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.

Spring Offers

Adults: £15 Per Person For All One Hour Hacks

Children(5-12 yo): £12 Per Child Per Hour

For Group Hacks

Subject to Availability. Terms and Conditions Apply

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

20/5.Great news from the Anderida Stud horses.We recently had news from the owner of Anica,Mr Storemark from Sweden.The mare in in excellent health ,still competing at 140 150 level with the owners daughter.Mr Storemark is currently offering the mare for sale,and has kindly given the AFRC first refusal,which is much appreciated.We will update you soon.Also great news fron Anderida Lauretta who is attracting more and more attention.She recently jumped at Golden Cross and did very well.Anderida Musidora jumped her first foxhunter the other day at Pyecombe and had 4 faults in the jump off.Very exciting for the future.Also doing very well is Anderida Polaris who is back in action after a long lay off and thanks to Rachel Keevil’s expert care .Anderida Aniston is progressing very well,so all in all very good news from the Anderida horses.Finally Anderida Diablo is back,minus his testicles as he has now been gelded and has joined the other youngsters in the field.

We welcome our new equine friend, a beautifull 10 year old dunn mare.We welcome any ideas for a name for our new horse.All our other horses are doing well.

18/5/13 Not such a good day at Plumpton college show. Poor Rosina had a bad tumble from that moody madam of a mare Steffie, and had to pay a quick visit to the local hospital but should be back in the saddle soon! Emily and Freya tried their luck in showing and both failed to impress the judge! Don’t worry girls, the judge must have forgotten her spectacles but in my eyes you are both my favourites. A Hippo look-alike won the showing class the girls entered.

4/5/13 Another fun day at Burstow park ec. Rosina, Blythe, Lucy, Emily and Freya, all did very well. Special mention to Blythe who came 5th at her class, and Freya who got a lovely double clear round at her very first show.

28/4/13 Great day at Golden cross. Hannah Gilmour rode Hugo superbly well, and won the 2ft3 class she competed in. Megan Warrener did very well with Benny in both the classes she competed in. Considering both girls were competing for the first time for the Afrc, they both did great. Well done girls!

23/4/13.Finally spring is here.After a very long and cold winter,lets hope we will have a nice spring and summer.All our horses are out at grass now and are enjoying the warm sunshine.Trading conditions are improving with the better weather and the AFRC has some very good offers available.

21/4/13.Great day with the pony club activities today.It was a combined training,dressage and sj and all the riders enjoyed themselves.Megan and Hannah will be ready to do a little show soon.

20/4/13.Very well done to 9yo Blyth Britten who did very well at todays show at Felbridge. She rode Benny very well and had a double clear round and came 7th in her class.Also well done to Rosina who rode Stefie ,and to Emily and Lucy who rode Benny and Pumpkin respectively.

15/4/13.Good news from the Anderida stud horses.Anderida Aniston has rejoined Rachel Keevil’s yard and is coming on nicely.Anderida Diablo is undergoing some basic loose schooling work at Adrian Evans’s yard,so far so good.Exciting news on Anderida Lauretta who got a special mention in the recent edition of the horse and hound magazine,as a very good young horse to follow in show jumping.

1/3/13.More recent news from the AFRC.We hope that winter is coming to an end as it has been very difficult weather conditions for all of us and our equine friends.Lets hope we get a nice spring,so we can enjoy all the fun activities we have planned.

The pony club events have been very well supported,with more exciting events planned.

All of our horse are looking very well coming out of winter.Cambretta looks ok,and should benefit from the spring grass when she goes\out soonWe hope to open our grazing fields within a couple of weeks so the horses will be very happy munching on the succulent ,tasty spring grass.Sadly Georgia has now been retired from work due to her worsening arthritis but has been given a new home locally,from her loan rider ,Syd,who by the way is expecting a bambino.We wish Syd all the best.Also sadly ,Ebony has been retired from lessons and jumping but will carry on doing hacks .Our little ponies Stefi and Freddy are doing very well although Stefi can be a little bit of a madam sometimes,when asked to do more advanced work.Freya Solomon and Hugo are getting better and better,with Freya’s confidense improving all the time.Well done Freya.

Anderida Diablo has now joined Adrian Evans’s yard for a couple of months.He will be accessed and we will decide whether he is talented enough to stay as a stallion,in which case he is either sold,or goes to the Brightwell sales in August or we form a partnership to keep him as a show jumping prospect ,or he gets gelded and comes back home.I have to admit,the thought of Diablo and Rosina contesting young riders sj classes in 6-7 years time is very tempting.Time will tell .Anderida Askadora and Queretta are doing very well and will soon be going out at grass.Pablo has now had his cohones removed and is now a gelding .He is looking very good,well done to Georgia for producing such a beautifull offspring.Exciting news from Anderida Icaros.He was sold via Adrian Evans to India where he is now competing at 1.50 m sj classes or CSI***.(photos to follow soon).

