About Us
Courses for Horses
Courses for Horses was set up by Mary in February 1994 when she was already a fully-fledged and experienced BHSAI. To start with, she taught adults only, mainly on their own horses, since otherwise there were only three family horses and one working livery available. For stable management courses clients had to sit on straw bales in the tack room as there was no lecture room! There was only a 18 x 38m. arena, which had started life as a football pitch.
In 1996, Courses for Horses became a BHS Approved Riding School and in 2000 an BHS Approved Training Centre up to the BHSAI Certificate, the only Centre of this level in the area.
A 20m x 40m arena built in 1998 became an indoor arena in 2004. This coincided with the start of lessons for children. Another change has been the demand for lessons from adult beginners.
The intimate scale of the farm and the private or small group training mean that clients feel welcome and quickly at home.
Our twelve high-grade Monarch stables are now in use, as is our spacious Lecture Room and our new warm viewing gallery. A 30m x 40m outdoor arena with permanent show jumps is already on the drawing board for later in the year.
Lower Stonehouse Farm
The farm lies on a southward-facing slope of the valley where the River Trent rises with a never-failing spring which provides water. The hill rising behind the farm has provided stone for the house and farm buildings, as well as for dry stone walls. Below the house, the stone walls are replaced by hedges. If you believe hedges have one species for every century, some of the hedges are several hundred years old!
Trees line the banks of the streams that flow down through the farm to the bottom of the valley. These streams and woodland form a small nature reserve containing a wide variety of wildlife.
The sheltered aspect, supply of building materials and abundant water has led to the site being inhabited for at least seven hundred years, possibly longer. Originally it comprised some hundred acres but over the years fields have been sold and Lower Stonehouse Farm now only owns 39 acres.
The attractive stone range of farm buildings on one side of the yard was probably built in the 18th Century. Much of the original woodwork in lofts and roof is still in place. For much of its history, the farm was a dairy farm.
The medieval stone house probably consisted of a cellar (used for storage), ground floor and loft. A few vestiges remain. The house was rebuilt and extended in the early 17th Century. This part has half-timbered internal walls (these were plastered over in the middle of the 20th Century to make them look modern - how fashions change!). It was extended in the 18th Century and again in the 20th Century. Both the house and the farm buildings are Grade 2* listed.
Our upgrade, so the facilities are suitable for the 21st Century but still in keeping with the character of the site, is taking this small moorland farm with its long history into a new phase.