New Hosts Wanted

in Dorset, Exmoor, the Ridgeway Downs, North York Moors, Brechfa Forest and West Worcestershire

We have a small turnover of existing Bridle Rides hosts each year. Lots of people contact us to offer their services and we can't always help because they're either outside our network areas or aren't in exactly the right location to fit with our rides.

We need replacements for existing hosts who have moved, retired or given up in the following very specific locations :-

  • In south Dorset, between Litton Cheney, Portesham and Winterborne Steepleton.
  • In the North Cotswolds, near Broadway or Snowshill.
  • In Wiltshire, a few miles north or west of Avebury Stone Circle.
  • Near the Oxfordshire/Berkshire border between Blewbury and Compton.
  • At Newton-upon Rawcliffe in the North York Moors for the start of 2008.

We also need one or two new hosts in the following new networks which are in development at the moment:-

  • Near Rhydcymerau or on Llanllwni Mountain in Brechfa Forest.
  • Near Tenbury Wells in West Worcestershire.
You don't need to run a regular B&B to host Bridle Riders - although many of our current hosts do. The others are a mixture of livery yards, farming families and horsy people who like hosting other riders on an occasional basis.

The photo on the left is a good example of what is needed - ie. a field with good quality, stock-proof fencing and sufficient space in which to park a lorry or car and trailer for a few days.

If you want to know more, here's a list of the attributes we're looking for in a Bridle Rides host:-
  • Ability to accommodate at least 4 human guests and provide grazing for their horses in a securely fenced, stockproof field. We promise our customers that their horses will never share a field with other, local horses - so you'll need to provide a separate field for them.
  • Enough space in which our customers can park their vehicle(s) (ie. lorry or car and trailer) while they are riding for a few days.
  • Many (but not all) of our hosts are able to offer an evening meal. It's a real bonus if you can because many customers enjoy sharing supper with their hosts after a long day in the saddle.
  • Although we research horse friendly lunch-stops, some customers will ask for a pack-lunch to put in their saddle bag (eg. sandwich, penguin bar, apple and a drink).
  • While grazing is essential, it is nice if you can offer stables too. However, when you consider that as many as 75% of our customers prefer turnout, they are not a "must have".
  • If you can't provide stables, you need somewhere dry (eg. a barn or covered yard) where customers can groom and tack-up their horses in bad weather.
  • We supply you with saddle racks, feed buckets, a basic grooming kit and a feed bin for our customers to use. You need a secure building in which to keep them, where our customers will also leave their tack overnight.
  • It is a condition of booking with Bridle Rides that our customers have third party public liability insurance, and that their horses are wormed and vaccinated against equine flu and tetanus.
  • Our legal advice is that Bridle Rides is not liable for any accident that may occur to a horse or rider while they are on your premises. Given the principle of "utmost good faith" it might be worth at least telling your insurance company that you are expecting riders to stay with you.