The thread in the H/J forum about riding in NYC with transit has me thinking. Are there places in Europe/the UK where it’s easy to take public transit to get to boarding places? I know there are places like Hyde Park in London where you can essentially go on trail rides in the park. Are there others that offer boarding or a lesson program?
I don’t know the answer to this for NY, not living anywhere near.
But my first thought was “Doesn’t NYC have Zip cars?”
It’s like car rental only not for whole days. Hours instead. That might work for the last-mile kinds of transportation.
North American cities have very diverse layouts and those have changed over the decades.
In most North American cities, most people live in the suburbs, not the urban core. Depending on development pressure, or agricultural land reserves, the suburbs may be next door to rural land. However, in those areas typically bus service is awful and biking or walking is dangerous because of no sidewalks.
So it’s hard to generalize even here. NYC is very different from any other North American metro area.
I think it would be hard to get out of the bigger European capitals like London. But I expect there are many smaller cities in Europe and Britain that are easier to get out of.
There are several livery/lesson stables in the Richmond/Kingston/Wimbledon area of London still, with access to Richmond Park and also lesson facilities. Off the top of my head, Wimbledon Village stables, Stag Lodge Stables, and there’s a dressage barn, Minette Rice Edwards’ place at Ham House. I used to ride my horse over to her for lessons when I lived just on the edge of Richmond Park and kept my horse right there. It was actually the closest boarding barn to home I’ve ever had, and I worked in Central London at the time!
There are also places all around the fringes of London that you can get to on the tube.
Anyhow, nowadays when we go over to see the kids we often stay on Richmond Hill, and I frequently see people dressed in riding clothes getting on the bus! I haven’t ridden there recently as the timing never seems to be right, but I think my 7-year-old granddaughter might be just about ready and just about interested enough to give it a go this Fall.
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I wondered about this when I was daydreaming about a job opportunity in Berlin. The fun would be going and living the city life (no car) but could I do horses without it? In the US it is so impossible to imagine access to horses without a car. I never got past daydreaming but I’d love to know.
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Thanks for the info @atr!
And @Zevida, I’m having the same thoughts as you! I’m daydreaming about living in a place that doesn’t require a car for daily life. Being able to get to horses without driving would be icing on the cake.
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Would an e-bike or inexpensive small scooter work? Buy used and sell again when relocating?
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Ooh, that’s a great idea! When the e-bike threads pop up, I always read with interest.
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When my daughter had summer riding program she had one student who rode the commuter train from east of Dallas (Mesquite) to the rail stop near Fort Worth that is one mile from our place, we just picked her up from the train. The trip was about 40 miles, required one change of trains in downtown Dallas but was easy to do.
However the about 130 miles of commuter rail service here in DFW mostly goes to nowhere people wish to be
That is smart, and thinking Europe again it’s much more bike friendly there.
On the other hand it also depends on how far. Sometimes I am wiped out after riding! Plus there is rain, snow, and darkness (after work or early before work) to contend with.
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It’s totally possible from Berlin and plenty of other cities in Germany. I live in a large German city and there are at least four boarding/ training facilities accessible by public transportation, and of course many more if one is willing to bring a bike for the last few kilometers from the train stop.
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