Date of Birth: 2007, Sex: Gelding, Height: 18h, Breed: Warmblood, Colour: Bay.
History:
Achil was bought when he was on a lorry travelling from Bulgaria to Aberdeen and we bought him relatively unseen (from a video). Achil is well schooled both on the flat and jumping and is a very popular riding school horse due to his incredibly friendly nature.
Achil takes part in intermediate/advanced lessons and also the RGU lessons and competitions when they host them at our centre. He’s very popular with our taller riders as he’s a big horse, but not too chunky so is good for working on seat and leg position.
Further Information:
Achil is the proud owner of a very expensive set of teeth! When we buy our school horses one of the first things we do is have their teeth checked and we were aware right from the start that Achil had “problematic teeth” due to the shape of them and the decay on a few molars. He has to have his teeth done regularly (every 3 months) by our vets for this reason and at the end of 2017, he broke a molar which was already decayed. He then went into the vet hospital and had to have a general anaesthetic to remove the tooth, then he went back to see a dental specialist at the vets in January, when he had a filling put on another molar and a bit of work done. He’s worth it though as he’s so cool!
Date of Birth: 2005, Sex: Mare, Height: 14.3h.h, Breed: Irish, Colour: Skewbald
History:
Bali lived fairly locally to ARC for the last few years and then we were asked if we might want her for the riding school as she had always suited a busier yard with a set routine. Bali had done a bit of unaffiliated competing and general riding club activities prior to coming to us.
Further Information:
Bali is a popular riding school horse as she is responsive and loves working. She jumps up to 80cm and does BHS Stage 1 and 2 assessments. She has a bit of a 4-beat canter so it can feel quite strange for a start, but she is very comfortable and nice down the contact. Bali is one of the “bosses” of the school mares’ field so she’s confident working around other horses. She has very pink skin on her neck, so she wears a fly rug in the summer to deflect the sun off her neck, so she doesn’t get sunburn!
Date of Birth: 1997, Sex: Gelding, Height: 14h, Breed: Connemara, Colour: Grey.
History:
Boyo came to Oldfold in 2003 as a livery pony, and has been with the Club ever since. He was initially owned by the Rowlands, then sold to the Pattersons, then onto the Coopers. Each time someone outgrew him, he was snapped up by another ARC member as everyone could see what a great pony he was. In 2010, Boyo developed laminitis, so had to have his management changed dramatically as he had lived out 24/7 up to that point. It meant Boyo would either have to be muzzled or stabled during the summer months to prevent him getting sore front feet and it was a long, hard task for his owners to get him sound again. In 2011 he was advertised for sale once again, but sadly his laminitis flared up again making it difficult to sell him. Everyone who knew him was worried that if he left the Club, he may struggle with laminitis again due to the change in grass and management. His owner then decided that in order to secure his future, the best things for him would be for him to become a riding school pony at ARC
Further Information:
Boyo thrives in the riding school environment and now lives in so as to manage him laminitis. He has been a revelation in that he loves teaching people how to ride. He is used for novice and intermediate adults and children and is forward going and responsive. He is easy to handle but you need to make sure you ask a member of staff to assist with tightening his girth. Boyo wears egg bar shoes on his front feet to help with his laminitis, and you need to be very careful not to feed him too many sugary sweets in his stable.
Date of Birth: 2000, Sex: Gelding, Height: 13h.h, Breed: Welsh (Section B), Colour: Chestnut
History:
Brewster has been in competition homes most of his life, doing very well as a working hunter and then joining ARC as a livery in 2015 where he did lots of Pony Club competing and training with his owner. Once he was outgrown, he was sold to another livery family at ARC, where he enjoyed doing lots of lessons and competing – winning his Regional dressage and eventing competitions. When Brewster had been outgrown again, we were delighted to buy him so that he could stay at ARC where he was really settled. We also bought his lovely tack so his riding school riders have very comfortable bottoms in a Prestige saddle.
Further Information:
Brewster is a very popular riding school pony as he is responsive and polite and such a great schoolmaster to learn on. He does Novice – Intermediate children lessons and takes great pride in helping our young riders to develop a neat, effective position. He’s very popular for stable management and Pony Stars as he has a lovely temperament. Brewster has quite a high opinion of himself which is part of the reason we love him so much – he doesn’t like to be turned out with too big a group and likes his home comforts of living in over winter at nights, so he tends to have individual turnout or with one pal.
