Experience in Thorton Park/Kilronan

GreenSkies

Hi, I'm 13 and I have been doing horse-riding for a year now yet still a beginner because of the riding-school I attend, not naming any centres

I'm just wondering, if anybody has had lessons there or kept horses there, are the staff friendly, are the centres big, ect.

I'm on holidays so cant check them out in person myself until I come back..
So would be nice to know whats ahead of me in those centres from word of mouth..

Thank you for all your help(:

~Carrie

mariannewims

Hi Carrie,

I recently started having adult lessons at Thornton Park and couldn't recommend them enough!
It's a fairly big yard, good facilities (indoor, outdoor arenas etc) but still very friendly. Lovely, well cared for and well schooled horses and ponies.
Let me know if you want any more specific info but I would recommend booking a lesson and seeing how you get on. You'll know soon enough if it suits you or not.

Good luck!
Marianne.

Borderfox

I have my Horse in Thornton Park and its an excellent facility, good selection of school horses and great instructors

paddi22

I found thornton fantastic as regards lessons, excellent instructors and really lovely.

As regards livery there I wouldn't be a major fan - expensive, no turnout included, stables too small, cheap feed, no access to fields for riding, cross country course isn't open for use most of the time, hacking not great, indoor too deep and sand arenas not harrowed often. But the people are lovely and instruction is great on the plus side.

FueledByAisling

I've never been there but from the looks of it they seem really good! Wish I lived on that side of the city

And when you say beginner do you mean you're still in beginner level class or you've been told to be a beginner rider? Because a beginnner/novice rider doesn't mean you're new, you can be a good rider but Advanced/Experienced describes more people who can handle green horses or who've broken horses etc

GreenSkies

I mean by my level of horse-riding for e.g. trot, handling the horse ect.
I think I've cantered before and I have definatly galloped but the galloping was a bit scary and I only did it once because I wasn't prepared because of lack of instruction from the instructors which is why I'm probably going to start ' Improver ' lessons in Thorton Park once my new equestrian clothes get here :P

Thanks for all the comments(:

~Carrie

bob1984

I think you are sorted in Thornton Park now but if you have any questions on Kilronan feel free to PM me;

I've been a client there for about 15 years now and my horse is on livery there

FueledByAisling

There's nothing more exciting than getting new gear! Just got myself a pair of dressage breeches for a tenner that are worth 100 on ebay

BaileyPants

mariannewims wrote: »

Hi Carrie,

I recently started having adult lessons at Thornton Park and couldn't recommend them enough!
It's a fairly big yard, good facilities (indoor, outdoor arenas etc) but still very friendly. Lovely, well cared for and well schooled horses and ponies.
Let me know if you want any more specific info but I would recommend booking a lesson and seeing how you get on. You'll know soon enough if it suits you or not.

Good luck!
Marianne.

I have also started recently taking adult lessons up there. From someone who used to be of a great standard growing up, to now being a bit rusty having taken a break the past few years. But definitely so far so good up there

stargirl!

hi,
i can see that everyone here is giving them great reviews for adult lessons, but having done both adult and child lessons there myself over the years, yes they are ok for adults, as the adults know exactly what pace they wish to progess, but for a childs lesson i found that they were far too slow moving.
this is fine for a nervous child who wants to progress slowly but for a more confident child they spend far too much time "trot to the back of the ride" and gets boring.
as you say you have been riding for a year and still feel like a beginner, this is how i think this place is.
i am of course not telling you to not go there, im just saying that from personal experience that it wasnt for me and it is up to you to make up your own mind, and there are other places around that someone confident could really inprove.

Just did a search on boards regarding Thornton Park because me and the OH intend to take up lessons there soon as possible. He is a total novice and I'm a decent enough rider. Good to hear good reviews about the place. Customer service though, the two places are MILES apart. When I emailed both Kilronan and Thornton Park, well, Kilronan emailed me back about two weeks later with copy and pasted details from their site - Thornton Park rang me about four hours after my email to tell me what they had available to suit our needs. When I told them I was just scouting around and had time to kill, she said "Well, why did you bother to email then?" I told her the truth.... I didn't expect a reply!

Looking forwards to taking up our lessons at Thornton Park now

No, I'm not affiliated with them. Any web sluth will be able to turn up that I do have the same surname, but there is no connection.

