Aberdeen Riding Club Public Page

25/08/2026

A reminder we are starting some care training sessions towards BHS Stage 4 with Sally this coming Friday - the sessions are almost full with 1 space on a couple of them - great to see lots of people keen for further learning at this level! Dates and content of session below - the sessions are £30 per person for 2 hours so if you’d like to join us, drop us an email to see if there is still space on the sessions you’d like to attend.

Friday 28th August (11.00a.m - 1.00p.m)
Assessing static and dynamic conformation - we will look at a range of ages of horses of varying fitness to discuss their static conformation, how it may affect their dynamic conformation. This session will include discussing different muscle groups and lower leg anatomy and foot balance.

Friday 4th September (11.00a.m - 1.00p.m)
Selecting, fitting and evaluating tack - we will look at a huge range of tack, training equipment and bits. This session will include fitting of double bridles and leg protection for different activity, assessment of saddle type for activity and discussing different bits and their effect on the horse.

Friday 18th September (11.00a.m - 1.00p.m)
Health conditions, fitness and nutrition - we will discuss various health conditions on the horse with practical examples within our horse team. We will then discuss fitness and nutrition with the horse in front of us to discuss real working examples.

24/08/2026

How many of us remember that incredible feeling when we first met a horse and stroked their nose? One meeting with one nose is all it takes to be hooked 😀 Thomas has a particularly fabulous nose and he’d like to make a last plea to anyone who hasn’t yet to “like” or share the reel that’s pinned to the top of this page……. Our Leadership gang would very much appreciate it after they put so much work into designing and filming it - it’s pretty impressive for a group of 12-14year olds!

21/08/2026

Thomas has very much enjoyed the school holidays and was sad to realise on Monday that all the smaller people who’d been spending their days at the yard all summer were back to school. He comes in each morning to have his hay and work so he had gotten very used to lots of small admirers patting him, giving him carrots and generally adoring him. He also enjoyed taking part in the reel - if you’ve not liked the reel (post below this one) please do as our young Leadership participants worked really hard designing and making it!
Thomas is getting on great with his hacking, is up to trotting now in the arena and on the lunge and today he started with some poles. The boss lady is lazy and sets up poles which she will work each horse today with, so they are primarily set for Madge to trot over (she’s 15.2 with a far smaller stride than Thomas) but as Thomas is just walking over them to get him moving his body, the boss lady isn’t fussy about the distances as it’s good for Thomas to look at them and work out where to put his feet.
There is quite a difference in his body shape now - he’s getting more obvious muscle tone over his top line and his bum has filled out 💪💪💪 he’s far better at moving forward as he gets stronger and he’s now good and stable picking out his feet whereas before he was a bit wobbly in his balance and strength on 3 legs - so he’s definitely the star pupil at the moment 🧑‍🎓 well done Thomas!

17/08/2026

When British Horse Society asked their Approved Centres to create a reel for we asked our BHS Leadership course participants to plan and design one during their week with us in the holidays. For them, making friends, spending time with amazing horses and ponies and being outdoors were all reasons they want to spend time and make memories at our centre. Well done the Leadership gang for designing and starring in it!!!

08/08/2026

As we have a staff member preparing for their BHS Stage 4 care assessment, we are going to be running some care training sessions which we are happy to open to anyone interested in or training for their BHS Stage 4 care - these sessions can also be really beneficial to anyone aiming for BHS Stage 3 or horse owners who are looking to build their knowledge around the following topics. The sessions will be delivered by Sally and we have a huge range of both equipment and horses for attendees to learn from and practice fitting and using.
Sessions are £30 each and can be booked by emailing Ali at [email protected]

Friday 28th August (11.00a.m - 1.00p.m)
Assessing static and dynamic conformation - we will look at a range of ages of horses of varying fitness to discuss their static conformation, how it may affect their dynamic conformation. This session will include discussing different muscle groups and lower leg anatomy and foot balance.

