London Riding Schools snaffle up Mayor’s Legacy Funding

London’s riding schools are to offer subsidized training at all levels thanks to the Mayor’s Legacy Skills Investment fund.


The opportunity was identified by the British Equestrian Federation and presented to members of the London Horse Network, a group supported by the BEF’s HOOF Ride London Olympic Legacy project.

BEF London representative David Gadsby says, “The ‘Mayor’s Legacy’ appeared to be almost too good to be true, paying up to 75% of the course cost in return for the candidate volunteering in the community, giving a win-win situation for candidates, riding schools and the London community.”

With the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) already offering an established training route for volunteers - to suit even those with no equestrian or special needs experience, so the Greater London region has delivered Mayor’s Legacy courses this spring with funding exceeding £5000.

Chair of the Greater London RDA, Diane Jeffries says, "This is a great initiative to encourage those considering volunteering, giving them the skills to be able to support their community and even our volunteers with more than 35years experience have been able to benefit from training part-funded by the Mayor's Legacy Skills Investment fund."

And a further six London riding centres are following suit with a raft of courses to encourage all levels including training towards Pony Club badges, BHS exams, ABRS qualifications, RDA awards, first aid to fundraising skills and even cross-country course building.

Jodie Maile, volunteer chair of the London Horse Network says, “The Network put forward some innovative training that would benefit the community by enabling new and established riders to develop and encourage non-riders including parents, friends and individuals to gain a greater understanding and enjoy being part of the sport, confidently able to contribute directly to the sport either on a yard or in a supportive role, rather than just watching from the sidelines.”

Hence transferable skills such as first aid, fire marshalling and fund-raising are among the courses on offer.

David continues, “The potential of this funding is huge as candidates can reside anywhere in the country with the only condition being that the minimum 20hours of volunteering, akin to work experience, is conducted in London, and in return 75% of the course cost will be met by the Mayor’s Legacy.”

For a full list of supporting riding schools and courses on offer register your details with Jodie Maile at jodievm@aol.com while details of forthcoming courses will be available via http://www.hoof-in-town.com/ and on the HOOF Facebook page.

Pony’s Unplanned Pregnancy

A city farm in London is appealing for help after discovering one of its seven riding school ponies is pregnant.

Pimms, a five year-old coloured Irish cob was purchased last autumn and has proved to be exceptional – even taking part in a sponsored cross-country ride earlier this month.

However, the size of her waistline was of some concern and Vauxhall City Farm’s veterinarian prescribed a low-calorie diet. When this failed, suspicions were raised and it’s been confirmed that she is due to foal in the next four to six weeks.

Director of the riding school, Linda Hinds, says, “It’s unlikely the previous owners were aware of her condition either as she’d have fallen pregnant last summer but it is no wonder she’s been so quiet!”

However the city farm is now faced with sending Pimms away to specialist care to have her foal and to rear it in appropriate surroundings.

Linda explains, “We don’t have any grazing, her stable would be too small for her to foal safely and there would be little peace and quiet. It feels like she is an Irish girl being sent away to the country to a home for unmarried mums!”

David Gadsby, London representative of the British Equestrian Federation notes, “The HOOF Olympic Legacy project of the BEF is supporting London’s riding schools to improve participation but this wasn’t the kind of legacy we had considered.”

More seriously, the care for Pimms and her offspring comes at an unexpected cost with Linda saying, “As a city farm we provide a large number of subsidized lessons and rely on donations and paying for veterinary care and costs for a mare and foal on confinement until Christmas plus paying for a replacement pony was not in this budget so we’re hoping people will help.”

To donate to Pimms please visit Vauxhall City farm’s website, http://www.vauxhallcityfarm.org/ and click on ‘Support the Farm’ and then, ‘Donations’.

Or to find out more about horse riding in London, visit http://www.hoof-in-town.com/

Olympic legacy rewards riding school

HOOF, the Olympic Legacy project of the British Equestrian Federation has invested £25,000 of capital funding on an arena roof for Mount Mascal Stables, a top London riding school.


Members of the London Horse Network were invited to apply for the last-minute funding from a £50,000 pot, secured for the City from Sport England in November 2010. Mount Mascal itself invested the remaining amount needed for the fruition of its proposal. As a result, the venue now boasts a light, airy and dry outdoor school with a difference - a £78,000 roof.

