Riding School

Welcome to our Riding School

Our ABRS approved school is staffed by our team of experienced, qualified instructors. We cater for all ages, and all skill levels. We are also fully insured, and all staff are first aid trained, DBS checked and qualified.

Council Licence Number 19/00004/RIDEST Mrs Louise Buckner

Click one of the links below to be taken straight to that information:

To register for a session, please download and fill out this form:

Download Registration Form

To become a member, please download and fill out this form:

Download Membership Form

You can find details on membership by clicking here.

Fantastic facilities and wonderful people!

We took my nieces (aged 5 and 7) for a riding lesson while visiting the Isle of Wight on holiday in August. The stables were beautiful and the facilities excellent with lots more exciting things planned for the near future. Tim was a wonderful teacher as my nieces are both quite new to riding and he was very patient and very funny putting them both completely at ease. The ladies who helped were also lovely and we had a great time there as a family. We were allowed to wander round and meet the ponies and it was such a nice friendly atmosphere. We would 100% recommend it and will definitely come back again next time we are on the island. Thanks to all at The Island Riding Centre. We just wish you were on the mainland so we could visit every week. Hope to see you all next year!

EmmaOxford

15 Minute Walk

Perhaps your first ever time on a horse or pony, enjoy this 15 minute walk being led or not, depending on your ability, around one of our arenas with a qualified instructor. You may also like to try a little trot for the first time!

Price for members: £15 / non-members: £17

Group Lesson (30 Minutes)

With up to 6 people per group, your lesson will begin with a 5-minute warm up for you and your ponies. During the lesson we will be working with you to improve your standard of riding, to walk, trot and then canter. Our focus is for you to have fun and enjoy your lesson, whilst improving your standard of riding. Your lesson will end with a 5-minute warm down for you and your pony whilst we provide you with feedback and homework.

Price for members: £20 / non-members: £22

Group Lesson (1 Hour)

With up to 6 people per group, your lesson will begin with a 10-minute warm up for you and your ponies. During the lesson, we will be working towards your goals and improving your standard of riding. The lesson will either be on the flat or over jumps for either a dressage session, full course of jumps, or pole and grid work. Finishing off with a 10-minute warm down for you and your pony whilst we provide you with some feedback and homework.

Price for members: £25 / non-members: £27.50

Private Lesson (30 minutes)

Your one to one private lesson will begin with a 5-minute warm up for you and your pony, preparing for the session ahead. We will then work on either your jumping or your flatwork, focussing on all areas of your riding, looking to improve your skills, knowledge and horsemanship. Your lesson will finish with a 10-minute warm down to make sure you and your pony start to unwind from the session giving time for your pony to cool down, giving us the chance to provide you with some feedback and homework.

Price for members: £20 / non-members: £22

Private Lesson (45 minutes)

Price for members: £30 / non-members: £33

Birthday Parties

The perfect way to celebrate your Birthday with our themed Birthday Parties, with many different themes to choose from. On arrival, the Birthday Boy or Girl will see their themed ponies on display and enjoy a ride round our arena with their friends. You will then all have the opportunity to help groom the ponies and learn some important stable management skills.

There is also the choice of playing party games after your ride, with lots of rosettes to be won and fun to be had!

Price for members & non-members: £15 pp

Own a Pony Day (minimum 5 children)

Drop your children off for a full day’s enjoyment with their favourite horse or pony. Arriving at 8am they will collect their horse or pony from the field, and give them a groom. They will then have their first group lesson in the morning, followed by some games for all the children to enjoy. Its then time for lunch, after which they will all have 90 minutes to get their horse or pony ‘sparkling’, including all their tack ready for the condition and turnout competition.

They will then have their second lesson of the day, followed by mounted games! It will then be time to cool their horse or pony off and give them their dinner time feed and turn them back out for the evening. Once their horse or pony’s stable is all mucked out and ready for the next morning, their ‘owning a pony for the day’ will be complete.

Price for members: £50 / non-members: £55

Pony Games Day

Kids will go up to the arena with their paired ponies and have a go at some chosen pony games. You don’t have to have any previous experience just simply have a go and be ready to have some great fun with your friends and your ponies.

£20 per rider 4 per group

Summer Camps

Arrive on day 1 and get introduced to you paired horse or pony. Then to get started and get your tack cleaned and pony ready for inspection also making sure your boots and riding equipment is clean. You will then tack up and take your pony to the arena for inspection.

You’re then inspected and scored out of 10 for you tack pony and rider. You will then go off in to your group for your first lesson. Moving on to lunch that you will bring with you. 30min of stable management working towards abrs certificates that you will take a test for at the end of the camp. Second lesson of the day over poles and jumps.

Day 2 will be a repeat of day 1 but progressing though your abrs exams.

Day 3 will be your last day of inspections and lessons. The 2 groups will join together and play pony games. There will then be a tea party for all the kids and parents and a presentation for you turn out inspection games winners and rider awards.

Summer Riding Camps (4 or 5 Days)

Available for either 4 or 5 days, our summer riding camps are for children of all abilities with girls and boys divided into appropriate level groups.

