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Cross-country courses open for schooling


  • Each of the green horses on the map below marks a venue that offers cross-country schooling. There are over 100 venues with more being added all the time. Zoom in to your area of the UK to find your local courses, then click on a horse icon to read that course’s details.


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    [Original article below – dated 5 April 2007]

    TWESELDOWN
    Where: Church Crookham, Hampshire
    Cost: £25 per horse
    Availability: all year round, weather permitting
    Level: 2ft 6in to BE intermediate
    Help: Tweseldown does not organise clinics, but the likes of Mark Corbett, Anna Hilton, Yogi Breisner, Lucy Thompson and Gill Watson regularly bring pupils here
    Look out for: Pippa Funnell, Tina Cook, Sacha Pemble, Dan Jocelyn, Laura Collett and Nick Gauntlett
    Contact: www.tweseldown.co.uk; (tel: 01252 850628)

    Also in the south-east

    • Lodge Farm, Matfield, Kent www.lodgefarmcrosscountry.com (tel: 01892 722273)
    • Coombelands Equestrian, Pulborough, West Sussex www.coombelands-equestrian.co.uk (tel: 01798 872796)
    • Chilham Park, Canterbury, Kent www.chilhampark.com (tel: 01227 730811)

    BADGERSTOWN
    Where: Foxhill, Swindon, Wiltshire
    Cost: £20 per horse
    Availability: all year round, weather permitting
    Level: 3ft 3in to BE advanced
    Help: clinics with trainers such as Jane Holderness-Roddam and Dag Albert
    Look out for: Andrew Nicholson, Andrew and Bettina Hoy, Lucinda Green, Rodney Powell and Karen Reuter Niklasson
    Contact: (tel: 07743 897516)

    Also in the south central

    • Hoplands Equestrian Centre, Kings Somborne, Hampshire www.horsefair.co.uk/hoplands.asp (tel: 01794 388838)
    • Boomerang Stables, Crooked Soley, Berkshire (tel: 07711 499596)
    • Downlands Equestrian, Warminster, Wiltshire www.downlands-equestrian.co.uk (tel: 01985 840453)

    PONTISPOOL
    Where: Norton Fitzwarren, Taunton, Somerset
    Cost: adults £20, 11-17-year-olds £15, 10-year-olds and under £10 per horse for one to three horses, discounts available for more horses, see website
    Availability: February to November, weather permitting
    Level: 1ft 6in to BE intermediate
    Help: regular clinics with trainers such as Lucinda Green, Caroline Creighton, Joanna Day, Nick Gauntlett, Chris Johnson and Andrew Lovell
    Look out for: Harry Meade, Lucy Wiegersma and Mary King
    Contact: www.pontispool.com; (tel: 01823 461196)

    Also in the south-west

    • Stockland Lovell, Coultings, Bridgwater, Somerset www.stocklandlovell.com (tel: 01278 652224)
    • Rosamund Green Farm, Shepton Mallet, Somerset www.rosamundgreenfarm.co.uk (tel: 01749 343384)

    GREAT WITCHINGHAM
    Where: Blackwater Farm, Sparham, Norfolk
    Cost: £12 adult, £8 for riders of Pony Club age, £6 for Pony Club group
    Availability: all year round
    Level: 2ft 3in to BE intermediate
    Help: Jackie Lawson is based nearby and regularly teaches at Blackwater, as do plenty of BE-accredited trainers, including Ruth McMullen. There are also clinics, including one last year specifically for the site’s first pre-novice three-day event.
    Look out for: Piggy French
    Contact: www.blackwaterfarm.co.uk; (tel: 01362 688227)

    Also in the east

    • Ely Eventing Centre, Little Downham, Cambridgeshire www.elyeventing.co.uk (tel: 01353 698952)
    • Poplar Park Equestrian Centre, Woodbridge, Suffolk www.poplarparkevent.com (tel: 01394 411023)
    • Berwick Farm, Stanford Rivers, Essex (tel: 01708 688232)

    ASTON-LE-WALLS
    Where: Washbrook Farm, Daventry, Northants
    Cost: £25 per horse, special rates for groups over 12 and Pony Club groups
    Availability: all year round, weather permitting
    Level: intro to BE advanced
    Help: Ann and Nigel Taylor are available for lessons. Regular clinics with the Taylors and other trainers
    Look out for: Oliver Townend, Piggy French, J-P Sheffield, William Fox-Pitt and Kitty Boggis
    Contact: www.aston-le-wallshorsetrials.co.uk; (tel: 01327 262256)

