Our Equestrian School is ideal for those who are interested in riding. Queen Ethelburga’s is the school where academic opportunities go hand in glove with supreme riding facilities and the highest quality of riding instruction for everyone, from the keen ‘hobby’ rider to those who seek professional qualifications or top competitive riding skills.

Students may bring their horse to the Equestrian School on a paid-for livery basis. However each year we offer some opportunities for riders to make savings. Early application is vital. Please ask the Registrar for full details.

Pupils can make the fullest use of these riding opportunities and boarders may bring their own horse to school, in the full confidence that our stabling and livery are amongst the best in Europe. If you don’t own a horse you can, of course, use the horses provided.

We have invested over £3 million in our purpose-designed Royal Court Equestrian Centre. The modern stables open onto a large covered yard which, in turn, gives direct access to a half-mile, all-weather exercise track, our marvellous new indoor arena and floodlit all-weather outdoor arenas.

These superb riding surfaces provide a total of over twenty national standard 20m x 40m arenas which can be converted into international standard 60m x 40m arenas, with stabling for over 90 horses - surely the finest riding facilities of any independent school in Europe. We have full farrier’s and veterinary areas on the premises, complete with a mare and foal stable. There is comprehensive fire-protection and closed-circuit TV security to ensure the highest level of protection for the horses.

Not everyone wants to be an equestrian star, and we welcome students who simply want to have fun riding, looking after their horse and enjoying the companionship of like-minded students. Our riding instruction team is led by a very experienced BHSI instructor and all other instructors hold the appropriate BHS qualifications. Learning about horses, and how to look after them, is just as important as learning to ride. We have several classrooms in our Equestrian Centre to make sure that every aspect of teaching is well catered for. Our usual 100% pass rate in the BHS exams demonstrates the success our pupils achieve.

Karen Dixon MBE, a member of the Great Britain Olympic Three Day Event Team holds the post of Senior Trainer here at Queen Ethelburga's College.

You are able to study Part I, II and if you are good enough go on to Part III of the BHS Horse Society Assistant Instructor's Certificate. At the same time, if you wish and you can fit it in, you are able to study for the Equestrian Horse Care NVQ Level I, then go onto Level II and, if you are good enough go onto the Horse Care and Management - Level III.