Antigua Equestrian Center LTD.

Both horses have been found and returned to their homes. Both exhausted and footsore. No information regarding who took them as yet or where they were taken. Thank you all sharing!

Please share locally. 🙏🙏🙏

What better way to spend an afternoon :)

Please note that the stables are not currently taking bookings or running lessons over the Christmas period.

If your enquiry relates to an existing booking or a payment already made, this will need to be followed up directly with the original booking provider or company the payment was made to, as we are not able to access or manage those bookings.

We will share an update once there is clear information about future arrangements.

Thank you for your understanding.

To help make things clearer, we’ve updated the imagery across our official channels.
You’ll now see the same pony image used on:
This page
Our official email communications
The Antigua Equestrian Centre website
If you’re ever unsure whether a message or page is genuinely from us, please check for this image or contact us directly before making any payments.
Thank you for your patience and understanding — we really appreciate it.

Tourists booking trail rides.
Please do not pay a deposit for a trail online through a link.
Please only book through the stables website on https://www.antiguaequestrian.com not any other site.
if you’re unsure whether a message or page is legitimate, please check with us directly before making any payments.
[email protected]

Antigua Equestrian Center LTD horse riding, riding antigua, horse riding antigua, horses antigua, antigua horse riding

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

Once upon a time, in a land before TikTok tutorials and matchy-matchy saddle pads, horse people actually knew how to take care of horses. Shocking, I know. Kids like me didn’t just rock up to the yard, hop on, and swan off afterward like some equestrian diva. No, we earned our time in the saddle mucking out stables that smelled like something out of a horror movie, filling haynets that somehow managed to tangle themselves around our legs, and lugging water buckets that felt heavier than our actual bodies.

And Friday nights? That was Pony Club night in Ireland, an unmissable ritual. First, the riding lesson, where we pushed ourselves to perfect our position or attempted (and often failed) to keep our ponies from launching us into orbit over a cross-pole. Then, the real fun stable management. If you thought you were leaving without knowing how to spot colic, wrap a bandage properly, or pick out hooves without losing a finger, you were sorely mistaken.

But now? Stable management is disappearing faster than your horse’s dignity when it spots a plastic bag.

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐌𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐭

These days, many young riders don’t spend hours at the yard learning the ins and outs of horse care. They arrive, their pony is miraculously tacked up and ready, they ride for an hour, and off they go probably to post a reel of their perfect canter transition. And look, I get it. Times have changed. Insurance policies have made it harder for kids to hang around stables, and busy modern life means people want things quick and easy.

But here’s the problem: a horse isn’t an Instagram prop. 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙖 1,000-𝙥𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙞𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙡𝙚. And without that old-school, hands-on education, we’re seeing the consequences. Horses suffering from preventable colic, riders unable to recognize when their tack doesn’t fit, people feeding their cob the same as a Thoroughbred and wondering why it’s suddenly the size of a small elephant.

And the worst part? People are accepting standards of care that would have been unheard of years ago.

I hear owners justifying no turnout like it’s normal. “Oh, my yard doesn’t turn out in winter.” “My horse copes fine without it.” No, they don’t. Horses are designed to move. Keeping them in a box 24/7, walking them for 20 minutes on a horse walker, and thinking that’s a substitute for actual turnout? That’s not horsemanship, it’s convenience. And it’s a ticking time bomb for their physical and mental health.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝

It’s not just kids, either. There is now an entire generation of adult horse owners who don’t actually know how to look after their horses properly. People who have spent years on riding school horses, never mucked out a stable, never bandaged a leg, never had to nurse a horse through an illness, suddenly finding themselves with their first horse and no idea what they’re doing. And instead of admitting they need help, many of them turn to social media (sometimes it’s ok, but not posts like is this colic?) for advice rather than a vet, a farrier, or an experienced horse person.

It’s terrifying. These are the same people who will argue in Facebook groups about whether their horse is “just lazy” instead of recognizing pain, who think a horse standing in a stable 24/7 is fine because ‘he doesn’t seem unhappy’, and who will spend more on a glittery saddle pad than on a proper equine dentist. Owning a horse should come with more than just a financial commitment, it should come with a commitment to education. But right now, there are too many owners who simply don’t know what they don’t know.

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

So, what’s the solution? We need to bring back the grit. Pony Clubs, riding schools, livery yards everyone needs to make stable management a non-negotiable part of equestrian life again. Not a boring add-on. Not an optional extra. An essential, just like knowing which end of the horse kicks.

And for those of us who lived through the ‘earn your saddle time’ era? It’s on us to pass that knowledge down. Teach the young ones how to tell the difference between a horse that’s playing up and a horse and a horse that’s in pain. Show them that grooming is not just a way to make your horse shiny for pictures it’s how you check for cuts, lumps, or signs of discomfort. Explain why turnout isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.

𝐀 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞

I miss those Friday nights at Pony Club. The smell of damp hay, the constant background noise of ponies trying to eat things they shouldn’t, the feeling of pride when you finally got your plaits neat enough that your instructor didn’t sigh in disappointment.

We need to bring that back, not just for nostalgia’s sake, but for the horses. Because if we don’t, we’re going to end up with a generation of riders who can execute a perfect flying change but don’t know what to do when their horse colics at 2 a.m. And that? That’s the kind of horror story no equestrian wants to live through.
Credit. Riverstown Farm Stables ⭐️🙏

Photo shoot 🥰 Thank you Zoe and Juliette :)

Perfect morning for a beach swim 👌

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Make Them Carry Their Saddle
A father of a darling girl and I were talking last week and he said that he wanted his daughter to ride more and not have to do the work part of the catching, grooming, and saddling. I smiled as I explained.
Riding horses is a combination of strength, timing, and balance. Kids in this country are physically weak (unless they are actively involved with weight training and physical conditioning 4+ times a week.)
When you walk out to the field, you are clearing your stress from being under fluorescent lights all day; feeling the sun soak into your bones. As your body moves on uneven surfaces, it strengthens your legs and core.
When you groom your horse (especially currying), you are toning your arms and stabilizing your core.

When you carry your saddle, your arms, chest, and back are doing isolated strengthening work.
Being near horses, calms and makes you tune into the splendor of these empathetic animals.
When you ride at a posting trot, it’s equivalent to a slow jog calorie burn wise.
After a lesson, the riders are physically tired and mentally quiet and balanced.
Horses feel your heart beat and mirror your emotions back.
Riding large and somewhat unpredictable animals makes you resilient and pushes your expectations.

Working with horses is so much more than learning how to ride.
So parents, make your children carry their saddles. Don’t do the hard parts for them, as long term it actually hurts them. To advance with their riding, they must get stronger. You can help by doing the high parts.
I love having you all at the farm, and am so grateful to get to share these fascinating animals with you.
Hannah Campbell Zapletal