Press

Friday 19th September 2008 we accompanied HRH Princess Alexandra along the new horse riding track in Richmond Park. Fern and Bella were the privileged horses and Anita and Katerina were the privileged riders.
It was a beautiful day; Princess Alexandra rode on the Shire horse’s dray accompanied by Simon Richards and Phil Swallow. Princess Alexandra then cut the ribbon and officially opened the ride. She talked to everyone afterwards including Katerina, Anita and Bella and Fern.

Riding on the Dray

T4 came and used horses Fern and Picasso for an interview with Prince Caspian star Ben Barnes.

We were invited by the Horse and Hound magazine to teach a local journalist how to ride. Starting as a total beginner and teaching him to a point where he could confidently ride around Richmond Park.

“And forward into canter,” says my instructor, Nicky from her horse along side me. I squeezed with my right foot, and to my amazement, I am suddenly achieving what over the past month has become a small but near obsessive goal: a canter through Richmond Park.

It is a crisp early autumn morning, the sun is shining and apart from a stag and a family of deer just metres away in the grass there’s not a soul to be seen.

I can’t help wondering why I hadn’t done this years ago.

“With each lesson lasting just half an hour, I found I could progress without the predicted stiffness.”

“As the lessons progressed and I moved off the lunge, my confidence grew.”

Starting off on the lunge.
The best way to gain confidence, learn balance and control.

Hacking

Once the rider is confident in the walk, trot and canter riding in Richmond Park is a must.

Kingston riding centre have had great pleasure in participating in the preparation of Only Fools on Horses for Sport Relief.

We were absolutely delighted with the results of Jenni Falconer winning the competition and Nikki Chapman being 2nd. Both celebrities had begun their training for this show jumping event at Kingston Riding Centre.

Other celebrities who trained with us were Ruby Wax and Suzi Perry who also did tremendously well, especially Suzi who literally had never ridden a horse before coming to Kingston Riding Centre.

The celebrities were trained by the manager Nicky Dyszkiewicz, who was given the rather daunting task of teaching the riders to the level of being able to jump a course of fences within eight weeks before going on to Tim Stockdale, an international Show Jumper, for intensive Show Jumping training.

We were all on the edge of our seats watching the nightly competition which ran over nine nights and we would once again send our congratulations to Jenni Falconer for doing herself and us proud by being the winner. 

We were told the deputy Mayor would only be able to stay for ½ hour, but she ended up staying for 2 hours!! She was very interested to watch the demonstration lessons that we put on for her benefit.

A great time was had by all involved.

Well done Jigsaw

To help HRH Queen Elizabeth celebrate her Golden Jubilee, Kingston Riding Centre took part in a musical ride for her majesty in Bushy Park. Knowing her love of coloured horses we put together a quadrille consisting of Salvatore, Blue Moon, Dudley Bay and Jigsaw who all compete within dressage and show jumping.

We have had a number of years experience in liaising with production companies when it comes to filming, anything from a split second in a TV advert to training and advising actorswho need to learn to ride for a film or TV role. 

We can provide horses (and trainers) with excellent temperaments and suitability for all levels of rider. We have a large stable yard area which can make an excellent backdrop, as well as being just outside of Richmond Park which is the perfect setting for any type of filming.