John Window, Director of Mount Mascal Stables explains, "The outdoor school surface was too deep in the summer and too wet in the winter. So, for much of the year, our riders were limited to sharing the indoor arena, while the outdoor space stood idle and empty."

From modest beginnings, 45 years ago, with two horses and one small paddock, John has devoted himself to growing Mount Mascal Stables into a thriving equestrian centre. The complex now combines a 50 equine strong riding school, full livery services, stabling and 70 acres of pasture. John says, "We were so thrilled to be awarded funding and very grateful to HOOF. This is first time we've ever received any financial help and it is absolutely marvellous. My daughter, Alison put in an enormous effort to present our bid and we are delighted to be already seeing the benefits of our new outdoor facility."

London Representative of the British Equestrian Federation explains, "Mount Mascal's bid showed how a relatively small investment could deliver a substantial increase in capacity and participation, to broaden the range of people riding, improve standards and help change the elitist view of equestrianism, which meant it fitted well into the funding criteria set by Sport England."

John explains, "Our philosophy at Mount Mascal is that riding should be accessible to everyone. Our new space means we can continue and further develop our community links to enable more people to learn and enjoy riding - especially those who may be disadvantaged or discouraged by their perception of the sport. They can now benefit from a safe and attractive outdoor riding environment, all year round. This is especially important in our ever increasingly urban society. And, with 2012 just around the corner now, we are looking forward to encouraging new fans of our sport, inspired by the Olympic equestrian events in Greenwich, to convert from spectating to participating."

Polocrosse joins ‘Jump UP!’ HOOF - Olympic Legacy coaching day

A polocrosse demonstration is to captivate the audience at the latest London Horse Network coaching day being supported by HOOF, the Olympic Legacy project of the British Equestrian Federation.


Polocrosse joins ‘Jump UP!’ at Reigate’s Littleton Manor Equestrian Centre on Monday 18th April with David Gadsby, London Representative of the BEF explaining, “The focus of the day is to inspire centres to maximize the facilities they have available to encourage new participants and enthuse existing riders.”

With Britain hosting the 2011 Polocrosse World Cup from 8-17th July in Warwickshire, CEO of the United Kingdom Polocrosse Association, Iain Heaton says, “Once they’ve witnessed the game from the sidelines, we are aware of players taking up the polocrosse without ever having shown an interest in horses before and so we hope our demonstration at ‘Jump UP!’ will show the potential of introducing polocrosse to more London centres to increase participation in equestrianism.”

The main focus of the day will be on the Olympic discipline of eventing with renowned BE accredited trainer and former Open European three-day-eventing champion, Lucy Thompson delivering coaching techniques to teach both show jumping and cross-country skills in the confines of an arena, making this Olympic sport relevant to city centres.

Volunteer chair of the London Horse Network, Jodie Maile concludes, “The day promises to be a great way of developing the sharing of resources and expertise within the Network and we’re very grateful to Littleton Manor, Lucy Thompson, and the UKPA for their generosity along with Sound Riding who is to provide the PA system for the day.”

BEF Legacy supports London Business

On 28th March 2011, the day David Cameron launched his Start Up Britain campaign to encourage entrepreneurs, the British Equestrian Federation’s London Olympic Legacy project, HOOF, was supporting a ‘Business Essentials Day’ for members of the London Horse Network.


Delivered by Mike Lynch of GBSport, the day, that was generously hosted by Maggie Cox at the fantastic facilities at Newham Riding School, gave delegates and insight into their responsibilities as seen through the eyes of the taxman.

Warning that ignorance is not bliss and that the costs for unintentional errors are immense – bankrupting a business or an individual, Mike impressed where responsibilities lie, what provisions should be in place and the importance of having a good accountant and tax inspection insurance.

Mike said, “Unfortunately sports are nicknamed ‘Del-Boy trades’ by tax inspectors and they are therefore an easy target to finding lost revenue.”

After an interactive test demonstrated how guidelines can be easily misinterpreted, leaving delegates having a slightly reduced appetite at lunch, Mike progressed to offering tools to build ones confidence and improve business practices.

One such element was to use the HMRC’s ‘Employment Status Indicator’, answering questions from the client’s point of view to give a good indication as to whether you, or your staff member truly is self-employed – with any queries then being directed to your accountant.

Repeating the test, delegates showed improved understanding though the competition winners included a former tax inspector turned riding instructor.