Great day at Crockstead sj show ,Very well done to Izzy with Pumpkin and Blyth with our fabulous Benny who did very well and both had clear rounds.But the star of the show was Rosina who rode Stefi better than Markus Ehning would ,and had a fantastic double clear and came 6th.She then followed that by riding superbly Benny in the bigger class and had a double clear and came 3rd.Bravo Rosina,as long as we have no tantrums and behave as a spoiled little brat,the future will be bright.

Another succesfull day at Hurstwood Farm’s Clear round day.Blyth on Benny,Izzy on Pumpkin and Rosina on Benny all rode well and came home with rosettes.Well done guys.

6/1/13.Happy new year to everybody.2013 started really well,the weather has been reasonably good so far.Many congratulations to our young riders ,Ellie on Chesney and Lucy on Benny who came 3rd and 2nd respectively at the recent show at Felbridge. Lucy specially, rode so well Benny,any top show jumping pro would have been envious of her performance.Well done to both of them.

All our horses are doing really well.Anderida Cambretta however ,is not looking very good.Mentally she is still alert and happy,but saddly physically she now looks much older than her 21 years of age.Unfortunately,,horses are very similar to people in that respect.Some age very gracefully,and others do not.Plus horses can not have botox,lifting,etc as so many sad and vain people resort to nowdays

24/12/12.I would like to wish everybody involved with the AFRC,a merry xmas and a happy new year.Lets hope all our equine friends at the AFRC are healthy and happy .

2012 was a very difficult year from the business point of view,with the bad weather during the spring and summer being the main reason.For this,i would like to give my sincere thanks to our long term suppliers and contractors,who are always supporting the AFRC,in good times as well as in bad times.Many thanks to our farriers,AW Casserly and Sons,our hay and straw supplier,Mark Peter,all the team at Priors Farm Equine Vets, Linda and Tracy ,out tack and rug supplier,and David with Sue from Duckhurst farm for the many safe,sound ,quality ponies and horses they have supplied the AFRC over so many years. Once again,thank you all and i wish you the very best for 2013.

24/12/12.Very well done to Lucy with Benny,Amy with Dj,Ellie with Chesney and Izzy with Benny who all did very well at the recent shows at Felbridge and Golden Cross respectively.

10/12/12.Very well done to our very talented young riders Ellie and Rosina,who both did very well at the recent xmas show at Plumpton college.In fact Ellie came 2nd in both the 2 and 2’3 jumping class on the fantastic pony we have on trial called Chesney,and Rosina came 5th and 6th at the same classes on our great pony Benny.Its really pleasing to see both girls riding so well and we must say a big thank you to our most experienced instructor at the AFRC,Mrs R.Leppard,who is always trying so hard and with great patience and dedication to properly teach and encourage our young riders .

1/12/12.We are all looking forward to a happy xmas .Lets hope that the weather will be good during the xmas break so we can all enjoy some good riding on the beautifull forest.

We are all very excited about the new horses and ponies that have recently joined the AFRC.I am sure they will give all our customers lots of fun and pleasure.

8/11/12.We are very sorry to announce to all our past and present riders,the loss of CASIE.This most beautifull,friendly,mare,suffered a fatal colic attack ,early in the morning of the 8th of November.Our vet,Duncan,whom we sincerely thank,arrived at the farm very quickly,but it was immediatelly decided that nothing could be done .Mrs R.Leppard,the vet Duncan,and myself all decided that the kindest thing to do was to humanely put Casie to sleep to prevent her from suffering further.She will be greatly missed.

11/12.Great fun and activities during the half term week.The AFRC organized 2 beach rides at Camber sands ,one for the junior riders and one for the adult riders,We all had a great time and our horses enjoyed it too.More beach rides are planned during the Xmas break.

Our young riders,Rosina,Lucy,Emily,Alana and Giorgia took part at local shows at Felbridge,Crockstead and Hurstwood Farm.They all rode very well and came back with lots of rosettes.WELL DONE.And we must not forget our equine friends,DJ,Stefie,Ebony,Picasso and Benny who all did very well.

21/10/12.Great day at the Felbridge Horse show.Rosina rode Stefie very well and had a very nice clear round,and Kirstie continued the tremendous improvement of Picasso and also had a clear round.Well done to both of them and we look forward to going to a few more shows during the coming half term with the other young riders from the AFRC

15/10/12.ANDERIDA CAMBRETTA is the equine star in a TV/Movie production called IRONGATE.

On the 15/10/12,the AFRC was asked to provide 2 suitable horses to audition for a future TV/Movie project called IRONGATE starring the future world class actor Seb Street.The filming took place in Beachy Head near Eastbourne and the AFRC took Jafa and Cambretta.The producer and director chose Cambretta who formed a very good partnership with Mr Street.Many thanks to Freya Solomon ans Kirstie Burrows who very kindly came with the horses and prepared,rode and looked after both horses on what was a very busy and long day.Special thanks to Kirstie who was great in helping Mr Street get used to Cambretta and perform some of the difficult riding scenes.

