbourne Riding school,has resulted in a surge of new clients of all ages.We hope to succesfully accomodate all our new clients but we ask them to please give us as much notice as possible.Once again ,we thank all our customers for their continued supprt.

18/1/12.More mixed news to report.Our most experienced instructor,Mrs Rosemary Leppard(BHS I),had a most unfortunate fall while helping her daughter Kathy cutting a tree,and has broken her arm.We wish her a speedy recovery.On a more positive note,we recently heard from the current owners of 2 of our well bred horses we sold on and we are delighted to say that Anderida Lauretta and Polestar are both doing very well for their new owners.Great news indeed.

2/1/12.Happy new year to all with happyness and health to all our friends, human and equine. Unfortunately ,the new year started in a mixed way. Amy and Dj did again very well at clear round at Felbridge and are improving all the time.Rosina however started well but then had a strop and a tantrum,although Benny was not to blaim at all.Never mind all children go through these phases.so nothing to worry about.Our very promising youngster Musidora was there too and is learning and improving all the time.As her flatwork improves,the performance will get better too.

Saddly though ,our excellent schoolmistress Cassie got injured while hacking on the forest.It looks like a serious leg injury but time will tell how much time she will need to be off.Lets hope she makes a speedy recovery.

27/12/11.Very well done to Amy and Rosina who both rode very well their ponies DJ and Benny ang got 2 clear rounds each at Felbridge today.Well done both.

23/12/11.The AFRC can now offer transfer from and to the nearest train stations to facilitate our customers that dont drive.In many cases this service is free.Please note that our nearest station is Crowborough/Jarvis Brook.

19/12/11.Well done to our 2 young riders who did very well today at a clear round at Golden Cross.Both Rosina with our amazing pony Benny and Amy with the very talented Dj came home with a rosette.We are all looking forward to our next outing at Felbridge on the 27th of Dec.Also at Golden Cross,we saw Anderida Musidora jumping with Rachel Keevil.They did very well and the future looks bright for this very talented mare.

1/12/11.We welcome our new working livery,Prince,owned by the very talented young rider ,Lucy Jackson.He will be very popular at the riding school.

XMAS get together.All our customers ,past and present,are welcome to join us for a festive drink,on Sat 18/12,at the JAVA & JAZZ in Forest Row from 1800 to 2000.

13/11/11.Our most experienced instructor,Mrs Rosemary Leppard,BHS I,led a group of riders to join the many people that gathered ,on this beautifull autumn day,at the airmans grave memorial site ,to pay tribute to those who gave their life ,for all of us to enjoy our freedom.We are all most gratefull to them.

9/11/11 Anderida Aniston has now rejoined her friends at Kingstanding farm ,having completed her basic initial training with Rachel Keevil.Rachel was very pleased with Aniston who showed a very promising aptitude to her work.Lets hope she will be as telented as her mother,Anderida Anica .On the same day ,Anderida Musidora has now rejoined Rachel’s yard,having had a well earned holiday.We are all excited to see how good Musidora could be.

October 2011

Exciting news, we welcome our new horse, Freddie who we recently bought .Saddly though ,Storm and Angel have now moved to pastures new , we wish them the very best and we thank them for the great rides they have given us while at the AFRC.Both horses will be greatly missed .

14/10/11.The end of an era.Our wonderfull mare Bourne Park Cosmopolitan has died at the grand old age of almost 30 years old.She has now joined her old friends from our days in Greece ,Wide a Wake,Courtfield and Mr Bunce in the horse paradise.Rest in peace Poly.Alison ,myself and all of us who during the last 20 years had the privilege to ride you.we thank you for the memories.

16/1011.Congratulations to Alison Bell for winning her 2 novice classes at a recent affiliated dressage show with her hugely talented Anderida Diva (Di Maggio x Voltaire).

20/10/11.All our foals have now been weaned from their mothers and are in their winter quarters.Some foals were more upset than others but overall all went well without any major incident.

25/10/11.Great day at the beach.Well done to our young riders,jemma,chloe,beth and rosina who had a fun day at the beach with hipo,dj and our new star freddy.

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