Summer Pony Camps at Dunbyrne Equestrian

We are delighted to have our Summer Pony Camps up and running for Summer 2024. We will be running pony camps every week starting the 2nd July.

Camps will run Tuesdays to Fridays from 9am to 5pm making them ideal fort busy parents, working parents and avid pony fans aged 6-17!

Camps will include 2 riding sessions each day, arts and crafts, stable management and games. We will have a camp riding display on the Friday that parents are of course welcome to come and watch.

Camps cost 250 euros which works out at just under 8 euro per hour giving great value for anyone wanting to learn about horses and ponies.

For our existing customers, camp can be booked using the links and information that the office will have sent you.

For anyone who hasnt ridden with us before we would ask you to come for a try it session (for beginners ) or an assessment session (for those who can ride). These last 30 minutes and cost 20 but if you proceed to book a camp afterwards, we will take the 20 euro paid off your camp balance for you. This means that you will essentially get your try it or assessment session free of charge,

For beginners, try it sessions allow parents to ensure their child enjoys horse riding before committing to a pony camp. For those who have ridden before, an assessment session allows riders to become familiar in a new place and allows our instructors to gauge their riding ability to ensure we place them in the right group.

You can learn more at this link - https://dunbyrneequestrian.ie/pony-camp

We are based at the Hill of Allen just between Milltown and Kilmeague in Kildare.

Please pop us an email dunbyrnestud@gmail.com with any enquiries

Summer Pony Camps at Dunbyrne Equestrian - August 2023

Can you believe it’s August already?

We are running half day Summer pony camps all through August at Dunbyrne Equestrian in Kildare.

Our camps run Tuesdays to Friday. Our morning camps run from 9.30-12.30. Our afternoon camps run from 2-5pm. Riders aged six or over of all levels are welcome

*for beginners aged ten and under we recommend riders to come for a 30 minute try it session costing 20 euros before booking camp. The reason for this is 1) it allows parents to see if a child enjoys horse riding before committing to a camp and 2) it means that the child can attend camp without having to have a parent or a guardian aged 16 or over accompany them the first day of camp to lead them.

Camps include horse riding, horse and pony care, arts and crafts and games. On the Friday riders will perform a riding display and parents and family are more than welcome to come and watch.

Children must be at least aged six or over to attend camp. We will provide riding boots, helmets and back protectors for use during camp for new riders. Riders must wear long sleeved tops without a hood, thick leggings or tracksuit bottoms (no shorts!) and given its Ireland a waterproof jacket an sun cream are always wise to bring as you will probably need one or the other. Long hair must be tied back and jewellery aside from stud earrings must not be worn for safety reasons.

What to bring - suncream, waterproof jacket, a snack and a drink.

Camps cost 120 euros and a 30 euro deposit via online booking is required. Full payment of balance must be made the week before camp. Deposits are not refundable. Camp payments after one week before camp are not refundable.

To book camp -

Book online - https://itsplainsailing.com/org/dunbyrne#merchandise

Enquire Online - just pop us an email at dunbyrnestud@gmail.com and tell us your childs age and level of riding experience. We can then discuss your enquiry with you.

Thank you

Final Call for Summer Pony Campers!

Our final Summer Pony Camp for children aged six upwards will take place Tuesday the 23rd August to Friday the 26th August 2022. This takes place at our family run riding school in Kildare.

This camp takes place from 9.30-12.30 each day and the camp is suitable for all levels of rider. Camp costs 120 euro per child with a 30 euro non refundable deposit required to secure a space.

To enquire or book for this camp, please email dunbyrnestud@gmail.com and include:

• Your name

• Child’s name, approx weight and height and age

• Any medical conditions that may affect riding

• Any allergies we should be aware of

• Your child’s level of riding experience (if any) to date

Thank you

Dunbyrne Summer Camp 2019

Summer Pony Camp 2019!

Welcome to Summer 2019. Many of you have been very proactive and have contacted us to enquire about Pony Camps. Thank you for your patience while we created our Summer time table. This blog post aims to tell you everything you need to know about summer pony camps at Dunbyrne Equestrian. 

Dates:

We aim to run camps on the dates listed below subject to a minimum number of bookings per camp. Camps run from Tuesdays through to Fridays from 10am to 4pm. 

• Tuesday 2nd July - All levels, beginners welcome

• Tuesday 9th July - All levels, beginners welcome

• Tuesday 16th July - All levels, beginners welcome

• Tuesday 23rd July - All levels, beginners welcome

• Tuesday 30th July - Advanced camp, approval required pre booking.

• Tuesday 6th August - All levels, beginners welcome

• Tuesday 13th August - All levels, beginners welcome

• Tuesday 20th August - All levels, beginners welcome

Times:

Pony camp runs from 10am to 4pm. On the first day campers should arrive by 9.45am for registration. Campers should aim to be on time each day. Campers must be collected before 4.15pm each day. 

What to wear:

We can and will provide a hat of approved standard and a back protector free of charge for use during riding lessons. We have a limited number available. We also have riding boots in a limited number of sizes that can be borrowed. We ask that you wear boots with a heel, a long sleeved top (without a hood) and jodphurs / breeches / thick tracksuit bottoms. Long hair must be tied up at all times and jewellery aside from small stud earrings may not be worn

What to Bring:

Campers should bring a change of clothes, waterproofs and a packed lunch. 