Friday 4th September (11.00a.m - 1.00p.m)
Selecting, fitting and evaluating tack - we will look at a huge range of tack, training equipment and bits. This session will include fitting of double bridles and leg protection for different activity, assessment of saddle type for activity and discussing different bits and their effect on the horse.

Friday 18th September (11.00a.m - 1.00p.m)
Health conditions, fitness and nutrition - we will discuss various health conditions on the horse with practical examples within our horse team. We will then discuss fitness and nutrition with the horse in front of us to discuss real working examples.

06/08/2026

After several weeks hacking in walk, Thomas started coming into the arena for two sessions a week last week. So what are we doing in the arena with Thomas at this stage?
Walking………. Thomas is big, gangly and still physically immature at 6 - plus he hadn’t done much in arenas before we got him so his brain whilst very trainable has a very limited concentration period! He’s got plenty of time ahead of him to learn how to carry his body and balance in trot and canter.
The first thing we’ve been helping him learn is to maintain his walk. Without the riders legs working - now at this point we’ll caveat again that every horse and every trainer is different, but for us and Thomas, we want him to maintain his speed happily without constant leg. Our theory is that leg pressure asks a question and needs to be removed almost immediately - then Thomas knows he’s done the right thing as the leg pressure has stopped as he responds. Thomas is also a very laid back kind of guy, so we want him to be listening for a light aid rather than him being confused by the white noise of many aids - Thomas is hopefully going to help lots of riders to learn in the future and we’re really fussy that riders need to use light leg aids sparingly rather than learning to “nag” with their legs which is a)not great for the horse and b)not great for them learning to have a good secure leg position.

So it’s pretty simple (we hope) for Thomas - light leg aid and off he goes and he needs to keep going - in the same speed and rhythm. If he slows down he gets a voice aid or a light flick behind the leg. By his second session he had this nailed and he’s got a lovely walk now he’s got his confidence on the surface and understands to maintain it.
We don’t take any contact on the reins at this point - the further out he wants to put his head and neck the better, but the other thing we have introduced in the last fortnight is lunging him in walk around the full size of the arena with a roller and loose side reins on. We know - opinions are always divided on side reins, but we like them at this stage for a horse like Thomas. We want him to get used to a light, elastic contact and once his walk is forward and big enough we put them on to help him learn that going forward into a contact is a good way for him to find his balance in the arena.
On average he does 10 mins walking in the arena (either ridden or on lunge line) twice a week and the rest is walk hacking.
Here he is today enjoying his walk session and listening to his pal (Mr T) shouting on him and this weeks “Pony Stars” kids excitedly heading up to groom their ponies - our arena is busy and pretty noisy but it’s great for the horses to get used to seeing and hearing lots of different things and learning to be nice and relaxed whatever’s going on around them.
Gold star for Thomas this week ⭐

31/07/2026

Thomas had another scheduled appointment with an equine professional yesterday when he met Alice Hughes Veterinary Equine Dental Care - he was delighted to show Alice the reversing skills he has learnt as Alice (like the farrier) uses the wash bay area and Thomas is the first horse we’ve ever met who is too long to turn round in the bay, so he has perfected reversing in 😀 We are very lucky to have Alice in the area - Alice is a vet who is an advanced practitioner in equine dentistry - BVMS PgCert BAEDT MRCVS RCVS recognised advanced practitioner in equine dentistry 💪
We have always used vets to do our horses dentals as we like them to be sedated - it keeps them and the vet safe, makes it a relaxing experience for the horse and it ensures that the vet can get a really good look at all their teeth.
As with every other visit or treatment Thomas has had we will include approximate costs:
For a routine dental from a vet of Alice’s experience and qualifications, we’d expect to pay £80 -£140, depending on amount of sedation required, how far the vet had to travel and if we had a few horses to be done. That’s for a routine dental and we’d obviously expect to pay more as soon as more work/investigation/treatment was required.
We’re going to sound a bit repetitive here from previous posts, but again it’s very good value - for that cost, we get Alice and her years of training and experience, with her seriously clever fancy bits of kit, at our yard which Alice drives to in her van which holds her equipment and a professional who advises us so well on how often each individual horse needs their dentals and can treat a huge range of complicated, challenging dental issues if needed. Regular dentals also mean it is picked up on very early if a horse starts to have issues and our team of horses have thrown some very interesting challenges at Alice over the years!
Alice was pleased to report that Thomas has great teeth with no disease or problems and all his adult teeth are through apart from 2 upper canines which have still to erupt.
He had some sharp enamel points and some overgrowths that needed rasping down which is normal for a younger horse at a routine dental. Because he is young (and their teeth erupt more quickly when young) Thomas has been scheduled to have his next routine appointment at 6 months. Our equine team range from 3 months - 12 months for their dentals and are all scheduled in as per Alice’s advice.
Thomas had good regular dentals in his previous home as he was a happy well looked after chap - its so much nicer when we have a horse join us that has had good regular dentals - sadly they don’t all arrive with good dental history like Thomas and horses are such gentle, stoic animals that they mask dental pain really well so regular dentals really are a must.
Well done Thomas and a big thank you to Alice - some pics of Thomas and the inside of his mouth and a wee bonus one of Hercules just because he’s so super cute and he was having his next routine dental with Alice as scheduled.

