News

Check our Facebook Page to find out what's going on at Wilsden EC . We are regularly updating it with news and events, as well as activities to keep people busy during the lockdown. We have activites such as: badges, quizes and pony sponsorship.  

Breaking News!!

We are opening from 16 May for private and semi private lessons for existing experienced clients. Booking by telephone only with payment required in advance.

Please read the attached information sheet and the consent form. 

Due to the current pandemic, like most riding schools we (Wilsden Equestrian Centre) had to close our doors to our wonderful clients during March, and overnight lost our income.

We are currently trying to economise in every way possible, but some costs are unavoidable. It is currently costing a minimum of £600 per week for the running costs of the the horses (not including any staffing costs). This is for hay, haylage, bedding, feed, farrier and medication, but does not include unexpected vet fees like one horse that needed emergency vet call out just a few days ago. 

Please take a look at our gofundme page to help in any way you can to keep these beloved horses and ponies happy and healthy, until we are able to reopen our doors to our supportive community.

Thank you 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-support-our-beloved-wec-riding-school-horses

After some ideas and requests from clients we have pulled together ‘SPONSOR A PONY/HORSE’ scheme.

This will work in the following way, each week there will be 3 different horses available to choose from.

Pony Club achievement badges available through Distance Learning via Throstle Nest @ Wilsden EC

See our facebook page for the full information on which badges are available and how to order them. 

Massive well done to our three Horse and Pony Care teams who, in March went to the Area 3 competition in Wakefield.

All our teams were the highest place Centre Branch in there age groups!

The mini team were 4th overall
The junior team were 5th overall
The senior team were 3rd overall

Well done to our Pony Club Quiz team of Nicole, Jess M, Alex and Rachel who in March came 5th at the Area 3 quiz qualifier in York! We were impressed with your revision girls! Thanks to Nicole for driving everyone there.

Thanks to all who attended our recent craft fair, we raised a massive £350 for throstle nest riding for the disabled group!

Our Riding for the Disabled Group has a new website which will be update regularly with news updates and useful information. 

www.tnrda.co.uk

Please can we politely remind all clients to refrain from feeding any of our ponies, this is anything at all, including: Carrots, Treats etc. 

It can cause ponies to become used to treats and develop bad habits as well as making them ill, which we have unfortunately had a recent case of. 

Important Notice to all Clients:

Please can we remind you of our cancellation policy, which is going to be further enforced by our staff. 

Unless 24 hours notice is given for a booking cancellation, you will be charged £10 whatever the reason. This also includes bookings where the client fails to turn up without notifying us. 

It is unfair that we often have horses ready and waiting. 

Thanks for your cooperation 

We have many items of clothing, such as: hoodies, jackets, jumpers and gloves as well as vouchers all available to purchase from the office. They would make a great present.

Our annual RDA charity dinner raised a total of £1340.43 towards the Throstle Nest Riding for the Disabled Charity. We must thank everyone for attending as well as donating and contributing during the evening. Also a thank you to all of you who donated prizes, to help us raise this tremendous amount of money. 

Congratulations to Aiden Smithies, who is a former client, who rode with us from 4 years old to 16 years old. He is becoming an apprentice jockey and has recently completed his first few races including a 1st place winner.

We would like to thank NEXT for their charitable donation to our RDA group.

We had the pleasure of attending the BHS annual awards, where we recieved an award for one of our horses JJ. The award was handed out by actor Martin Clunes.

In October, we were lucky to welcome HRH Princess Anne to Wilsden Equestrian Centre, to reopen our indoor arena, something which she did at our old address in Fagley. She was very positive and took lots of time to speak to the many people in attendance. 

We would like to thank Wilsden Co-op for having us as one of their chosen charities.