    Also in central England

    • Milton Keynes, Hanslope, Bucks www.mkec.co.uk (tel: 01908 511329)
    • The College Equestrian Centre, Keysoe, Bedfordshire www.thecollegeec.com (tel: 01234 708400)

    HILLTOP
    Where: Ledbury, Herefordshire
    Cost: £14 per horse, £9 per for horse for Pony Club rallies and £12 for riding club rallies (groups of 6+)
    Availability: March to October, ground permitting
    Level: jumps from 1ft 6in to 3ft 6in, BE novice level
    Help: a list of local instructors who will teach here is on the website, Lucinda Green and William Miflin hold regular clinics
    Look out for: Louise Skelton, Matt and Marie Ryan
    Contact: www.hilltopxcledbury.co.uk ; tel: (01531 632291)

    Also in the west

    • Hillocks Farm Equestrian Centre, Cleobury Mortimer, Worcestershire www.hillocksfarm.org.uk (tel: 01299 270710)
    • Golden Valley, Ewyas Harold, Herefordshire www.homefarmdulas.co.uk (tel: 01981 241108)
    • Lincomb, Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire www.crosscountrycourse.co.uk (tel: 07811 382533)

    SOMERFORD PARK
    Where: Congleton, Cheshire
    Cost: midweek £18 or weekend £20 per horse for one or two horses; midweek £15 or weekend £18 per horse for three or more
    Availability: all year round, ground permitting,
    Level: trotting pole height up to BE intermediate
    Help: Rachel Baylis, Andrew Heffernan, Laura Fortune and Ian Olding are all based on site and there are regular clinics, too
    Look out for: Jeanette Brakewell, Brook Staples, Stefanie Thompson, Nigel Taylor,
    John Marsden, Hannah Bate, Neil Fox and Ruth Edge
    Contact: www.somerfordpark.co.uk; (tel: 01260 299888)

    Also in central/northern England

    • Smallwood Livery Centre, Sandbach, Cheshire www.smallwoodliverycentre.co.uk (tel: 01477 500605)
    • Kelsall Hill Equestrian Centre, Taporley, Cheshire www.kelsallhill.co.uk (tel: 07989 351177)
    • The Grange, Grange-de-Lings, Lincoln www.hoods-xc.com( tel: 01522 750602)

    WATERFORD FARM
    Where: Langley Park, Co Durham
    Cost: £15 per horse
    Availability: all year round
    Level: BE intro to advanced
    Help: Jamie Atkinson is based at Waterford and is available for lessons. Ian Stark also takes clinics
    Look out for: Amy Young, Caroline Powell, Lucy Holliday, Nicola Wilson (née Tweddle) and Julie Lawson
    Contact: www.horseselect.co.uk/prods/service/serv9/prod9.htm; (tel: 07711 451173 or tel: 01913 735318)

    Also in the north

    • Helen Bell Equestrian, Newsham, Thirsk www.helenbellequestrian.co.uk (tel: 01845 587207)
    • High Plains, Riding Mill, Northumberland www.high-plains.co.uk (tel: 01434 682 980)
    • Meldon Park, Malpas, Northumberland (tel: 01670 772433)

    STRATHEARN EVENTING
    Where: Hilton House, Methven, Perth
    Cost: £23 per horse
    Availability: March to October, weather permitting
    Level: 2ft 3in to BE novice
    Help: BHSAI Sarah Houlden (née England), who is doing the EFI level two coaching course, is based at Strathearn and available for lessons. Regular clinics with Sarah and other trainers such as Ian Stark and Yogi Breisner
    Look out for: Caroline Powell, Sarra Mayberry, and David Gatherer
    Contact: www.strathearneventing.co.uk; (tel: 01738 840 263)

    Also in Scotland

    • Braeside Cross-Country, Cupar, Fife www.braesidecrosscountry.co.uk (tel: 01337 840351)
    • Houston, Renfrewshire (tel: 01475 540687)
    • Gleneagles, Perthshire www.gleneagles.com (tel: 01764 694351)

    This information was first published in Horse & Hound (29 March, ’07)

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