ABOUT OUR CLUB

By Claire Drury - Chairman

The Dartford and District Riding Club is a small, but rapidly expanding club which was formed in 1996-7, gaining affiliation to the British Riding Clubs’ movement in 1998. Its aim is to ‘promote interest in the care and welfare of horses and good horsemanship’ and membership is open to anyone of any age and ability. Our current membership stands at approximately 90 members, although our friendly, yet professionally run competitions, rallies and clinics are frequently attended by the wider local equestrian public.

The club is generally based at The Old Mill Equestrian Centre in Swanley where facilities include an indoor and an outdoor arena. Competitions held there include the very popular Dressage Series. Walk and Trot, Preliminary, Novice and Elementary tests are offered, with a points championship resulting in perpetual challenge trophies. We also run a fun gymkhana and show jumping competition at Easter and at Christmas. This includes a fancy dress competition, which is hotly contested, and ‘fun’ show jumping classes.


In addition, we hold fortnightly rallies at The Old Mill with Flair Sifleet for flatwork and/or jumping. Regular clinics are also offered and some of our invited instructors have been Tim Stockdale, Charlotte Lassetter and Graham Fletcher. We try to offer affordable tuition for our members and guests at all levels.


Warrigal Farm, near Darenth/Longfield is the venue for our Spring and Autumn Shows. These have grown over the years from the original In-Hand Show and now boast five rings with something, we feel, for everyone. The schedule includes an all day clear round, showjumping from 1’9” – 3’3”, working hunters, ridden and in-hand showing and best rider classes. Our next show is Sunday 4th May, schedules are available on our website www.dartfordanddistrictridingclub.com.

The Dartford and District Riding Club likes to field both Junior and Senior teams to competitions in all spheres. The club pays entry fees for any member representing it. Being in Area 10 of the British Riding Clubs is quite a tough call, with many long standing and respected riding clubs in ‘opposition’ for coveted places at The National Championships, yet Dartford have performed very well. Within the last six years successes have included qualification for the National Championships in Senior and Junior Style Jumping, Horse Trials, Riding Test, and Dressage. We have also qualified for the London and South East Championships for two years’ running.

In Area qualifiers last year Dartford teams won the Senior Novice Dressage, Pairs Dressage and Junior Style Jumping. We have been placed in all other Area events entered, including Hunter Trials.

We hosted the Area 10 ‘friendly’ showjumping competition at Eaglesfield in February where our Junior teams were placed 3rd, 4th and 5th and our Senior teams were placed 3rd and 4th. This competition saw record entries with 20 Junior teams and 27 Senior teams competing.

Over the winter months, Dartford has enjoyed supporting local team show jumping competitions. We have an outstanding record at Bluebarn having won at the Canterbury Riding Club team jumping for the second year running, Black Horse Events, and Colette’s Horse Shows teams. We also won at Duckhurst Farm.
In all that our teams do, the enjoyment of competing as a team is paramount.

In the British Riding Club Area 10 qualifiers of summer 2008, we sent teams out in all disciplines. At Oakwood Park, our Senior Riding Test Team were placed 2nd (Q), and our Pairs Dressage Duo won (Q). At Borde Hill, our Senior Intermediate Horse Trials Team were 2nd and our Junior Horse Trials team were 5th. At Felbridge, our Senior Style Jumping Team were 2nd (with an individual qualification), our Junior Style Jumping Team won (Q), our Senior Novice Showjumping Team were 6th, and our Senior Intermediate Jumping team won (Q). We are very proud of ourselves and are looking forward to The National Championships in Lincoln this September.

Membership to The Dartford and District Riding Club holds many benefits. Members receive vastly reduced entry fees to all competitions where a special rosette is always awarded to the highest placed member. A cheaper rate for rallies and clinics is also available to members. The club has visited Badminton Horse Trials and Olympia on a number of occasions. We hosted a Boat Party on the Thames, a new venture, which was an opportunity for members and friends to ‘get away from the horses’ for a change!! Members receive a regular club newsletter which updates them on all that’s going on. ‘Rider’ ( the magazine produced by B.R.C. ) is also delivered to each member.

For the last three years, the club has adopted Demelza House as its charity. This is a local respite centre for very sick children. A request for voluntary donations to be added onto competition fees is included on entry forms. We also support the ‘Rugs for Redwings’ charity. The collection point for unwanted rugs is at Shannon Leigh Stables, where member Mandy Giles will store and then transport rugs down to Redwings for use on their rescued and retired horses and ponies.

Membership to the Dartford and District Riding Club is open to anyone! Junior membership costs just £20 per year, for riders 17 years and under, whilst Senior Membership is £25 per year. Membership runs from 1st February to 31st January. A family membership is available at £45 or supporters’ membership (non-riding) at £15. For membership enquiries contact Kim Atkinson (Membership Secretary)- 01474703063.
General enquiries can be made to Club Chairperson, Clare Drury – 07958 617648