Horse Riding
Experience Sherwood from the saddle
Sherwood Forest is a great place to explore on horseback. Green lanes and sandy tracks wind allow riders to get close to nature and connect with this ancient landscape. Here are some local trekking and riding centres.
- Sherwood Forest Trekking Centre near Edwinstowe – the village where Robin Hood married Maid Marian. Friendly rides for complete beginners or those more experienced in the saddle. Tel 07811 778302.
- Coloured Cob Equestrian Centre at the northern edge of Sherwood offers riding lessons, hacks, riding for the disabled, and even carriage driving tasters including rides through the limestone gorge of Creswell Crags
- Fairview Farm Equestrian near Blidworth offers riding lessons and hacks plus log cabin accommodation ideal for a “horsey holiday.”
- Kirkfields Equestrian Centre not far from Newstead Abbey offers hacking into Sherwood Forest plus a range of lessons from dressage to showjumping clinics. Camping / caravan pitches too.
- Broadview Riding School and Woodside Stables both offer lessons and friendly hacks into Bestwood Country Park near Nottingham – once a deer park on the southern edge of Sherwood Forest.
Papplewick RDA is a charity funded centre centre in the Sherwood Forest area offering therapeutic riding for the disabled.
Where to ride
Nottinghamshire has more than 500 miles of trails, bridleways and offroad routes suitable for horse riders. The ‘Horse Riding In Nottinghamshire’ page of the County Council’s website has useful information for horse riders.
Or use the walks and rides page to search for a route. Horse riders can use bridleways, byways and restricted byways, but shouldn’t ride on footpaths as these are only for walkers.
Bridleways and byways are marked on Ordnance Survey Landranger and Explorer maps.Check which Ordnance Survey Explorer maps cover your area [PDF 338KB].
You can connect up rights of way to make circular routes. Check the routes in your area with Ordnance Survey maps held at your local library, or you can buy copies from most bookshops or online.
Farmland
Some areas of farmland are open to riders through a scheme called Countrywalks.
Country parks and forests
The following sites have some great areas for riding:
Cotgrave Country Park south of Sherwood Forest has a 1.3km horseriding trail around the edge of the site, with sections of surfaced gallops.
Clumber Park (permit required)
Sherwood Pines (permit required)
Blidworth Woods (Discovery Pass required).
Other useful links
Nottinghamshire Bridleways
British Horse Society
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