Children in Liverpool will be able to access free horse riding lessons at Aintree Racecourse this summer.
The Trevor Hemmings Learn to Ride Summer School will be run by Toxteth-based riding school Park Palace Ponies at the home of the Grand National Festival for six weeks from Monday. Children aged five to 10 years old can attend for free riding and pony care sessions, and behind the scenes tours.
Parents can book slots for children on a week-by-week basis, providing them with healthy meals and free holiday club provision throughout the summer holidays. Volunteers from Park Palace aged from as young as 11 all the way up people in their 60s will be on hand to help with tacking up and mucking out.
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Park Palace Ponies has grown rapidly since being founded five and a half years ago by Bridget Griffin. She said: “After the success of the riding school 12 months ago, we’re absolutely delighted to be back at Aintree and even better than before. Opportunities like this are so important for local children and having catered for around 120 kids a week last year, we’re thrilled to be able to ramp that up this time around.
“The benefit that horses can have is magical and anyone who's spent time with horses or ponies will know the effect that they can have on both mental and physical health, especially for children. It can help socially and emotionally, so it can help in such a plethora of ways and have a lot of impact.
“It’s massively important to have the Trevor Hemmings Foundation on board and it’s very simple, we couldn’t do it without them. We put on two free projects during the summer – one at our site in Dingle and one here at Aintree – and without the Foundation there’s no way we could do it so we’re so thankful to them for doing that. It’s really special to be a part of Mr Hemmings’ legacy.
“There could be kids that ride here and go on and be jockeys, or even win the Grand National one day! There’s no reason why it can’t happen and we’re so thankful to Aintree and the Jockey Club for having us.”
The school is being funded by the charity foundation of the late Trevor Hemmings, whose yellow and green chequered colours were carried to victory in the Grand National a joint-record three times courtesy of Hedgehunter (2005), Ballabriggs (2011) and Many Clouds (2015). Hemmings died aged 86 in October 2021.
The riding school has the backing of world champion boxer and Liverpudlian Natasha Jonas, who is an ambassador for The Jockey Club. She said: “If your parent doesn’t drive and you’re an inner city kid, you don’t have access to horses and you won’t even see a horse. You’d never dream of seeing one except for on the TV so to be able to come down and get on one and see the history behind Aintree is fantastic and really great to see.
“Creating opportunities and giving people as many different perspectives as possible is what it’s all about. I’m testament to that, I never wanted to be a boxer and actually started out in football - I kind of fell into it and that was just because of an opportunity that I took.
“As a sports person I genuinely believe that there’s a sport out there for everyone. Not every kid wants to run 100 metres or get punched in the face, there’s other things to do and it’s only through having a go and experiencing different things will you find a passion.
“There’s also a huge mental health benefit to this, as animals have such a calming and soothing effect on people and the help that they can give is massive. There are kids that are still suffering from the effects of Covid and lockdowns and things like this can only help that.”
Dickon White, Regional Director for The Jockey Club, added: “We’re thrilled to once again be teaming up with Park Palace Ponies, continuing what has become a fabulous relationship between the charity and Aintree Racecourse.
“Last year’s riding school proved to be an unreserved success and we’re excited to be able to step things up this time around and offer even more children the opportunity to get involved with the ponies. It’s fantastic to be able to help to offer local children what we hope will be an unforgettable experience, spending time with ponies and riding at the home of the world’s most famous horse race.
“Of course, none of this would be possible without the help of the Trevor Hemmings Foundation and I can’t help but feel that it’s fitting to see the legacy of Mr Hemmings carried on at a place which meant so much to him.”
The Trevor Hemmings Learn to Ride Summer School will run from Monday, July 25 to Sunday, September 4. Spaces are released weekly via the Park Palace Ponies Facebook page or you can call 0151 708 0624 to book.
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