What our customers did in 2007

See what some of our 2007 customers have enjoyed doing at Rose Cottage Riding School...

Here are what our Customers said and did in our 2007 'season' up to winter 2008. If you want to look at this year's customer experiences click here

Riding lessons, Jumping lessons, Beach rides, Schooling horses, Showing and winning prizes and rosettes, Charity hacks, Gymkhanas, Fun days at Halloween and Christmas, Visits to other horse establishments, Overcoming nervousness, Having your own horse kept at Livery and getting AIRE qualifications are just the start of it. We now also have a new Pony Riders' Group. Scroll down this page and visit our others to see some of the things we get up to! There are links at the top and bottom of this page...

We think we offer the best riding experience in the Malin area for both children and adults.

Why not come and try Rose Cottage Riding School and have some of the same fun too?...

Charity Ride Outcome Readers of this column will recall that in September 2007 nine children and two adults from Rose Cottage Riding School took part in a Sponsored Charity Ride from the School up to Malin Head (that's the northernmost point in the whole of Ireland) and back round via Knockamany Bens. It took them no less than 5 hours to do the ride which was in aid of the Carndonagh Community Hospital. The final amount collected has now been established and was €1,412 . Thank you to everyone who contributed, to those who took part and to those who helped in any other way. A little more detail and some pictures from the day can be found a tad further down this page, here.

Santa came to Rose Cottage Riding School this year - As a part of our Christmas festivities for the children, Santa came to Rose Cottage just before Christmas! Do have a look at these pictures taken of him with his Elf, Jimmy, as he meets and talks to, both adults and children. A lovely day.

October 31st 2007 - Halloween!! This year we held a Fancy Dress Gymkhana on the day of Halloween. The children were invited to dress up and to dress up their ponies too. The result was fabulous and thoroughly enjoyed by all - including the horses! Do take a look at some of these images - and don't miss next year!

Just click on any thumbnail to see a larger picture. Don't be too frightened (!) - the horses weren't!

In September 2007, no fewer than nine children and two adults from Rose Cottage Riding School took part in a Sponsored Charity Ride from the School up to Malin Head (that's the northernmost point in the whole of Ireland) and back round via Knockamany Bens. It took them no less than 5 hours to do the ride which was in aid of the Carndonagh Community Hospital. The final amount collected was €1,412 and the sum is to go toward air mattresses for the hospital. The pictures below show them all at the half way point - outside The Sea View Tavern in Malin Head (Have a look at just how clean the numnahs all are!) and then after the long hack we see the horses on Lagg beach enjoying a paddle to soothe their aching hooves before tackling the home straight. Well done everyone - and special thanks to Diane who cleaned all the saddles too the day before!

A Jumping Day. Rose Cottage Riding School held a Jumping Day on Sunday 2nd September 2007. This was held to introduce newcomers to jumping and also to bring on those having some existing experience. More photographs of this day can be seen here but the winner of the Chase-me-Charlie*, riding her own 13hh pony, Betty-Boo, was Aoife McGlynn aged 12. Aoife managed a fantastic jump of 1.10m (that's 3ft 7¼ins)!! Very well done Aoife.

*What is a Chase-me-Charlie? It's an excellent game for those learning jumping because it requires an ability to 'do the business' just when it's needed. Everyone lines up at a single fence and jumps it in turn. If your horse refuses, knocks it down or runs out, you are eliminated. On each round the fence goes up higher and higher until there is a winner.

And we've got a Poem written about us too! Emma Noone from Clonmany, at 11 years old, so enjoyed her time at Rose Cottage Riding School that she wrote a poem about it for us! We thought you'd like to read it.

August 22nd 2007 was a special day for 24 youngsters at Rose Cottage Riding School. No fewer than twenty one youngsters took and passed their Level 1 AIRE qualifications in Stable Management and Equitation and three girls took and passed the same exams at Levels 1, 2, and 3! Congratulations are due to all the students for doing so well.

If you want your children to obtain accredited AIRE qualifications or to pass the very important Road Safety tests, Rose Cottage Riding School is the place to do it. Why not give Kate a call?

The children were all trained by Kate and her assistants but the examinations were all conducted at Rose Cottage by AIRE's independent examiner, Gillian Doherty. Here are the proud award winners showing off their certificates. Level 1 awards on the left and centre and Level 2/3 awards on the right. More information on the tests together with photos of both the teaching and the examinations themselves are at our AIRE Examinations page here

The Harkin family keep their Connemara pony Joey at Rose Cottage Riding School. Diane's daughter Scarlett showed him in the 13.2 - 14.2 Open Section at the 2007 Clonmany Agricultural Show and, as you can see from the second picture below, Scarlett and Joey together won a well deserved 3rd place rosette for that section. Well done Scarlett!

Mum, Max English and her daughters Jazzy and Bella are in the process of training Skip, a pony they are currently buying.
Here Max and Jazzy are schooling Skip - all under the beautiful backdrop of Trawbreaga (Trá Bhréige) Bay.

A family visited us from England in late July 2007 and the father kindly sent us this message later by e-mail: "Thanks for the wonderful afternoon with the kids and ponies, some pics attached". So, here is Mum, with their little one, and with their son (riding Miller) and daughter (riding Charm) all enjoying a few hours relaxation at Rose Cottage Riding School.