Date of Birth: 2005, Sex: Gelding, Height:16h.h., Breed: TB, Colour: Chestnut
History:
Chester had been in the same home for most of his ridden career and lived locally. A local coach let us know he might be coming up for sale so we contacted his owner to ask if she would consider ARC as a home for him. His owner came to see ARC and have a chat with Sally and then Sally went to meet Chester and everyone agreed that ARC and Chester would be a good match.
Further Information:
Chester is a very experienced horse on the flat and jumping so is used as a schoolmaster for our more experienced rider. He works to medium level on the flat so is an excellent coach for those learning to do lateral work or trying to get the correct feel in their contact. He’s a really friendly horse who loves people and lots of attention, so he loves the atmosphere at ARC and the fact that lots of people visit him and tell him how handsome he is. He gets turned out in a small group or on his own as the school boys field might play a bit rough for him as he’s such a gent. Chester is also used for BHS Stage 3 training and puts a smile on everyone’s face because he takes his job as “teacher” very seriously – encouraging everyone to ride well. Chester doesn’t do group lessons as standard as we like to keep him for private sessions so that we can really concentrate on the riders contact.
Date of Birth: 2005, Sex: Gelding, Height:17hh, Breed: Scottish Sports Horse, Colour: Bay
History:
Cyrus is a 17.2hh bay 21 year old gelding who evented to 2* when he was younger and was then owned by one of our staff for two years. Over the time he was owned by our staff member, Cyrus had developed a few health conditions (kissing spine, gastric ulcers and arthritis) which were all treated, but when the staff member wanted to progress onto a different horse it was always going to be challenging to find Cyrus a home, so the staff member asked if the club would take him on.
Cyrus has totally flourished as a member of the ARC team – he loves his routine, has turned into a big softie and has been a great horse for giving people confidence in their BHS assessments as he is really well educated both on the flat and jumping. We tend to monitor Cyrus work very carefully due to his previous health concerns, so he only does lessons of a standard who can ride him in a good balance and help him stay symmetrically muscled and strong. Cyrus lives in his own field next to Chester as he can be a bit dominant out with other geldings, but he loves grooming his pal Chester over the fence and lying down next to each other in the warm weather.
Date of Birth: 1994, Sex: Gelding, Height: 14h, Breed: Welsh X, Colour: Black.
History:
Dan was at Oldfold prior to ARC moving there, and we decided to keep him because he was such a good jumping pony. He continues to be the most expensive school pony we bought (£3500.00) but we feel he was worth it as he is such a lovely chap. Prior to working in the riding school he did quite a lot of show jumping so is very experienced for teaching our younger members and small adults.
Further Information:
Dan is another one of our ponies who has problems keeping his weight under control. He also has a funny blue eye (known as a ‘wall eye’). His vision is not affected by the colour but looks a bit od
Date of Birth: 1995, Sex: Mare, Height: 14.3h, Breed: Native X, Colour: Albino.
History:
Dixie was in the riding school at Oldfold before ARC moved there so we bought her along with some of the others. She had previously been brought to Oldfold as a horse for the owner to sell on, but settled well into the riding school so stayed with us. She is a very sensitive mare, who wears a bit-less bridle and is best ridden with a nice quiet hand. She can be a bit nappy to her friends, so the key is to get Dixie going well off the leg within the first five minutes of riding.
Further Information:
Dixie is very sensitive to the sun due to her colouring so needs to have lots of sunscreen put on in the summer. She can pull faces a bit when you go into her stable, but won’t bite or kick – she just thinks she looks scary.
