Our Journey…..
When we moved to Pickering Grange Farm in 2015 it was always our dream to create a professional livery yard and competition centre and through the hard work of the team at Pickering Grange Equestrian that dream has become a reality and what an incredible journey we have been on. I wanted to start by thanking everyone who has helped, guided and shared wine or just been there to listen to our crazy ideas during this period as we couldn’t have got here without any of you.
From the days putting in the first stables and original area the yard has grown from strength to strength. In the first few months we had regular journeys back to Watford for small items such as horse walkers and various trips to Rossdale’s after the famous Lenny had a row with a tree and broke his jaw.
In 2017 at a Patchett’s Equestrian Centre reunion, Lisa Court who runs the yard with me, had a crazy idea to purchase the Patchett’s indoor arenas. This started us down the path of getting two indoor schools from Watford to Leicester and the jigsaw puzzle of putting them back together again. On Jan 5th 2018 we started the ground work for the new schools on what was to be the wettest Jan on record.
We continued to develop the livery business and expanded both the turnout facilities with permanent fencing and water troughs in the fields and also through additional stables as the livery business continued to grow and the “top yard “ was created leading to the addition of further tack, rug and livery “mess” rooms. We installed a lunge arena and temporary stabling for our retirement horses and visiting polo ponies.
2018 was also the year I got married so attention was given to the restoration of the Piggery and from an unused pigsty and machine store the famous Pickering Grange party room emerged. Livery parties and pub rides are a common theme at PGE and will never be forgotten.
Events, Test Riding and Clinics with top-class instructors developed into a regular calendar and continue to be well attended and a focus for the centre. We are always interested to discuss opportunities to enhance our livery experience at PGE.
In 2019 we commenced unaffiliated Dressage, Show Jumping and Combined Training shows all of which have been extremely popular and we are extremely lucky to have a fab show secretary and super show team that means shows run efficiently and without drama.
We are also lucky enough to run Trailblazers qualifying shows, BS Show Jumping and R0R Qualifying Competitions and aim to provide a welcoming environment for all our customers, and cover as much of the spectrum of equestrian activity as possible.
As we move into the next chapter of our Pickering Grange Journey we have plenty more great plans in store, so without spoiling the surprise for anyone reading this, let’s just say our energy and enthusiasm have definitely not reached the peak and looking forward to sharing our next chapter with you all .
Thanks again to everyone who has helped and supported us to make Pickering Grange just a little piece of heaven.
Rachel & Team
