Riding stables gets grant to expand into tourism
A Suffolk riding school proprietor has expanded into tourism with European funding, and hopes to attract individuals who fancy a riding holiday with their horse.
Sharon Dawson, who runs Bardwell Manor Equestrian Centre near Bury St Edmunds with her husband Karl, applied for the £5,000 grant to improve the facilities at the centre through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).
The money, which will fund half of the project, has paid for electrical hook-up points for visitors to camp on site in their horseboxes and a shower block for holidaymakers.
Visiting horses can graze in a paddock adjacent to the camping area or can be stabled.
And holidaymakers can also use the riding school facilities and book lessons.
Sharon said: “This funding was available through the Brecks Local Development Strategy which covers this area and aims to promote environmentally sensitive tourism.
“Horse riding is one of the greenest ways there is to enjoy some of the lovely Breckland countryside in this part of the world.
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
“The East of England Development Agency, who allocate the RDPE grants, has been very helpful as our application has progressed to this stage.”
Bardwell Manor Equestrian Centre, is within with easy access of a network of bridleways known as the ‘Stanton Rides.’
The 18 miles of linked and waymarked rides is also being promoted through the Riding in the Brecks marketing project.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.