Date of Birth: 2010, Sex: Gelding, Height: 16hh, Breed: Clydesdale x Welsh D, Colour: Bay
History:
Flynn is a 14 year old 16.1h.h. bay gelding. We bought Flynn from a local livery yard owner after we sadly lost Hamish the Clydesdale. We had advertised on our social media that we were looking for a big horse that could carry novice adults and riders attending for therapy sessions and the local livery yard proprietor contacted Sally to say that Flynn may be suitable. Sally went to see Flynn and purchased him immediately as he was clearly such a sweet big horse who was very patient and gentle. Flynn settled in really well and now does adult novice lessons and lots of walk outs and slower work with both RDA and therapy riders. Whilst Flynn is a very gentle chap with people, he is top of the pecking order in the school geldings field – meaning he’s the boss and tells all the other geldings what to do. His best friend is Ozzy 1, who is pretty small at 13h.h, but they love playing and grooming each other in the field. Flynn went through a period where he kept pulling off his left fore shoe, so he owns a pair of “boots” which he can wear if he pulls a shoe so don’t worry if you come to ride Flynn and he’s wearing what looks like green sports trainers – that’s quite normal for him!16.1
Date of Birth: 2002, Sex: Mare, Height: 13h, Breed: Native X, Colour: Piebald
History:
Sally found Gemima tied to a caravan at a horse dealer’s in England and thought she was so cute and friendly she would be a good purchase for the school. She was very green and only recently backed when ARC bought her in 2006, but after quite a lot of work with the staff she became a very good school pony.
Further Information:
Gemima is a great fun pony to ride on the flat and over jumps. She can be very stubborn about how she likes to be ridden and if she feels she is being kicked or “flapped at” she will simply grind to a halt until the rider is a bit more sympathetic. She loves following her friends, which makes her a good fun pony to ride outside and she is very good for learning to canter on because she is very comfortable.
Date of Birth: 2003, Sex: Gelding, Height: 13.2h.h. Breed: Native cross, Colour: Grey
History:
Gizmo came from a local family that ride with ARC when the children had outgrown him. We had always admired Gizmo as he was really patient and sweet so when he came up for sale, we were delighted to buy him. He has done a lot of Pony Club and unaffiliated competing prior to coming to us.
Further Information:
Gizmo is an incredibly sweet pony who is really gentle with our younger members. He works in beginner and novice lessons, teaching our junior members how to do rising trot and carrying them for their first canters. He also works regularly with the Hippotherapy group and is trusted taking our walkies riders up and down the track. He wears a fly mask in the summer as he’s convinced flies are getting up his nose, so recently we’ve been telling our younger members it’s his Covid mask J Gizmo has an incredibly thick winter coat, so it can be quite therapeutic grooming him in the Spring when it all starts to fall out.
Date of Birth: 2002, Sex: Gelding, Height: 14.3h, Breed: Irish, Colour: Skewbald.
History:
Hagrid was bought in 2008 from Carlisle, and arrived with Dumbledore and Ron. He previously belonged to a trekking centre and had also been quite well schooled jumping.
Further Information:
Hagrid is always used as a jump horse for the university competitions as he is very honest. He can be fairly stubborn at times and prefers the right rein to the left rein. However, he is very rewarding to ride once you learn to sit a bit quieter and use your legs correctly, as he is capable of going very well. Hagrid can be a bit nappy to his friends, so if you ride him in a lesson you must make sure that you don’t let him nap towards his friends once they are turned in as this makes him worse.
Date of Birth: 2007, Sex: Gelding, Height: 12h, Breed: Welsh, Colour: Grey
History:
Harry has done a bit of showing in the past both on the lead rein and as first ridden. We bought him from a Facebook advert and he arrived with Secret as the first “new purchases” at Anguston. Harry can be cheeky – he likes to jump out of his field and pick another fieid if he gets bored, but he has done a few lessons now and has been good in them. Our biggest problem was finding equipment that was small enough to fit Harry as he is the smallest pony we’ve ever owned!
Further Information:
Harry can be a little cheeky in his stable – sometimes he likes to say hello but other times he may try to nip beside your pocket for treats!
Date of Birth: 2004, Sex: Gelding, Height: 16.1h, Breed: Irish, Colour: Chestnut.
History:
Sally bought Henry from the sales at Cavan in 2012 as we need a new jumping schoolmaster after we had Timone put down. Henry is a lovely big friendly guy, who has had lots of jumping experience throughout his life.
