Well, it wasn’t exactly the Summer we were promised, but not to worry, we at Moat Farm are making contingency plans against the horrible weather!
Even though the weather was against us most of the time, a record number of people enjoyed hacks out on the beach at Moat including a group of ladies celebrating a 60th birthday who travelled from Preston and two girls who came from Manchester! This must surely show the powers of the internet!
We will continue to offer hacks out as long as we have light and some (!!) dry weather. Our horses and ponies love to go on the beach. Why not come and have a ride out with us before winter sets in? We charge £25.00 per person per one hour hack (with a surcharge of £5.00 if there is only one rider). All rides are accompanied by Deana or Lauren, our two BHSAI’s.
We are aware that the nights will start to draw in quickly now and are busy arranging our Autumn and Winter Programme. From Monday 7th September 2009 we will be offering the BHS Horse Owner’s Level 1 and 2 courses. The Level 2 will start at 5.30pm until 7.00pm for six weeks and the Level 1 from 7.00pm until 8.30pm. Both courses cost £150 and this includes tuition, course notes, folder, exam and certificate fees. Our pass rate is 100% so far! The courses are invaluable for anyone either owning a horse or simply wanting to know more about caring for a horse. They are a mixture of practical work in the stable and theoretical work in the classroom so not too cold on dark winter nights. Please contact Caroline on 869663 or 588522 for more information.
From Tuesday 8th September at 7.00pm until 8.00pm we will be offering the popular Dressage Course once again. We have only one place left on this course. The cost is £75.00 for six weeks (effectively six lessons for the price of five and including the cost of the test at the end).
National Pony Club has been a great success this summer and we have eighteen members aged between 5 years and 13 years. The Club are working towards their handling and grooming badge. Now that the children are back to school, the sessions will be held on Fridays between 4.30pm and 6.00pm. The cost of each session is £12.00 and the sessions are supervised by Deana. Again plenty of practical work (involving our very patient shetland ponies) and classwork are involved.
From Thursday 17th September at 4.00pm until 5.00pm we will be offering a small group class for Pony Club members wishing to work towards their Bronze Award 3. This is particularly suitable for children on lead rein. The cost of each session will be £12.00. From 6.00pm until 7.00pm we will be working towards the Bronze Award 2. We can’t emphasise enough the huge advantage of a private riding lesson but we do feel that once our riders have reached a certain standard it is lovely for them to rider with others (no more than four in a group) of a similar standard. Friendships are formed in this way and often last for a lifetime.
So that our grown up Clients don’t feel left out, we will be introducing the Moat Farm Progression Tests with immediate effect. These will be graded from Level 1 to Level 5 and will be suitable for total beginners through to more experienced riders. The tests will be introduced into your riding lesson and won’t cost you a penny. A certificate will be awarded when you have passed each level. In the fullness of time, we hope to have a small group of riders (again no more than four) working towards their Level 4 or Level 5 test.
Lots of adults have asked us to re-introduce the Adult Jumping class but not on a Friday evening when the light starts to fade. From Saturday 24th October at 1.00pm for an hour we will be offering this class PROVIDED we have four people to fill it. The cost will be £15.00 on your own horse or pony. Please phone to book your place.
We’ve also done a lot of work with Action for Children/Furness Disabled this summer and loved every moment of it. Every child benefited and many had an instant rapport with the horses and ponies. We would love to offer this service again so if you know of any groups who you feel would benefit, please let us know.
The “Adopt a Shetland Pony” half days and the Shetland Pony Birthday Parties have also gone down very well with the adults becoming very competitive!! Tosca, Marjorie, Samantha and Basset take it all in their stride. They love being groomed and having hair ornaments put in (Tosca thinks it is an insult to his manhood but we don’t listen to him). Musical shetland ponies (has to be seen to be believed) is also a big hit.
We’ve been trading for almost twelve months now and think we have a fair idea of the market out there and the kind of work we want to do a Moat. Like every business we had to make decisions at the beginning based on guesswork and some have worked and some have not. One thing that we have realised was the wrong decision from the beginning was our pricing structure. We have always charged less for a lesson on your own horse or pony than one of ours. At the time our decision was based upon the fact that we had to spend time grooming/tacking up/stabling overnight etc if our horse/pony was used but as our Accountant (bless him!) points out, we are still paying our riding instructors the same salary whether they teach a pupil on our horse or their own. This makes sense to us.
As from the 1st October 2009, we will introduce one single pricing structure. A 30 minute lesson (whether on your horse/pony or ours) will be £18.00, 45 minutes £25.00 and 60 minutes £30.00. As all our existing Clients will know, Lauren and Deana are both very highly qualified and experienced instructors and we still believe our prices represent excellent value for your money.
We also hope to plan some clear round jumping competitions, dressage competitions and gymkhana’s during the winter months and probably on a Sunday. Do please let us have your suggestions and we will do our best to accommodate.
The ever popular “Jumps Up on a Sunday” will commence from the beginning of October each Sunday. As we have bookings some Sundays for parties etc, please do phone in advance to book your place.
We receive literally dozens and dozens of phone calls each day. Even if I sat at the desk at Moat day in day out, it would be impossible to deal with them all. To this end we have installed an answeringmachine at the stables (869663) and we have callminder on the home number (588522). PLEASE, PLEASE leave a message on either. We check regularly and always aim to phone back within 24 hours. Unfortunately we have had people call us stating that they have been “trying to get hold of you for days”! If you don’t leave a message, then we don’t know you have called. The very nature of our work means that we are often out and about in the school, the paddocks etc for most of the day.
Don’t give up and think that winter has arrived already – at Moat you can conintue to enjoy your horse right through the winter. Give us a call to book some lessons, classes or simply to hire the school. We want you to enjoy this unique facility.
Caroline and John
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