Wirral Riding Centre, Cheshire

A disappointing first lesson.

Staff in cafe and saddlery shop were lovely and welcoming and helpful however the instructor was abrupt and rude.

No positive praise and encouragement just a lot of shouting and criticism to a child. Chased round ménage by instructor with a whip, unhappy pony bucking And kicking out which instructor found hilarious.

Came away confidence knocked, only got 20 minutes of a half hour private lesson on a pony who clearly was unhappy. won’t be returning.

Wirral Riding Centre has some brilliant Instructors and some not depending who you request,

with my time at the Wirral Riding Centre I was quite concerned about the safety conditions on & around the yard as this didn't seem to match up with The BHS/APRS Standard ( NOT The LESSONS ) as the apprenticeships need to set a better example of how to maintain a nice clean yard ready to welcome Clients who help to pay their wages, If it wasn't for the Clients then the riding school wouldn't Exist & people would be out of employment.

Personally I've seen good and bad things on this yard & I would like to give a more positive review and recommend more and more people to this yard & every Client should be greeted with a welcoming smile no matter who they are as your Clients are the ones who are keeping your business running..as for the apprenticeships, buck up your Idea's and there won't be no problem!

I think there's lots of room for improvement at these Stables & as for The Wirral Riding Centre being too far out and not easy to get too Is not totally correct because It's easy to get to buy car, bus stops right outside of Of the Stables or 20 mins walk to Train Station depending where your traveling from!!

Wirral riding Center is an absolute disgrace to riding schools across the country I loaned my beloved mare to them as I was doing my GCSES and couldn't afford her at the time well, I was not alowed to go down and ride her as much as they said the feed they gave her was very poor quality and very little amount (for a big horse in a lot of work) the Haynet they gave her wasn't even big enough for a 11hh pony let alone a 16'2 in full work when I told them I just got ignored,

They never mucked her out probably when I went to work there for some extra money I learnt all they do is poo pick it BUT most of the staff don't even do that they leave the week in and just cover it in clean straw so it looks like they have a big bed! Then it got worse I was told by the yard manager to not take her rugs off when I do I find infected sweat glands due to her being ridden with a revoltingly dirty saddle cloth and she hadn't been groomed after every lesson come on it's not that hard to brush a horse???..... Then it got worse she got severe conjunctivitis and nearly lost her eye but would the owner of the riding school (who was ment to be incharge of her but would get a vet out or even pay a vet bill) it got that bad she would kick out every time she went in the stable with her so they decided to TIE her up while the lessons were going on and as she was tied that tight and spooked one day the head collar cut into her face and cut down to bone but would the owner of the yard get the vet out NO yet again my self who is skint had to ring and pay the £££ vet bill for sedation antibiotics having it corrected and I'm beond broke (the reason she was there) I'm only just getting started DO NOT GO TO WIRRAL RIDING CENTER OR LOAN OR PUT ANY HORSE ON THE RIDING SCHOOL

No value for money as you can't put - 10 stars

I highly suggest larton riding Center very well cared for horses and amazing lessons

I'm completely shocked after reading through the reviews, I have ridden and learnt almost everything I know about horses from Wirral. I started there almost 7 years ago and it's the best riding school I have been too, the lessons were always great and I learnt a lot, the staff are friendly and the horses are all great, anyone would find there match there. I have loaned a horse of the school and was up most weekends helping out and looking after my pony, all the horses are equally loved and looked after, all off the horses are always within reach of water. The beds are mucked out everyday and skipped out later on. It's a very well run school and all horses are treated equally. Every place has there off day but Wirral always manages too pull through with what they have got. Now after 7 years I have my own horse, without Wirral I would never be here. Would reccomend to anyone of any riding ability.

I also used to ride at barnston riding centre when it closed i was looking for a new school. Even though im

From liverpool, the schools by me were not up to scratch! I couldnt have been more welcomed at wirral riding centre all the horses are looked after beautifully how anyone can say they arent i have no idea!!! Instructor teaches me and a few friends on a tuesday night and i have only had 4 classes and have already progressed so much now jumping huge jumps as my confidence has grew so much! Walking round the yard the staff are friendly there is also a livery yard attached to the school which actually has nothing to do with the riding school so wether the bad experiences are aimed at the livery i dont know. I took my little cousin for her first lesson tehre yesterday the staff were amazing and took her round to meet all the ponies and horses and her instructor was amazing! I cant inderstand peoples attitude my experience has been great and i fond the school very professional. Lessons always on time, facilities great and great choice of ponies and horses. There are always people who arent happy no matter what so give it a go me and the 8 people i moved from barnston with all love it :)

After the closure of Barnston riding school my daughter and I have been looking for an alternative riding school on the wirral, safe to say it will not be this one. We had gone on a weekday so as to avoid the weekend crush and through the day as we thought people would have time to talk to us.

On visiting the property we were ignored by various people wearing "staff" uniforms until another person enquired who we were looking for apparently this was an owner who just kept her horses on the yard and allowed them to be used by the school.

We were directed to the office and passed on to a woman who described herself as the yard manger.

We were given a tour of the facilities they had to offer and while the indoor and outdoor ménage looked ok they might as well have not been there the lack of detail that was forthcoming about hire, usage teaching whether you could use your own instructor

After this we were shown the horses and I was shocked I've been to a few stables but these were disgusting, what she called the pony barn had three stables that were outstanding and the rest were simply filthy many with no water or food and the ponies looked like they hadn't been groomed for a year. The outside stables were little better with some having no water and the majority of the horses looking shabby. However again it was possible to tell which horses were owned as these stables had toys and the horses looked properly groomed.

The whole tour took less than 5 minutes and we learned more by talking to non staff members than the staff had told us.

People on the yard seemed warm and friendly but the staff were the complete opposite wouldn't use this school if it were the only school in England never mind the Wirral

I was left with the overall impression that the staff couldn't be bothered about new business and in this economic situation I wish I could afford to turn paying clients away at the first point of can't act we will be having our 4 lessons a week elsewhere.

i have only been to wirral a couple of times and have vowed never to return. the place was awful. horses were not cared for in any level and yard staff knew nothing about the horses. instructors did not seem to care about the riders or their progression.

i was taken once as part of a school trip and the riding school had 20 people riding at once with only one instructor to watch over all of us. all we did was walk and trot for 25 mins. afterwards we were left to put away the horses with only a vague idea of where they were supposed to go, also we were expected to untack them. luckily at the time i had been riding for 6 years so knew how to do all this however most of us did not and started to panic as a few had never even been around a horse before!

part of the trip was a 'tour' of the yard and surrounding fields. this consisted of being lead around by a very bored looking elderly man 'showing us how to make a hay net' by this i mean the staff had a sit down while we fed all the horses.

one thing i found very shocking was the amount of ragwort in the fields. for those of you who dont know, ragwort is a plant that is extremely poisonous to horses!

would not recommend this place to anybody ever! it was a disgrace!

my time at Wirral was awful. some very bad instructors. Horses not cared for properly. Saw numerous accidents and staff just didn't care.

Owner only interested in making money. Be advised.... go elsewhere!

I would firmly not recommend this riding establishment to anyone. Prices are cheap but horses and ponies were not to my liking. Saddles were bad fitting and looked very worn too. Friendly staff but poor quality lessons,

My friend recently fell off there recently and injured herself which could have been avoided :( :( :( however the facilities at wirral were quite good

It's ok but it was a bit caiotick, but the horses are looked after well