Further Information:
Henry is educated on the flat, but is a very good jump horse. He is happy jumping courses of 1.10 metres, and does quite a few staff and advanced lessons. Henry is also used for RGU competitions and team training. He is a firm favourite of members and staff alike. Henry prefers the right rein to the left, and you will have to work quite hard to keep him straight when jumping a bit bigger, as he likes to drift to the right.
Date of Birth: 2001, Sex: Mare, Height: 13h, Breed: Connemara X, Colour: Grey
History:
Holly was born at our previous premises at Oldfold Farm as a surprise when the previous proprietor bought her mother and no-one realised she was pregnant. Holly duly appeared six months later and the previous proprietor left her in the field as a yearling and a two-year old. When ARC came to Oldfold, we began her education and backed her as a three year old. She then worked with staff under saddle and we bought her in 2006 when we took over the lease at Oldfold.
Further Information:
Holly is one of our most popular ponies as she is very quiet to handle and bombproof with beginners and smaller children. As we did all her training ourselves, she is very well behaved and is always first choice for stable management and birthday parties. Holly also does a lot of good work with the ARC Hippotherapy group. She had a slightly stressful 2008, when she had to go in for an operation to remove one of her big molar teeth as she had an infection under it, but after £2000.00
Date of Birth: 2008, Sex: Gelding, Height: 14.1h, Breed: Irish, Colour: Coloured
History: Sally fell in love with Jaffa Cake when she arrived in her car at Cavan Horse Sales where Jaffa was standing in the car park. Sally went against all advice she would give anyone else and decided to buy him immediately because he was just so cute. She was successful in her bid for him, so he came back to Aberdeen two days later and started working with staff.
Further Information: Jaffa does advanced lessons and is also used to train the RGU competition teams.
Date of Birth: 2008, Sex: Gelding, Height: 15.2h, Breed: Irish, Colour: Coloured.
History:
JR is one of the sweetest horses we have ever had the pleasure of keeping. He was bought by a local family in 2013 with the hope being he would be good for RDA work and he was sourced by Sally and the local family. He is quite an unusual shape, in that he has a very upright neck, but this is one of the reasons we bought him – he has great conformation for teaching people to canter. It is difficult trying to find a horse that will do both able-bodied and RDA work, but JR had great conformation for it, had a super canter for a cob and had a lovely temperament so he was purchased and arrived at Oldfold in 2013. Sally did most of the training with JR and he was brought on for flatwork/jumping at the same time as being trained up in the RDA sessions with an able-bodied rider. Unfortunately, once JR started doing RDA work, the coach and chairperson had changed and they weren’t so capable of working with JR, so the local family donated him to ARC instead on the understanding we would use him for therapy riding that we provide too.
Further Information:
JR has taken to his work really well and is a popular school horse and also great with our therapy riders. He is a very happy guy and is always pleased to see everyone – he likes nothing better than a carrot and a pat on the nose. When we moved to Anguston, JR also started to do work with the local RDA group, ARC Hippotherapy so it’s lovely that he is doing everything that was hoped when the local family purchased him. ARC is very grateful to the Grant Family (Caskieben Dressage) who bought JR.
Date of Birth: 2009, Sex: Gelding, Height: 15.2h, Breed: Irish, Colour: Black
History:
Kevin was bought at the same sale as Jaffa Cake, although it took longer to find him (we were looking for a weight-carrying type). Kevin was a bit nervous in his stable at the sale, but super when ridden, so Sally decided he was worth spending a bit of time on to train up for the school. Laura has been working with Kevin to educate him on the flat and over jumps.
Further Information:
Kevin is a particularly sweet horse who is very rewarding to work with as his confidence grows and he is already a much bigger and stronger horse than when he arrived. He is very good friends with Jaffa as they arrived, and were isolated, together and they spent a lot of time together in the field.
Date of Birth: 2008, Sex: Mare, Height: 15.2h, Breed: Irish Draft X, Colour: Appaloosa.
History:
Sally bought Koko from Cavan in 2012. She was very green when we bought her, so spent a lot of time working with the staff to learn more before she joined the school. She is a big strong mare, who is very sweet to ride, but needs careful handling to ensure she stays polite. She is sweet to hack out and is much loved by all of the school mares in her field.
