May Newsletter

Hi everyone and welcome to the May newsletter. Why have we got a picture of the big shed being built on our newsletter, well because it’s our anniversary this month of moving to Anguston! We moved all the horses in May 2017 over to the new site and haven’t looked back since! It’s been a very fast (and busy) five years, but as always, we are incredibly grateful for our lovely facility and the support we still receive from our landlords – The Seven Incorporated Trades of Aberdeen.

MEMBERSHIP

As noted in the last newsletter, annual membership is due on or before the 1st June 2022 for all members and as previously, we do a discounted rate for those that pay in advance during May. We are now ready to process membership applications so you can either collect a form and fill it in before/after your lesson (forms are available from reception) or you can email Ali at

lessons@aberdeenridingclub.com

and request an electronic version which you can complete at home and scan back to us. Please ensure when completing your membership forms that you put enough contact numbers on it – ideally 2 numbers (home and mobile, or 2 mobiles) for if we need to get in touch with you if we need to change a lesson e.t.c. This year there are some additional parts to complete – a social media/photography policy and a members code of conduct. These forms are to ensure our members understand our policies on these things so please ensure you read them fully before signing.

As always, the membership form asks you to detail your riding experience so do please ensure that you complete that part correctly as your riding standard may have improved/changed since last year.

Membership fees are as follows:

Single membership – £130 (£120 if paid before 1st June) – this covers one rider (adult or junior).

Family membership – £240 (£220 if paid before 1st June) – this covers up to 5 riders from same household.

If you have any queries about membership, then please email Ali at

lessons@aberdeenridingclub.com

SUMMER ACTIVITIES

We will be running a few courses over the summer holidays for our junior members to take part in Pony Stars. The format at Easter worked well where we had a limited number of riding spaces and then grooming spaces in addition so we will run with the same format over the Summer. Dates and course standards are below:

Mon 4th July–Thurs 7th July inclusive – Beginner (Dartmoor Dazzlers) Pony Stars – this course runs from 10a.m – 2p.m for those who book the riding option (which includes one hour group lesson each day) or from 10a.m – 12p.m for those who are doing grooming only.

Mon 11th July–Thurs 14th July inclusive – Novice (Dartmoor Dazzlers and Welshie Whizzers) Pony Stars – this course runs from 10a.m – 2p.m for those who book the riding option (which includes one hour group lesson each day) or from 10a.m – 12p.m for those who are doing grooming only.

Mon 25th July-Thurs 28th July inclusive – Beginner (Dartmoor Dazzlers) Pony Stars – this course runs from 10a.m – 2p.m for those who book the riding option (which includes one hour group lesson each day) or from 10a.m – 12p.m for those who are doing grooming only.

Mon 1st August– Thurs 4th August inclusive – Novice (Dartmoor Dazzlers and Welshie Whizzers) Pony Stars – this course runs from 10a.m – 2p.m for those who book the riding option (which includes one hour group lesson each day) or from 10a.m – 12p.m for those who are doing grooming only.

Cost for all riding courses is £170 for the four days (including riding) or £25 per day for the 10a.m–12p.m grooming option. If you require a Pony Stars pack (for those who have not yet taken part in it) then the pack is £25 and can be purchased from reception on arrival for your session.

We are also going to run some educational days and competition days for our more advanced riding school (and livery) members who wish to keep progressing through their stable management – the following days are available:

Mon 18th July – Dressage Competition – for this competition, you book the horse or pony you wish to compete on and pick your level of test (intro or prelim). Riders will prepare their horses (plaiting/turnout e.t.c.) from 9a.m and the competition will start at 11a.m with set times. Cost is £25 per person, and it is suitable for all standards – dressage tests will be available from reception from 1st June.

Wed 20th July – “All Things Jumping” – riders who are ‘Dark Blue’ standard or above can book their horse/pony and attend a session from 10a.m– 12p.m which covers the theory of poles and jump distances and then a pole/jumping group lesson. Cost is £45 per person.

Depending on demand, we may add additional activities over the Summer holidays, so if you have any specific requests then please do just email us and let us know what you’d like us to put on for you!

Bookings for Summer Pony Stars and our educational days will open up on Mon 23rd May at 10.00am. To check the availability/make bookings please call us on 01224 733 111 once the bookings open on this date.

TRAINING SESSIONS

We will be running the following training sessions in May:

Sat 14th May at 4.30p.m – Sally will be covering all things fitness related – some theory content on how to fitten a horse and keep its workload correct to help with weight/management, then some practical work with the heart rate monitor on.

Fri 20th May at 5.30p.m – Stage 2 group lesson – top tips for how to coach an engaging session that the riders enjoy.

Sat 21st May at 4.30p.m – Long reining with Sally – how to do it, how to get started learning and why it’s a good skill to have.

Fri 27th May at 5.30p.m – Lateral work explained – Sally will cover a variety of lateral work with the horse in the arena, explaining why we do it, how we do it and why it can be so beneficial for horse and rider.

All sessions above cost £20 and last roughly 1.5 hours. They are all best attended in person, but you can attend via video call if you prefer as we can run the video call from the arena. If anyone would like a recording, then you can request one from Ali, but we are currently looking at changing our video call provider, so recordings may not be available at the time, but we will only charge you once we have a recording ready in case we are unable to provide them.

Thanks Everyone!

THE STORY OF HAGRID

We bought Hagrid in 2006 and he is now in his early 20s – we bought him from a dealer we used to buy a lot of horses from in Carlisle and we bought him as a “triple deal” where we bought three horses – Hagrid, Ron and Hermione – so there was a film theme going on that year!

Out of the three of them, Hagrid was the only one who worked out for the riding school, and he’s been one of the boss’s favourites ever since.

Commonly mistaken as a lazy horse, Hagrid is just super sensitive – he can be very forward, likes his jumping and is lovely out in the fields and hacking, but he likes a very specific position and way of riding. Hagrid likes riders to sit super still, use their legs really lightly and steer him with their seat and legs rather than reins too much. He is a really good horse to ride both in private lessons and groups as he will teach you both patience and to be able to apply your aids subtly. If you give him a bit of a kick rather than a squeeze, he gets a bit offended by it and will just grind to a halt. However, with the rider who sits really still, and on their seat, he will be super and has a great canter.

Hagrid is great to jump as he is honest and safe as he will “chip in” a little stride if you are a bit out of balance – jumping is very similar to flatwork – you need to ride him forward from your leg round the turns rather than drawing back on your reins and you need to keep your hand forward all the way into a fence.

When we trained Uni teams and held their competitions (we stopped doing this when we started the SRUC contract), Hagrid was the star of the jumping section most years – each horse in those competitions is firstly shown off by the staff round a course of fences, then is ridden by one member of each Uni team. Hagrid always performed amazingly – either having four clears (if he liked his riders) or by storming round clear with the home Uni member and then refusing to move with the other teams, which gave our team the advantage. At the last competition, Hagrid was part of a “stewards enquiry” when one of the other Unis complained that he didn’t jump with the other students, but because he’d flown round both with our staff member and with one of the Uni teams (the rider we trained) his score counted and the home team won.

Whilst he is lovely and gentle to handle, Hagrid has a couple of things he hates having done – one is being clipped and the other is having sun cream put on his (very pink) nose in the summer. For both things, he tries to ninja kick his handler with his front leg, but if you know him, you know how to avoid it. He has to be very heavily sedated to be clipped and always wakens up from the sedation in a stinker of a mood that we have snuck in and shaved off his hair when he was snoozing.

A proper character!

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