Sharon Edwards, a self-employed freelance instructor and employer of staff said, “The course was really useful and clarified that I wasn’t up to date on the guidelines but I now know how to handle staff if they request to become self-employed”, adding, “I’d have travelled a lot further to attend a course like this!”

Other delegates confirmed they would now be spending many days in the office getting things in order and with a free CD containing the course content to remind them of the various pitfalls and a specially produced sport-specific employment contract, they have some help in doing so.

Mike said, “A frequent problem we find in sport is that coaches are trained to coach but have very little business support and so it is great to see equestrianism embracing the challenge. We have information on the GBSport website and also recommend people look to resources like Business Link, the Sports Partnership network and to other sports web sites such as the excellent Rugby Union NGB and Sport Scotland Help for Clubs online resources.”

Jodie Maile, chair of the London Horse Network, concluded, “The London Horse Network is really determined to drive up standards and professionalism, not just within coaching but for the business element too and we are very grateful to HOOF to helping to fund this excellent day”, adding, “We also hope to have GBSport return for a marketing essentials day later in the year.”

If you are interested to find out more, visit http://www.hoof-in-town.com/ or contact Jodie Maile at Jodievm@aol.com

Banana skins to Best Practice – equestrian business benefits from BEF Olympic Legacy project

Elite riders may be the main focus for many in the build up to the London 2012 Olympic Games yet equestrianism at large is also able to benefit from the HOOF Ride London Olympic Legacy project of the BEF.


Responding to requests from members of the London Horse Network, the latest HOOF-supported day enabled delegates to attend a complimentary ‘Health and Safety and Employment Law’ interactive workshop on 28th February, with experts able to specifically utilize their experience of equestrianism.

Martine Dawlings, of Trent Park Equestrian Centre, the largest training and examinations centre in London said, “I was really impressed by the fact that HOOF had listened to what our needs were and had pitched the presentations at exactly the right level”, adding, “I was also impressed by the speakers who were not only of a high calibre, but also were hands-on, practical and approachable people”, concluding, “I learnt a lot and went back to the yard feeling much more confident and educated.”

The day began with Ray Hipkin, a Chartered Safety Practitioner delivering an unexpectedly fun and factual talk discussing the sense - and nonsense - of ‘Health and Safety’, to enable centres to prioritise their Health and Safety policies in order to avoid ‘banana skins’ and costly practices.

After a welcome lunch break at the Hilton Olympia hotel, delegates returned to hear from Lucy Katan, Chief Executive of the British Grooms’ Association - a recent addition to the British Equestrian Federation.

Lucy explained the role of the British Grooms Association, highlighting how it can help both grooms as a collective, and their employers.

Courtesy of a grant received from the Worshipful Company of Saddlers, the British Grooms Association, has produced an ‘Equine Employers Handbook’, in conjunction with Morrish LLP Solicitors and delegates were able to submit their own questions and hear answers to some of the frequently asked questions from Nicole Seaman, Assistant Solicitor from Warner Goodman LLP and a keen rider and former yard staff member herself.

The meeting then developed to an enlightening workshop that demonstrated the potential disparity of opinion between employers and their employees when discussing their specific role.

Linda Hinds, Equestrian Centre Manager at Vauxhall City Farm generously offered to be questioned regarding ‘best practice’, and indeed she was able to report from having done a similar study with her own staff, and her interview offered an example at to how she handles employing staff; from advertising vacancies to interviewing and selecting staff, to maintaining motivation with targets, assessments and opportunities and how to deal with a real life disciplinary procedure to avoid pitfalls.

Concluding the day with some final questions from the floor, Volunteer Chair of the London Horse Network, Jodie Maile wrapped up the meeting and invited delegates to take a complimentary copy of the Equine Employers Handbook home with them for reference purposes.

Jodie then reminded delegates to sign up for the ‘Business Essentials Workshop’ to be run by GB Sport at Newham Riding School on 28th March 2011, and again to be heavily subsidized by HOOF, by sending their cheque for £15.00 to David Gadsby at the BEF.

Did you know International Polo is coming to London this week!

Did you know International Polo is coming to London this week...?

Book your tickets via http://www.theo2polo.com/  and support equestrianism in the capital.  The Have A Go Polo and 'Cycle Polo' sounds somewhat unique... the only question is, what to wear for a glamorous event, surrounded by polo players, champagne and celebrities, shopping and sweaty horses.....!