Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

A canter over to Cockfosters - Trent Park Equestrian Centre

I took Isabelle over to Oakwood this morning to the Trent Park Equestrian Centre for her Easter holiday horse-riding treat. We discovered this last half-term and although bone-achingly cold, she loved her lesson in the rudiments of horsemanship and I think, proud parent that I am, she shows considerable promise.

Seeing a tiny child approach a Thelwellian pony that still towers over them with confidence is a sight to behold and the set up at Trent Park seems very good.

I wasn't really a horsey type as a child, one miserable experience with a sullen goth called Franka rather put me off the whole riding thing and I've grown a little bit afraid of our equine friends ever since. After about my third lesson she took us off into some woods and decided that we ought to learn to ride bareback. Having stripped my miserable steed of its saddle she heaved me up onto its back and then walloped its rump, sending said beast careering off into the undergrowth. I was hanging onto my pony's mane for dear life whilst she screamed out "you look like a sack of potatoes, sit up straight" No fear, not on your life. Olympic dreams shattered.

No such cavalier techniques at Trent Park though, Isabelle is tutored gently, if rather firmly.

Fortified by a breakfast of brioche and gummy bears (Olympians take note) we take the piccadilly line from Finsbury Park up to Oakwood and in less than 20 minutes, arrive in the Hertfordshire countryside.

Isabelle's pony for the lesson is Billy and she takes his rein and sets off with her guide to the indoor training centre. There are about seven other children ranging in height and skill taking the lesson and they trot round in circles as Louise the Instructor bellows out commands from the centre. She grows a deepening shade of puce with each exhortation but the children seem to take it all in their stride.

For a little girl who resolutely refuses to dress herself and still enjoys her evening milk in a baby bottle, her grip of the complex instructions being issued to her is astonishing. "Take the reins in your left hand, trot up to the X, ride in an S formation and hand the reins back to your right". I'd be flustered and panicking at this point, trying to marry that with the complicated procedure of rise and trot but my little horsewoman just gets on with it, giant riding hat occasionally slipping over her eyes. To be honest I didn't think she knew her left from her right or the difference between an S or an X shape but I seem to have been underestimating her talents.

An hours lesson comes to £25, certainly not a cheap hobby or one that we can indulge in more than once every couple of months but I'm told by another mother watching from the stands that once they reach a level of reasonable proficiency, there are quite a few bargains to be had on the riding front. There are plenty of horse owners in the Oakwood area who let children ride their ponies for a much cheaper rate once they know what they're doing.

I'd certainly recommend the centre for beginners though.

Tags for Forum Posts: alexandra park, horse-riding, parks, riding, trent park

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on April 23, 2011 at 9:00

As I've been asked some direct questions, can I try to clarify.

For one year in 2008/2009 I was a member of the Board of the Alexandra Palace and Park Charitable Trust. I was at the meeting you mention, Lydia. As I remember, you came to the meeting as a “Deputation” – a process where groups of people can ask to come and speak.

I recall you talking about your idea for a riding school. But, Lydia I don't think you gave us any written information. Apologies if I’ve got that wrong.

But I don’t recall any discourtesy by Cllr Pat Egan, the chair; nor any Board members. Yes, there are strict rules about how long any deputation can speak and then answer any questions. Frankly, there have to be; otherwise some meetings would never end.

In my hearing, none of the Board mentioned a “distaste” for riding schools or Equestrian Centres, as John McMullan suggests. Though, Lydia, you corrected John and said it wasn’t distaste, but “total and all-encompassing blank incomprehension”.

Well, I don’t claim any expertise about riding schools and equestrian centres. But I think I grasped what you were suggesting. It’s what you've posted here. With an implication – if I’ve read it right – that your proposal was simple and uncontentious.

“All I wanted the Council to do was to announce that an isolated and underused sports field will be given over for a fixed term lease to anyone who is interested in starting a riding school.”

I’m no longer on the Ally Pally Board. Labour’s nominee for the new chair of the Board is Cllr Matt Cooke and you can get in touch with him. So I intend no discourtesy when I decline your invitation to walk round Alexandra Park so see which bits might be leased-off.

You say we were “coy” about your idea; and compare it to the negotiations with Firoka. One lesson we should all have learned from the Firoka affair - but probably haven't - is that people in a position of trust should be a lot more cautious and careful. As Heather Brooke writes: "Other people's money is remarkable easy to spend".

A few words about John McMullan’s comments on the motivations of Alexandra Palace Trustees. I have no special access to their thoughts, John. But if you want to know what people are thinking and their reasons for doing something, why not just ask them? Instead of speculating about some obscure motivation you disapprove of, and posting it on a website as fact?

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Permalink Reply by Lydia R on April 27, 2011 at 20:22

Letter to Matt Cooke

Dear Cllr Cooke,

You may be aware that there has been a discussion in Harringay Online about the possibility of making room for a equestrian establishment of some sort in Alexandra Palace Park. I understand from Alan Stanton that you are a nominee for Chairman of the AP Trust. I wonder if you would be prepared to bring along other members of the Trust to the Park in order to tour the site with me and a few others keen on the same idea, in order to discuss the proposal.

I shall copy this letter to the HoL website, since my original suggestion has generated much enthusiasm and a number of people in the newsgroup would be interested in knowing how this idea might progress.

Yours sincerely,

Lydia Rivlin