Riding Clubs have been around for quite a while now.  It was not long after the Second World War that a group of Riding Clubs approached the British Horse Society with a view to setting up an aggangement whereby independent clubs, could form an affiliation under the overall control of the BHS.

During the Inter-war years the BHS had emerged as the overall governing body for equestrian sport in the UK. Each discipline had formed their own governing bodies  (British Dressage, British Eventing etc.) these all being affiliated to the BHS. The BHS organised the major, top level events where there would be international competition, the individual discipline societies looking after competition up to the elite level and would remain very much involved with the BHS in running the elite competitions. The riding equivalents of the Tennis “Grand Slam” events plus the Olympic teams.

The more ordinary every-day riders, who enjoyed their horses and some degree of competition, (such as us) were not very well catered for. There was Badminton and the Olympics at one end of the scale, and the Village Show at the other, with not a whole lot in between. Other than that there was The Hunt, which was fine for ” them wot could afford it” .  As well as the cash, to survive hunting in the 1950’s must have required a pretty good level of horsemanship. Also Britain in the 1950’s was a much less egalitarian place than it is now. If one had not been to the right  school, or distinguished oneself by having had “a Good War”, an invitation to join the hunt was likely to be a long time coming.

So, some clever person dreamed up Riding Clubs, and aren’t we all grateful.  The idea of these clubs was to bring together ordinary riders, many of them one horse owners with not a lot of cash to splash around on fancy tack, special cloths and expensive competitions. The Riding Clubs were a place for anyone with a horse, regardless of their level of riding skills,  their level of income or their level of social class. The Clubs organised local competitions between themselves, including classes suitable for the first time competitor, as well as classes for the better riders.

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