Conference noted::equitation

    As I recall there are a number of places in the New Forest that
    offer accommodation and riding. Some of these are hotels which also
    have riding stables. Look in the Southampton Area Yellow Pages or
    the BHS "Where To Ride" book under Hampshire. On my occasional visits
    to England I have once or twice come across a company's Riding Club
    having an outing in the New Forest, but these may have been day
    trips only.

    From my possibly faulty memory, the New Forest Hotel, New Park Hotel
    and Burley Manor Hotel all offered riding. I have tried none of
    them. If you are only looking for stables, Decoy Pond Farm near
    Beaulieu Road Station (Phone: Ashurst 2652, I think) or the New
    Forest Equestrian Centre, Shirley Holmes, south of Brockenhurst
    are stables at which I have ridden and appeared to have sufficient
    horses to handle an adult group.      

    For other readers of this file, the New Forest is a "National Park"
    about 70 miles south west of London, roughly bounded by Southampton,
    Bournemouth and Salisbury. Its an area of sandy soils and scrub,
    much like the inland parts of Cape Cod before it was built over.
    Since the New Forest is quite close to major population centres
    it gets quite congested at holiday times. It is a very good area
    for riding with numerous stables.

    Thanks for the prompt reply,I'll get hold of the BHS book. I thought
    there must be some in the New Forest, but they don't seem to be
    advertised.
    
    

    When I was in England last, I spent a week at Sunshine Farm on Bodmin
    Moor.  They are set up to take groups.  We would ride for a couple
    hours each day and in the afternoon they would take us to some local
    geological or tourist attraction.  I chose them from a BHS booklet
    specifically on riding holidays. 
    
    Also, in a previous life, I spent some time at Crabbet Park in Crawley.
    They have a large operation there, along with dorms, but I think
    their programs might be too intense for a holiday.
    
    I'll try to bring the address for both.

    Amazingly, after several moves and ongoing house renovation, I was
    still able to locate the box where the info was!
    
    SUNRISING FARM
    Henwood, nr. Liskeard, Cornwall PL14 5BP
    TEL: LISKEARD (0579) 62895
    
    CRABBET PARK 
    Worth, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 4ST
    TEL: CRAWLEY (0293) 882601

    Also, I had mailed away for a brochure from Knowle Riding Centre,
    which looked quite good, too.      
    
    KNOWLE RIDING CENTRE
    Timberscombe, Nr. Minehead, Somerset TA24 6TZ
    
    
    The booklet was actually put out by the BTA (British Tourist
    Authority), in association with the BHS.  It's called "Britain
    Riding and Trekking Holidays 19XX", and can be requested from BTA
    by writing:
    
    	BTA
    	Thame Tower, Blacks Road, London W6 9EL  
    
    Have a great time!
     

    
    
    Kate
    
    Thanks for the info. I am awaiting the Sunrising brochure, already
    had the Knowle Park one and it did look very good, but the cost
    was a bit more than we wanted to spend for a weekend. I shall
    call Crabbet farm and get the BTA brochure. Thanks again, I'll
    let you know what happens!
    
    Karen
    

    This month's EQUUS Magazine has a spread on riding vacations.
    
    Merrie

    	Western Horseman's annual horseback vacations issue is out
    this month. It has a lot of great looking suggestions.
    
    	George
    

    Thanks for all the suggestions. I have decided to go for the
    Lulworth Equestran Centre in Dorset, I went to see it at the
    weekend (unannounced!)and was very impressed by the quality of 
    the horses/ponies and the centre itself. It has only been going
    for just over a year and is managed by Rod Forester (ex Household
    Cavalry) and Judith Jesty. He took the time to introduce us to all 
    his horses and offered to arrange an itinery to suit us.
    
    We decided to go for mobile home type caravan accomodation at 
    Durdle Door to keep costs down.
    
    I'll let you know how the weekend (in April) goes. The address
    if anyone is interested is:
    
    Lulworth Equestrian Centre,
    Kennel Farm,
    Wareham,
    Dorset.   Tel: 0929 41396
                                 
    Another one that looks good is  New Forest Riding & Water
    Sports. Tel 0703 843180.
    
    Thanks again for your help. 
    
    

    Re -.1
    
    The only time I went to New Forest Riding and Water Sports I was
    not impressed. I was initially given a horse with some problem in
    his hind end that felt as though he would collapse if I used my
    seat. I asked for and got a replacement horse. This was some time
    last summer. I have not been back since.
    
    Please post your experiences at Lulworth.

    
    Well we all got back in one piece, just about, after our riding
    weekend at Lulworth Equestrian Centre. We arrived at the centre
    on Saturday morning and had an assessment session in the schooling
    ring. Unfortunately a Hunter Trial was gong on there that day and
    the rattling horseboxes spooked some of the horses! As there were
    18 of us it took some shuffling to get everyone on a suitable mount.
    
    If you plan to go be warned that when they say experienced they
    mean National Hunt jockey! At first our experienced riders were
    put on some excitable horses that needed a lot of controlled riding.
    (on a hack). Quite exhausting if your not used to it. I got the
    impression that these were loaned horses, and why do people usually
    loan their horses to riding schools??
    
    Sunday's pub ride was great, helped by the fantastic weather. Some
    of the novices did come off,  due to failure to duck under a branch,
    broken reins and a collision!  
    
    On the whole the centre is well run with well cared for horses and
    ponies. The staff certainly were very flexible and did their best
    to cater for our needs and wishes.  Any problems we encountered
    seemed to stem from the size of our group and the Hunter Trials
    happening that weekend.
    
    Durdle Door caravan Park was very nice, the 6 berth mobile homes
    had all mod cons and the park itself was in a lovely setting.
    
    If anyone wants further details I'm on 7833 3770