30/07/2026

We are running a coach training day with the simulator on Friday 23rd October - it'll be a great day for any coach as even if you don't use a simulator regularly it's a great opportunity to focus on rider position and seat and exercises we can use to help the rider and horse. Booking details are on the poster and the event provides 3 CPD points for BHS coaches if they fill in the feedback form after the event. Hope to see lots of you there!

27/07/2026

We are going to be running a BHS Coaching4All course starting in late August - Coaching4All is a brilliant qualification for coaches as it helps coaches (both freelance and from centres) to think about how they can make their coach sessions really inclusive.
The course is aimed at any level of coach from BHS Stage 2 coach upwards (there is direct entry available if suitable for those with other types of coaching qualification) and it consists of 2x online training sessions and 2x practical days of training at ARC. The course fee includes the assessment (done online with discussion and submission of videos of coaching sessions with the coaches chosen case studies) and additional risk awareness and mental health learning modules.
For the ARC course, Sally delivers the online theory sessions and Sally and Martin deliver the practical coaching days - on the practical days we invite a huge variety of participants to come along for the coaches in training to work with - these may be riders with additional support needs, those from under represented groups or participants who are working through BHS Changing Lives through Horses. The course gives coaches great confidence in how they can adapt their sessions as needed to ensure participants get the most out of them and also ensures the coach is comfortable with discussions to have with participants to ensure we know how they learn best and can most enjoy their sessions.
For any coaches interested in attending the course, bookings and enquiries are through the BHS via the link below.

Give your clients the best experience possible by advancing your skills, knowledge and coaching practice.

25/07/2026

We are going to be starting a new course of BHS Leadership awards which will run from 4pm - 5pm on Saturdays, starting on Saturday 22nd August. The Leadership award courses we have run to date have been really popular so it’s time to start another intake at Bronze level.
The leadership awards are like a Youth Club, aimed at 12-18 year olds - they start at Bronze level and work through achievement levels in each one before getting their certificate. The sessions focus on team work, communication skills, initiative and innovation - with “challenges” throughout the course for each topic - examples being running a small fundraiser for charity of their choice and setting a SMART goal and working towards it.
The sessions run weekly (you just book in for ones you want to attend) and cost £20 per session.
Participants don’t need to be horsey at all (but equally they can be!) as the sessions are designed to work on soft skills and whilst we use the horses and ponies sometimes, it’s just to work on team work or confidence and there isn’t any riding.
The session is delivered by one of our Senior coaches and those who have taken part in previous courses have loved it, made lots of new friends and also got their certificates and volunteering experience which is great for uni or college applications or if they are applying for a first/part time job.
Link below to the course detail but if you’d like to find out more or book someone in to come along and see if they enjoy it, then just drop us an email.

This is the first step towards boosting your confidence, gaining valuable life experience and empowering you to make decisions. Discover your inner leader while having adventures and building skills for your future by taking part in the four leadership topics.