04/08/2022
Thank you and good bye...
We left this until the end because it is the hardest post to write...after running successfully for eighteen years Over Dalkeith Stables has closed. The last lesson dismounted, the last riders gave their ponies the final cuddles and ran off full of the memories of their last lesson.. of the naughty ponies who just wouldn't listen and the ones who were angels and didn't put a foot wrong...of canters newly done or rising trot managed.
Maybe they just felt that wonderful feeling that all riders feel when it is just you and your horse and the whole world falls away around you and you realise this is what it's all about.
Our ponies and ODS have been part of the journey of so many lives. We watched as children grew to teenagers and into young adults. The lessons and the ponies changed the gifts they gave their riders stayed the same.
Our lives revolved around the riding school and the seasons. October activities. Christmas parties. Easter camps and the glorious long days of summer camps..
Like one big extended family we knew the same language. Summer Guinness and Winter Guinness. Laps and Waterloo.
We were so privileged and proud to see the same wonder and magic repeat itself with each new rider,to see it all unfold before them. From tentative steps off the lead rein to confident canters.
Our life at ODS has been wonderful and happy and full and it is very hard to leave, however we are packing up all the ponies and heading off quite literally to new pastures. Our children have all moved south of us and both we and the ponies crave warmer climes and shorter winters.
We are moving to a smallholding in North Devon. Ponies ,cats ,dogs,goats and chickens too. We will be settling up riding and equine therapy and a small glamping site. All with sustainability at the core.
We hope that for everyone who was ever part of the ODS story,for however long or short a time, that we leave you with memories of experiences you can hold dear.
That everything they meant to you was special. That with us and the safe space of the ponies you were able to be your most open and your most authentic self.
It was never only about learning the correct diagonal or correct canter lead. The real learning was all about you and the self you were able to be with the ponies. The friends you made. The discovery you could do hard things. The confidences you shared with your pony...Everyone has their own valuable memories.
If you hold these experiences close in a small place inside you then wherever you go and whatever you do there will forever be a part of ODS with you. Just as there is for us.
With more love and gratitude than words can ever express.
Katie and Shaun Gillanders
