them during the festivities – you can name them for your favourite pony, or just put them to all our horsey pals J We will obviously clean all the packaging before handing them out so all covid precautions are met! We would urge members just to buy small, cheaper gifts – carrots, polos or turnips are perfect – the idea was never for members to spend a lot of money on this, but more that they could contribute to a wee treat. If you would like to donate a bit more, then we would suggest donating to the British Horse Society Coronavirus appeal. This is an appeal which provides funding for the care of school horses in riding schools which have been hardest hit by the pandemic and are unable to open to the public (and have therefore lost all their income). You can donate here:
https://www.bhs.org.uk/advice-and-information/coronavirus-covid-19/appeal
SKELETON LESSONS
As per normal, we will be running skeleton lessons (as we go onto a different staff rota) from Monday 21st December – Sunday 3rd January inclusive so if you want to ride in your group lesson during this time, then make sure you check in at reception as your group time/day and coach may change over that fortnight. The riding school is completely closed on 24th, 25th and 26th December and then the 31st December, 1st and 2nd January to allow our staff some well-deserved time off. One member of staff still works each day as the horses still need checked/fed/mucked out but we don’t do lessons as we think its nice for the school horses and ponies to have a wee seasonal break too!
PRIVATE LESSON TRIAL SYSTEM So we tried a different option for booking private lessons in December, where we generated random booking slots for everyone who wanted to book and then Ali called them in that order rather than you
guys having to call us. The jury is still out on the system – we are taking feedback from riders but at the moment the feedback (from Ali) and from members who have commented so far is that they prefer the old system. We will update everyone on social media (and in person) whether we are returning to the old system in January once we have got all the feedback.
Private lesson booking day (regardless of system) will be Monday 28th December at 10.00a.m if you want to book private lessons for January.
DECEMBER TRAINING
We have the following sessions on in December for everyone:
Saturday 5th Dec 4.00 – 5.30 – “confidence jumping and how to build your confidence – including horses and riders doing a practical demo”. This session costs £15 with Sally.
Monday 7th Dec 2 – 3p.m Stage 4 Senior management with Sally. This session is Starleaf only. £15.
Monday 7th December 4.30 – 5.30p.m stable management with Laura (suitable for younger members) – parts of the bridle and saddle and tacking up. £15.
Tuesday 8th December 3 – 4p.m Stage 4 Senior business management with Sally. This session is Starleaf only. £15.
Saturday
Saturday 12th December 4.00p.m – 5.30p.m – The foot, shoeing and anatomy of the lower limb with Sally. £15.
Saturday 19th December 4.00p.m – 5.30p.m “being a horse lover with a business head” – how we do it at ARC. To include marketing, pricing and customer care. This would be suitable for anyone with an interest in equine business, but also very suitable for those looking to do BHS management assessments. £15 in person or Starleaf.