Further Information:
Koko is well schooled on the flat and is one of our specialised private lesson horses. She is an excellent choice to work on your seat/work without stirrups as she is comfortable yet responsive. She is a very unusual colour, as she looks almost metallic in the sunshine, so she is an easy one to find when in the stables.
Date of Birth: 2009, Sex: Gelding, Height: 17.2h.h, Breed: Scottish Sports Horse, Colour: Skewbald
History:
Mr T lived locally, where he had done a bit of showing and a bit of unaffiliated competing. He had been very well produced and was a nice, educated horse when we bought him – he settled into ARC very quickly and was soon doing a variety of lessons and assessments.
Further Information:
Mr T is a lovely old-fashioned stamp of a horse who is forward and well-schooled both on the flat and jumping. He does intermediate/advanced level lessons and particularly loves arena eventing. Although he is a giant, he is quite a sensitive chap to manage – he is deeply in love with Hamish the Clydesdale, who he shares a field with, and we have to plan around his friend being beside him when he’s in the stable. With a pal next door, Mr T is the most chilled horse on the yard, but if his friend is taken away, he lets everyone know about it by bellowing his head off. Being well schooled, he is used for all standards of BHS assessments and career training too and is great at helping riders learn how to use their seat more effectively and to rely less on the reins.
Date of Birth: 2006, Sex: Gelding, Height: 14hh Breed: Connemara, Colour: Grey
History:
Neco is an 18 year old Connemara 13.3h.h. gelding who Sally has known since he
was a 5 year old – Sally originally purchased him in Ireland for a livery owner and he was a livery at ARC for many years taking part in all Pony Club competitions and eventing at BE90. He has always been one of Sallys favourites as he has a lovely gentle temperament and the best nose in the world to pat and squidge! When Neco turned 17, his owner had purchased another younger horse and asked whether the club would be interested in loaning Neco as Neco, like Cyrus had had a few health conditions (a septic joint and colic). The club doesn’t tend to loan ponies, so we agreed to take on ownership of Neco and he has settled in really well. Neco likes doing more advanced lessons with junior riders and smaller adults and is particularly good at long reining and lunging, so he is often used for BHS assessment training or lunging demos.
Date of Birth: 1995, Sex: Gelding, Height: 13.2h.h Breed: Irish, Colour: Black
History:
Sally bought Ozzy from Cavan sales in 2016 when a livery was looking for a jumping pony whilst her pony was off work. Ozzy was 21 at the time and everyone at the sale in Ireland thought Sally was mad buying an older pony, but he had done a huge amount of competitive showjumping in his career and was a brilliant schoolmaster. Ozzy did a brilliant job with the family and was then sold onto another livery family at ARC when he was outgrown. We were all so attached to Ozzy that there was no question he’d be moving yards when his latest owners outgrew him, so we bought him for the riding school as we thought he would enjoy teaching kids to ride whilst gracefully starting to do lighter work than competing as he got older.
Further Information:
Ozzy is the perfect schoolmaster because he literally knows how to do everything and can teach his rider how to do everything. He is forward going and enthusiastic – particularly about jumping, so he’s really popular with our novice/intermediate level younger riders who are learning to jump and become more secure in canter. He is a tough old pony – still one of the bosses of the school boys field in his 20s and he has the strangest conformation ever with a really long back and short front legs, but the fact he is a sound, happy pony in his older years mean conformation isn’t everything – his conformation works for him. He hates being stabled – he doesn’t mind coming in for the day but likes to be back out in the field overnight and he’s not shy of dragging our staff up to the field if he thinks it is time he was out!
Date of Birth: 2005, Sex: Gelding, Height: 13.3h.h., Breed: cob, Colour: Black
History:
Ozzy belonged to a local family and was the perfect first pony for them, so when his owner outgrew him, we were keen to snap him up! He has done a bit of everything in his career and is particularly good at hacking and jumping up to 60cm.
Further Information:
Ozzy is another very popular school pony because he has such a lovely temperament. He does all standards of lessons and is also one of the ponies trusted to carry the riders of ARC Hippotherapy group. He wears a breastplate as he is a funny shape and his saddle slides otherwise and he prefers to follow his friends if allowed but will quite happily work at the front/in his own space if his rider makes it clear enough what they want. He confuses us daily as he is literally a mirror image of Chance, another pony that lives in the school boys field so when he first arrived it wasn’t unheard of for it to take us a minute to work out which one was which!
