Frequently Asked Questions

We have a new online booking system which manages the spaces on each week – when the spaces are limited we will put that information on the dates page. An online booking including a deposit of £200 per child, per week, or the full fees if less than 40 days to arrival date will guarantee a space. All spaces are allocated on a first come first served basis. If the week becomes full you may request to be placed on a waiting list. Acceptance will depend on availability of beds and / or horses so those wishing for a Non-Residential space may be able to secure a space before a residential request.

Once your online booking and deposit has been received then confirmation, invoice, parent pack and all other correspondence will be sent out via EMAIL.

On arrival, families should report to the clubhouse / reception (you can leave your luggage in the car for now), to sign the children in. The clubhouse is at the end of the car park – follow the signs.

We prefer children to leave valuable items like mobile phones, ipods and Ipads at home, but if you would prefer them to bring their phones with them they need to be handed in WITHOUT EXCEPTION, on arrival. The children will have access to their phones at lunchtime, but at all other times they will be kept safely in the office. If you are having trouble contacting your child, you can call the office during working hours on 01189 329308 for us to get a message to your child to call home; or; if it is an EMERGENCY, and out of office hours, the Supervisor has a mobile phone: 07826 708081. Please don’t worry if you haven’t heard from your child, it generally means that they are having far too much fun to remember to call!!! Any debit cards (please be aware we are cashless) will also be looked after in this way and should be handed in on arrival.

We are a cashless facility. Parents can authorise tack shop purchases on their credit card (please make sure you set a limit! and that we are notified if your card is changed between your booking and the holiday date).

Residential Holidays: Children booked for a Residential holiday arrive (as above) on the Sunday afternoon and stay until the Friday afternoon. The holiday is inclusive of all meals, evening activities etc, and the children are fully supervised at all times. The children sleep on site in cabins.

Non-Residential: On a non-residential holiday, the children do not stay on site with us, but travel in and out on a 9am-5pm basis. This is suitable for children who live locally, or if parents and children are staying at a local B & B / Hotel (I would recommend this for the very young child – we do take children from 7 years old, but find that they get extremely tired by day 2 or 3 due to the fact that late night ‘chatting’ keeps them awake!). Lunch is included in the Non-Residential package, as are all the riding activities that the Residential children take part in. Children should be delivered to the clubhouse each day and ‘signed-in’, and collected again from the clubhouse and ‘signed-out’ by a parent. PLEASE NOTE: It is extremely important that we have been told by a parent if someone other than them is going to be collecting their child.

Sorry but evening meals and evening activities are not included in the Non-Residential package.

The accommodation is dormitory style and so sometimes it can be difficult for us to accommodate boys. For this reason, during the summer months we can only book boys in for Residential holidays for either the first 3 weeks of our season (before the English State Schools break up) or for the specially designated ‘boys’ weeks. Girls will also be accommodated during these weeks. Availability for other weeks during the year depends on bookings – please contact the office for information.

If your child turns 13 either before or during the actual holiday, the higher age bracket costs will apply.

The children stay with us on site, in one of our custom-built cabins. The cabins sleep 32 children dormitory style with bunk beds. There isn’t an awful lot of storage space within the cabins, so please, pack light! Cabin 1 has 14 beds in one large room and normally houses the 12 and unders. There are 2 toilets and 2 shower cubicles in this cabin, as well as a separate room for the cabin supervisor. Cabin 2 is split into 2 rooms, one has 10 beds and normally sleeps the 13-14 year olds, and the other room sleeps the oldest 8 children. This cabin also has 2 toilets and 2 shower cubicles and a separate room for the supervisor.

Of course, there are always exceptions, and if I have 14 x 13 and 14 year olds they may be placed in Cabin 1, while the younger children are in Cabin 2. We are, however, quite strict about keeping the younger and older children separate. The younger children will go to bed earlier, and we are also well aware that a 16 year olds’ topic of conversation may not be suitable for a 7 year olds’ ears! Boys are not mixed with girls unless they are of the same family and are happy to share a room.

Our accommodation is basic but totally suitable for this type of outdoor activity holiday – believe me, plush carpets don’t stay plush for very long once children have traipsed in and out with their muddy boots! Both cabins are fitted with Intruder and Fire Alarms, and our specially chosen supervisors have relevant childcare experience, have Child Protection and First Aid certification as well as having a clean DBS check. All meals are taken in the clubhouse.

Of course, there are always exceptions, and if I have 14 x 13 and 14 year olds they may be placed in Cabin 1, while the younger children are in Cabin 2. We are, however, quite strict about keeping the younger and older children separate. The younger children will go to bed earlier, and we are also well aware that a 16 year olds’ topic of conversation may not be suitable for a 7 year olds’ ears! Boys are not mixed with girls unless they are of the same family and are happy to share a room.

Legally we are no longer able to recommend or include Insurance as part of our holiday package. When searching for travel insurance for one of our children’s holidays, please make sure that the insurance covers ALL aspects of horse riding, i.e. show jumping (even if your child is only at the level of stepping over a pole on the floor), cross-country jumping, hacking . Insurance should cover personal accident and injury, as well as a cancellation or curtailment clause.

Please note that as a business Wellington Riding is fully compliant with all necessary Public Liability Insurance as well as being BHS (British Horse Society) Approved.

Riding groups are divided up according to ability. All children are assessed during their first ride on a Monday morning and are put into groups of usually no more than 8 riders. There are normally up to 4 riding groups per week.

Please don’t read too much into the group that your child is allocated! Every week the levels of the groups are different depending on bookings, for example a child happily jumping 2’ 6” may find herself in “Pink” group one week, but on another week, might be in “Blue” group or even “Red”. These colours are random every week.

As a rule, children are divided up in cabins according to age, and in riding groups according to ability. We can be flexible as regards sleeping arrangements if a slightly older child is coming with a younger friend, i.e. the older child could stay in the younger cabin (we do not normally allow 12 or unders to sleep in the older cabin). Please make sure that you write your friends full name on the booking form if you wish to be allocated the same dorm.

For safety’s sake if friends are of different riding levels, but they want to be in the same group, the better rider will need to move down to the group of the less experienced rider – we can only do this if that group has space. Even if 2 friends are in different riding groups, they will spend a lot of their time together during their days, i.e. until 10am, lunch time (between 12 and 2pm), and all evening after 4pm.