An inner-city riding school for young children is raising money to open a second site for more experienced riders.
Park Palace Ponies launched in April 2017 and has inspired more than 3,000 children between the ages of four and 10 to ride and gain a love of horses. The project is community-run and affordable, aiming to provide a safe space for schoolchildren.
The community promotes the value of physical and mental health for children, as they gain close relationships with the school’s eight horses: Millie, Moses, Deejay, Malu, Bailey, Magic, Will and Spike. Classes run each day except Monday and cost £15 an hour or £10 for half an hour.
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Bridget Griffin, chair of the board of directors, said: “It’s a safe space to come to when you’re not feeling good, a space to socialise with other people – of all ages. It helps with people’s self-esteem and their wellbeing.
“It gives you a little relief at the end of a bad day to spend time with the horses because they are such a calming influence.”
They also want to bring horses back to Liverpool and show ponies don’t just belong in the countryside.
The current school on Mill Street in Toxteth in the Dingle is a half-sized arena and teaches children to learn to ride up to trotting off the leading rein. Volunteers hope to set up a new, full-sized school in Walkers’ Woods, Aigburth.
The full-sized school will mean older children can learn to trot, canter and jump. Bridget hopes the larger space will mean they can give back to the school’s 40 to 50 volunteers by offering them lessons.
Bridget wants to look into getting pupils to attend from secondary schools and bring in those with special educational needs or struggling to attend school. She said: “Being around horses is like magic and very hard to put on paper.
“It’s amazing to see the benefits for school kids who don’t have a trusting relationship in their life to build a relationship with a pony who becomes their best friend.”
Many riding schools in the city were forced to close due to covid and housing developments. This means the nearest riding school is a half hour drive, or an hour’s journey by two buses. Many cannot afford to continue their riding journey – despite being passionate about horses.
Bridget, 26, told the ECHO: “The new school would mean children in the city can continue riding. It seems unfair that they’ve had a taste of something that’s been so inaccessible to inner-city kids for so long and it’s been taken away from them.
“It needs to happen because it’s not fair. It would be incredibly sad if the plan couldn’t go ahead because I don’t think we’ll get this opportunity in South Liverpool again.”
The team have been trying to buy the 11 acres of land for a year and a half but, after unsuccessful attempts to raise money through public grants and discussions with the council, they are trying to lease the land.
A crowdfunding page has been set up to raise £75k by May 22 – £30k for one year’s lease of the land and buildings and £45k to build stables, an arena and to convert the garage into offices and storage.
They have raised around £6k so far and are desperately pushing to hit their target. Bridget said finding such a large piece of land was incredibly difficult and doubts they could find another one suitable.
She hopes to run the new school initially as a pop-up and for it to become permanent. The original site in the Dingle initially began as a pop-up riding school for six months but became permanent when they met with uproar when closing time approached.
Bridget herself has loved horses her whole life and set up the riding school with her dad, Keith, and a group of volunteers. She works as a geography teacher at Meols Cop High School in Southport during the day and volunteers for the riding school in the evenings – even living in a shipping container onsite.
To help Park Palace Ponies achieve its dream for a second riding school, you can visit the crowdfunding page.