What happens at pony camp?

Tuesday to Thursday - campers will ride under instruction from BHS instructors, take stable management lessons where they will learn how to look after their pony and will enjoy games and activities. Riding lessons will comprise of flat work and jumping and where appropriate, cross country and hacking . 

On the Friday we will have a show where campers will get their ponies ready before show casing their skills over a course of fences / obstacles in the afternoon followed by a prize giving. We would encourage parents and guardians to come and watch the show if possible as the children really enjoy it. 

Costs:

Pony camp costs €130 per child per week for one child or €120 per child per week for two or more children from the same family or for agency bookings. We believe that our prices are fair and competitive given the quality of instruction provided. All of our instructors are 18 and over and BHS (British Horse Society) qualified with first aid training, Safeguarding and Garda Vetting. Please do not ask for discounts as refusal may offend.

Levels:

We welcome all levels for pony camp aside from our advanced camp which takes place the week of July 30th. Advanced camp is restricted to our more advanced riders. If you are a regular client and unsure if advanced camp will suit you please ask your instructor for advice.

Where we have a mixture of levels in pony camp we will cater to those levels and will split classes where we have quantities to do so. While we welcome advanced riders our ponies are riding school ponies and therefore any jumping will take place over an appropriate height. 

Booking:

To book a place on Pony Camp please email us - dunbyrnestud@gmail.com. the team are unable to take booking in the riding school - please email to book so that we can ensure that we have everything in order and your child can enjoy camp.

Children must be aged six years or over to attend camp.

When booking, please advise us of the following information

• Campers name

• campers age / height / weight,

• Name and number of emergency contact / next of kin

• campers level of riding experience,

• Which camp you would like to do.

• Any allergies or illnesses.

  A €30 non refundable booking deposit per child will be required in advance to secure your booking. Places are limited so please book soon as only bookings with a deposit paid will be confirmed. You can pay your deposit by bank transfer (putting your name as reference, by paypal or by cash / cheque. Cash / cheque payments will only be accepted by the riding school when in an envelope labelled with your name, childs name and the camp that you are paying a deposit for.

  Your balance will be due before camp commences. This can be paid on the first day of camp at 9.45am by cash or cheque or you can pay us in advance by bank transfer or paypal.

No Slacking November

Forget no stirrups November - what we have got here is no slacking November! The weather has turned, leaves are falling, the evenings are dark and yet we have been so impressed by the dedication of our clients to continue to work hard with their horses and improve.

Halloween Pony Camp

We had our Halloween Camp from the 30th October to the 2nd November. This was our biggest camp ever with over 30 attendees! Thank you to our instructors - Tara, Rebecca, Samantha, Mary and our team for making it the success that it was.

Pony Club Halloween Show

On Friday the 2nd November a group of DBS Tail Blazers went to Coilog with Lorna for the Newcastle Lyons Pony Club Halloween Show. This group of riders really excelled on the day and did Dunbyrne Proud! Zara, Caoimhe, Sive, Sinead and Ella gave it socks in the jump off against the clock earning well deserved rosettes. it was Caoimhe’s first ever pony club show and her pony Judy was on flying form. Zara and Ella were on new mounts and are on the way to growing successful partnerships with them. Laura and Bobby took on the fences in the biggest class with great confidence. Thank you to Newcastle Lyons for a great show.

Riding Club Autumn league success

Our riding club members have been knocking it out of the park in terms of results lately and have turned into a real group of show jumpers and dressage divas. We were delighted to see how well our club was represented in the final results of both the Dressage and Showjumping West Leinster Autumn leagues.

• Michelle Davitt, second place in the primary showjumping league

• Cailey bergin sixth place in the primary showjumping league

• Tori Cummins Kennedy sixth place in the advanced primary league

• Susanne Walsh second place in the primary dressage league

• Deirdre Doyle sixth in the primary dressage league

• Mary Wade winner of the intermediate dressage league

• Miia Pekkala fifth place advanced intermediate dressage league

• Lorna O’Hare winner open dressage league.

Well done everyone! Great to see the hard work paying off. Well done also to Emma Downey second in the open league, Emma trains with Ross O’Hare and has put huge efforts into her training this year.

We look forward to seeing their riders collect their prizes at the Regional awards night later on in the month. We have sponsored a lesson with Ross and lesson with Lorna at Dunbyrne as prizes for the raffle on the night and Lorna (Equestrian Reality) will present an prize sponsored by Clippers Ireland to the best dressed human on the night

Dressage Ireland success

Orla Harrington and her four year old Othello set out to compete this Autumn with the goal of qualifying for the Dressage Ireland Winter Finals at Cavan in April. In just two shows, one of which was in some pretty horrific weather conditions this pair nailed it and have achieved their qualifying scores to earn them a place in the preliminary finals. They will work now towards Novice over the winter training with Ross - what a brilliant start to Othellos dressage career.

Grid Work Sessions

Ross our BHSI has started running grid work sessions at 2pm on a Saturday. These sessions use grids to help riders to gain confidence in their show jumping and progress over height. Starting at 80cm and working upwards during the hour these grid work sessions are open to our liveries, our riding club members and also to anyone who wishes to travel to us to take part. Just contact us at dunbyrnestud@gmail.com to get involved!