Horse riders back in the saddle after 15 weeks of lockdown

Riders returned to Midgeland Riding School, on Midgeland Road, Marton, last week under the Government’s new social distancing rules.

One-to-one classes are now taking place, as well as mixed classes with a maximum of five riders per group.

Riding school owner Wendy Ellis said: “While we have been closed, it coincidentally coincided with a refurbishment of the inner arena. It gave us the time for that to be done. It progressed slowly, but it’s now a much, much nicer environment than it was before.

“It’s lighter, it’s brighter, it’s cleaner, and most importantly we have a new surface down which is much better for the horses.

“Our old arena was quite dark and dusty, which wasn’t good for anybody.

“We have come back to not just riding, but a greatly enhanced facility, so most people are thrilled.”

Lockdown rules mean that meetings at the riding school can be made up of no more than six people, with proper social distancing in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

This means that the school is not yet able to extent its services to inexperienced or disabled riders.

Wendy said: “Like most businesses, it’s a reduced service that we’re offering for the time being. We can’t on very beginner riders because we would have to be too close. We’re only taking riders that are competent enough to trot on their own.

“The horses and ponies have had a lovely, long holiday. They have been off for more than 14 weeks. It’s nice to get back to a steady reality and introduce the horses back into it steadily, much like ourselves.”