BaileyPants

budgese wrote: »

Just did a search on boards regarding Thornton Park because me and the OH intend to take up lessons there soon as possible. He is a total novice and I'm a decent enough rider. Good to hear good reviews about the place. Customer service though, the two places are MILES apart. When I emailed both Kilronan and Thornton Park, well, Kilronan emailed me back about two weeks later with copy and pasted details from their site - Thornton Park rang me about four hours after my email to tell me what they had available to suit our needs. When I told them I was just scouting around and had time to kill, she said "Well, why did you bother to email then?" I told her the truth.... I didn't expect a reply!

Looking forwards to taking up our lessons at Thornton Park now

No, I'm not affiliated with them. Any web sluth will be able to turn up that I do have the same surname, but there is no connection.

I have to say, my scenario is exactly the same as yours, if my OH was going to ride ha ha! I'm going to TP since Sept & I have to say, the instructors know their stuff! As they teach BHS, they're just great at teaching, they just seem to be sharing their knowledge all the time. I just love that, coz I used to know it all, then headed off to college & it went by the wayside. Well I'm more than back on track now & learning all the time & loving it :-)

bob1984

Deleted User wrote: »

. Good to hear good reviews about the place. Customer service though, the two places are MILES apart. When I emailed both Kilronan and Thornton Park, well, Kilronan emailed me back about two weeks later with copy and pasted details from their site - Thornton Park rang me about four hours after my email to tell me what they had available to suit our needs. When I told them I was just scouting around and had time to kill, she said "Well, why did you bother to email then?" I told her the truth.... I didn't expect a reply!

Its very disappointing to hear this so I raised with the Manager of Kilronan last night, she was also quite surprised to hear it however they are looking into how your email reply took so long; Thankfully they have not heard any other such complaints;

I hope your lessons go well

convert

bob1984 wrote: »

Thankfully they have not heard any other such complaints

Probably because when people don't hear back from them, or it takes them so long to reply, potential customers have gone elsewhere in the meantime!

bob1984

convert wrote: »

Probably because when people don't hear back from them, or it takes them so long to reply, potential customers have gone elsewhere in the meantime!

I would hope that this is not the case as the email system seems to be working quite well according to the manager and thankfully they seem to have a high number of statisfied customers. But as I say all feedback is good so they will be more aware of it in future anyway;

convert

bob1984 wrote: »

I would hope that this is not the case as the email system seems to be working quite well according to the manager and thankfully they seem to have a high number of statisfied customers. But as I say all feedback is good so they will be more aware of it in future anyway;

Of course they're going to say that - they're a business :rolleyes: And an email system can be working perfectly, but unfortunately it's only every going to be as good as the person who's working it!

But regardless of whether or not they're a great place, feedback is always valuable to a business, whether good or bad, as it gives them the opportunity to improve on something which may be poor, or shows them that their hard work in a certain area has paid off, and they can then move on to the next area they want to work on.

bob1984

convert wrote: »

Of course they're going to say that - they're a business :rolleyes: And an email system can be working perfectly, but unfortunately it's only every going to be as good as the person who's working it!

But regardless of whether or not they're a great place, feedback is always valuable to a business, whether good or bad, as it gives them the opportunity to improve on something which may be poor, or shows them that their hard work in a certain area has paid off, and they can then move on to the next area they want to work on.

Well the "system" I was referring to was who was answering them and how often they are checked.

And I totally agree with your second point - I worked in QA - so improvement & quality of service - whatever that may be are of up-most importance

I'm sorry if I upset anyone on my comments about Kilronan, it's possible that my email to them just went unnoticed!

Been riding at Thornton Park five weeks now, really like the place. At the moment myself and the fella are having private lessons together as he was a complete beginner. I like that they are not just sticking us up on the horses for the 45 minutes, they're also getting us to lead the horses in and out, today I put the pony I ride away and the instructor took the fella and his horse and showed him how to wind the reins in the throat lash and loosen the girth. Learning all aspects of horse handling, care and riding is important to me in a riding school!

It's amazing how many bad habits you realise you picked up from riding one horse for ten years, when you get up on a different one! Also adjusting to a different pace and different habits of a horse! Starting to get fit again, which is great.

I'd definitely recommend Thornton Park.