15/10/12.The AFRC welcomes our 3 new horses which have settled well and are already giving lots of pleasure and joy to our customers.Stefie is a beautifull 12hh bay, 14yo old mare who will be great for our very young riders.She has already been very popular for lessons and hacks on the forest.Sally in a 13’3hh coloured mare,15yo, who is already and will be very popular with our older teenage riders .And finally we welcome our yet unnamed 15hh,15yo,coloured mare who is already proving to be a star for hacks on the forest.The AFRC is very proud to own a fine selection of coloured cobs which are very safe,beautifull and fun to ride both in the school and on the forest.

All our young riders are doing very well and are getting very excited about taking part in some shows in the near future ,starting with jumping at Felbridge this weekend.We also have pony club activities lined up for the half term week,along with 2 beach rides on 30/10/12 and 1/11/12.

A special mention to our very talented young rider Freya Solomon,who despite being very inexperienced,has greatly improved and has formed a very good relationship with Anderida Cambreta.They really suit each other these two ,and its nice for Cambreta at the twilight of her working life,to have somebody as nice as Freya to look after her and ride her.

03/10/12.Complaint against the AFRC . Following a very civilized and constructive discussion with all related parties,a line has been drawn and this very unfortunate incident has been been dealt with.The conservators of the Ashdown Forest have now recommended a new code of conduct for riding establishments operating on the forest which the AFRC will follow and respect.

20/9/12.The end of a busy summer season is approaching soon.Trading conditions have been very difficult during what should have been our busiest months.April,May,June and July were the wettest since i have been in the Uk,almost 17 years now.However ,i still like to thank our customers ,past and present,for their continuing support.

All our horses are doing fine,and the AFRC is actively looking now for 3 to 5 new horses,a mixture of ponies and coloured cobs ,to accomodate our riders.Oscar,Piglet and Georgia are now in their early 20′s and will surely enjoy their active semiretirement.

During rhe recent months,our young riders went to several local shows and all did very well,with several placings for Rosina,Amy,and Laura.

Really well done to Georgia with Ebony who at her first ever show at Burstow Park,came first at the 2′ jumping class. I must note also, the great progress and improvement of our young riders,Lucy and Emily ,who will very soon go to their first show where i am sure they will do very well.Well done to both of them.

Another rider who deserves a praise, is Kirstie Burrows who has really produced and improved the rideability of Picasso.Its so nice to see our riders really impoving and doing so well with the AFRC horses and ponies.

The Pony Club activities that took place during the summer were all very well supported and more and more children hopefully will join thr AFRC PC , have fun and enjoy the different events.A great thanks to Alison Bell who with the support of our senior instructor,Mrs R.Leppard,have done such a fantastic job setting up the PC,organizing the events and planning for the future.Thanks again.

News from the Anderida Stud.All our homebred horses are doing well with their new owners.Musidora is steadily improving ,and is now consistenly jumping well Disc and 1.05 classes,while Aniston is enjoying her hacks on the forest,but is not so keen on doing flatwork Rendor and the three 2 yo’s are well and will soon come in for the winter.

On a negative note ,a respected member of the public has made a public complain against the AFRC,for an incident that happened on the 3rd of August 2012.I deeply regret if any inconvenience or upset was caused to that member of the public,The SAFETY and WELL BEING of the public was,is and will be of paramount importance to anybody associated with the AFRC.The safety record of the AFRC is flawless under the current management(1995).But as everybody that knows anything about horses,its not IF some mishap happens but WHEN.Although no physical injury was caused to the respected member of the public,once again ,we regret for any stress,or upset caused on that day.I must also say that there are always 2 sides or version of events to every story.

10/7/12.

Our outdoor arena now has a new top quality surface. We are certain that our existing and new costumers will enjoy riding on it.

Exiting news from the pony club, several activities are planned during the summer holidays. We will keep our young friends posted.

31/5/12.All our young riders did very well at the recent show at the Felbridge show ground.Well done for Rosina,Alana.Jenny,Corrine and Laura who all rode very well and will surely improve even more for our next show.But the star of the show was Amy with Dj.Amy started by falling off in the first class,then proceeded in getting eliminated due to 2 run outs in the second class,and then SUPRISE SURPRISE,our dearest and very talented Amy rode one of the best rounds ever and had a great double clear and came 3rd,in the third class.When our dearest Amy was asked why she went from riding rather poorly to exceptionally well,she replied in the most common way for young teenage girls her age “I DONT KNOW”.Maybe our dearest Amy should be thinking less of her favourite band,the Wanted ,and more about riding the horse properly and towards the middle of the jump.

Great news from Anderida Musidora,who won her Discovery class at the latest Pyecombe Horse Show.She is progressing very nicely,being ridden and produced so well by her co-owner/rider,Rachel Keevil.

Anderida Aniston is also coming on very nicely.We would like to remind our followers that part ownership for both these highly promising young horses is available on a syndicate basis.Please contact Rachel on 07958618824 for more info.

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.

18/9/12.Great show at burstow park, with our good riders Rosina and Giorgia, on two of our fantastic horses Benny and Ebony. Rosina proudly came 2nd in a showing class with Anderida Benny and 5th in a show jumping. Giorgia came out with a grand total of 1st! Also got two clear rounds. all on Anderida Ebony.

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