Date of Birth: 2003, Sex: Gelding, Height: 14.3h, Breed: Cob, Colour: Bay.
History:
Scrufty was bought from Ireland as a newly backed four year old. We called his Scrufty because he looked like a hairy carpet when he first arrived and none of us could quite picture how smart he would become. He was very green initially and spent over six months with the staff and is now one of our best riding school horses.
Further Information:
Scrufty is popular with adults and children as he is very capable both jumping and on the flat. He is used regularly for the university competitions, both for dressage and jumping. He is happy jumping courses up to a metre high and in novice dressage tests. Scrufty can be a bit grumpy with the other horses as he is one of the highest up the pecking order in the field.
Date of Birth: 2003, Sex: Gelding, Height: 12h.h., Breed: Native, Colour: Chestnut
History:
Squirrel was well known at ARC as we taught his owner and him for a few years, so when he came up for sale it was a perfect match that he could become a first pony for one of our liveries and do some work in riding school too to make sure he had enough work to keep him healthy. We don’t take on working liveries at ARC, but we decided to break that rule with Squirrel and his owners as his owner is an old friend of the club and is a very experienced rider, so we knew that her management of Squirrel would complement how ARC like to manage their ponies.
Further Information:
Squirrel works in the riding school on a Monday, Tues and Saturday morning and does everything from beginners to more advanced junior riders. He is a tiny wee pony compared to our other ones, so we had to get a smaller headcollar and saddle for him when he came J We jokingly refer to him as “the boss” as Squirrel likes things done in a very specific way and isn’t shy of telling us if he’s not happy about something. He has a great sense of humour, keeps us all on our toes and is really popular with our younger riders because he is nice and forward and super cute. Having previously been a very experienced competition pony, he is a really good teacher for young kids, but he lives his life on a permanent diet as he likes his food too much and also has a condition which means he needs to stay trim.
Date of Birth: 2011, Sex: Mare, Height: 14hh., Breed: Irish, Colour: Dark Bay
History:
Teddy was bought by a livery at ARC, but as time went on she became a bit too challenging for the livery owners and was showing some quite bad behaviour being ridden and handled. We knew there was a nice pony inside Teddy – she had just become a bit confused over time, so we bought her as we thought we could get her happy again.
Further Information:
Teddy is a lovely pony to ride as she is honest and safe so is very trustworthy. She is comfortable to ride and enjoys her jumping and works with every standard of rider from beginner – intermediate. She is great to ride without stirrups because she is so comfy, and she is also well behaved out hacking. Our coaches will always do up Teddys girth and help you get her from her stable as we need to always ensure she has these things done correctly so that her behaviour remains good.
Date of Birth: 2006, Sex: Gelding, Height: 15.2h.h. Breed: Irish, Colour: Skewbald
History:
Trojan was bought from Cavan sales in 2014 for a livery family and had been very successfully shown in Ireland (including at the Dublin horse show) prior to him coming to the UK. We bought him for a teenage boy as he was forward and fun and jumped well, being able to take the height of a teenage boy but without being too big a horse. He was then sold to another livery when the owner went away to Uni and then was incredibly generously donated to ARC by the livery family when they moved away. Trojan was another one, like Ozzy, that was so popular at ARC that we were delighted to take ownership of him and ensure he could stay at the yard he loved into his old age.
Further Information:
Trojan is literally the perfect horse – he has impeccable manners, is well schooled and is really generous helping anyone who rides him. He does Novice – Advanced lessons and is popular for jumping. We use him a lot for BHS assessments as he gives the candidates a huge amount of confidence both on the flat and jumping. He lives in at nights in the winter as he likes to have his legs clipped out and come in at night to stay warm and he goes out in a smaller group as he’s a bit too polite to cope with the school boys rough and tumble! He wears a Patriot saddle to allow riders to get a real feel for a secure lower leg jumping and he is great out hacking/working on his own. He also really enjoys arena eventing – to the point if he can see the flags, he takes you round the course.