Pitch your tent with the rest of the campers on the day before and look forward to your summer camp full of fun! If your children prefer not to be under canvas, accommodation is available in one of our luxury holiday cottages on site.

You will be paired with a horse or pony at the start of your week and will stay paired with that pony throughout your camp. You will ride for at least two hours each day with a variety of hacks, dressage and show jumping, wearing the correct safety gear and supervised at all times.

Additional learning is delivered via a series of practical and theoretical work where you will understand the daily routines ponies need in their lives, from mucking out, feeding, picking out hooves, grooming, tacking up, rugs, catching / turning out, etc. Other talks will explore the different aspects of ponies in general – points of the pony, colours, bones, breeds, etc. All of these activities can work towards our in-house certificates, that will be awarded at the end of the camp.

Your summer camp will also include team games, such as pony club games, orienteering across our 40-acre site and trips to Monkey Haven and Butterfly World. All children will be provided with breakfast, lunch and dinner from our onsite rider’s café.

Senior Summer Riding Camps

Designed for the advanced rider, with your own or loaned horse or pony and staying in one of our onsite luxury holiday cottages for 4 nights. The riding will be much more intense than the 4 or 5 day camps, where you will be riding for a minimum of three hours a day.

Your work in the indoor and outdoor arenas will be both lateral /dressage and show jumping and offsite you will head off to the beach and a selected trail ride. The days are long, full and fun! You will work with your own horse or pony doing everything from mucking out, catching / turning out, grooming, cleaning tack, etc.

For the more practical and theoretical aspects we work on areas such as equine first aid, bones of the horse, bandaging, lunging, shoeing and showing.

The days are designed to be full, fun and educational!

Have-a-go Dressage Day

This day is to help fulfil your dressage needs and dreams – This will start with a 30 minute lesson then followed by running through a chosen dressage test being judged to show off your skills. Sheets will be added up to gain a percentage and then at the end of the day will have a presentation and placings with rosettes to be won. Adults and kids welcome.

£35 per rider

Clear Round Jumping

Gives all riding school clients the chance to have ago around our full course of show jumps weather it’s from poles on the ground to a decent height of fences. Clear round jumping is open to the general public as well as riding school clients.

Riding school clients £15 per round or 3 for £30 with horse or pony hire.
General public £10 per round or 3 for £20.

Kids Club

Our Kids Club will be open in the school holidays only for children aged 5-10 years and will operate for 3 hours from 9am-12 midday. While at Kids Club, your children will have a 15-minute walk on one or our school ponies or Shetlands, participate in a stable management session where they will learn about the day to day care of horses and ponies. They will also play some games before being picked up at the end of the club at 12 midday.

Ladies Morning

Our ladies only sessions are available for individuals or groups and are designed for those returning to riding after a long absence, wanting additional exercise or to simply enjoy as a social gathering. So, whether you are a first timer or have ridden before, come along and meet likeminded ladies where you can all learn together and have a great time doing it! Simply a great way of catching up with friends and exercising at the same time!

Child Beginners

Children can start riding at Island Riding Centre from 4 years old. They start with half hour one-to-one sessions to help build their confidence and learn the basics. Once they are fairly confident on their ponies they are ready to join a 30 minute group lesson. This is normally after 3-4 half hour sessions.

The first group is ‘Shetland, this is a half hour group and the children may be led by one of our team. Once into a group lesson they will progress up the levels as they improve.

The group lessons are regularly assessed to ensure that the children are in the correct group for their standard of riding.

Child Riders

Children who can already ride can start at Island Riding Centre with a half hour one-to-one assessment lesson. From the lesson your instructor will recommend which level of group lesson will be most suitable for you or if you need a few more one-to-one lessons before joining a group.

Our group lessons are after school during the week Monday, Wednesday, Friday and on Saturdays. An assessment lesson can be booked at most times through the week and Saturdays depending on availability. Once you have joined a group lesson you will be regularly assessed to see if you are ready to move up a level.

The group lessons progress as follows:

Shetland

Connemara

Friesian

Adult Riders

We have a wide range of horses and instructors to suit adult riders of all levels. Whether you are looking to join a regular group or enjoy some more intensive private instruction we would be delighted to arrange something for you. On your first visit to us we like to assess you in a half-hour one-to-one session and discuss with you what type of lessons you are looking for. We can then recommend a suitable group lesson for you or arrange more private sessions.

Adult group lessons are graded as Novice, Intermediate and Advanced. These lessons take place on Saturdays and during the week in the evenings. Please see our timetable for more details.

Adult Beginners

For adults who wish to get into the saddle for the first time there is no age limit!

We start you off with half hour one-to-one session to gain confidence and learn the basics. Once you are cantering on your own you can join a beginner group lesson. Once you are in a group lesson you will be continually assessed by your Instructor who will let you know when you are ready to move up. Half hour one-to-one sessions can be booked at any time through the week and at weekends depending on availability. Group lessons are on Saturdays and weekday evenings (see timetable).

School and College Groups

At the Island Riding Centre we offer horse riding lessons to local schools and colleges, at a reduced rate, for you to enjoy learning to ride with your friends and colleagues!

Please contact your school’s Sport/Equestrian co-ordinator to find out more!