Stepney Bank Stables is an urban equestrian centre in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne. We run activity days, own your own pony days and internal competitions.
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We provide the wellbeing benefits of access to horses to those who wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity. Stepney Bank Stables Equestrian and Activity Club (EAC) is an inner-city project working with horses as part of the team to help young people develop across a broad spectrum of personal and social skills such as resilience, confidence, positive self-esteem and employability skills. The EAC w
elcomes youngsters aged between 8 and 18 to take part in a range of activities such as workshops, tackling issues like bullying, county lines, and healthy relationships, in addition to team building events and excursions. As well as all of this, they also help look after the horses for the British Horse Society approved riding school and help Instructors with lessons. All of the activities are run by a team of well-qualified, enthusiastic equestrian and youth staff who take pride in seeing the club members blossom under their care. The EAC has been recognised multiple times including the Queen’s Jubilee Award. The riding school has a range of well-mannered horses and ponies who work with our superb, qualified instructors to help our customers learn all about how to ride. There are also opportunities to undertake Association of British Riding School and British Horse Society qualifications and some of our young people take part in external competitions.
26/09/2025
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We know that some people will try to bring division to our city this weekend. But Newcastle is stronger than that.
We are Geordies – and that doesn’t mean we were all born here.
To be a Geordie is to share in the spirit of this city: standing together, looking out for one another, and opening our hearts to those who need friendship and safety.
Unity doesn’t mean uniformity. Our differences are real, but they are not what sets us apart – they are what give Newcastle its strength.
We ask you to remember: when chants are shouted, when aggression is shown, it is aimed at people seeking asylum – at human beings, at mothers and fathers, at daughters and sons. People who are loved, or were once loved, and who still hope to be loved, just like you and me.
26/09/2025
What did we just witness?! Athleticism from Dream?! She’s still got it 💪 😂
Footage from Monday when the girls got the zoomies thanks to the arrival of a large puddle/small lake in the outdoor arena.
Daily turnout in the outdoor arena allows vital time to absorb vitamin D, hang out with friends and, sometimes, let off some steam! We’re currently investing in the arena fencing to replace rotting posts and increase the height to make it an even safer place for them to play.
25/09/2025
🐴 Riding lesson availability 🐴
We currently have space available on Level 1 lessons. These lessons are suitable for anyone aged 6+. They are 45 minutes long and cost £30.
We also have availability on Junior Jockeys. These classes are for children aged 3-6. They are 30 minutes long and cost £25.
Very grateful to these absolute legends from Northumberland Estates who not only gave us an incredible deal on fencing to repair and improve our outdoor arena fence, they also loaded it too.
Luckily our CLTH students were on hand at the other end to unload it 💪
24/09/2025
Some very sad news…
This morning we said an incredibly sad final farewell to Ollie as he was put to sleep. His final moments and his last few months were spent in the field in the company of others and grass up to his knees. We’re very grateful to Laura and the Church Farm team for enabling such a peaceful end to his life.
We know this news may come as a shock to some of you and we feel it’s important to share Ollie’s story to explain and to share what we’ve learned from caring for Ollie. Horse ownership has highs and lows and, whilst days like today are the lowest lows, it’s all part of the responsibility of caring for these incredible animals and trying to do right by them.
We purchased Ollie a year ago after a 5 stage vetting process. We could see he needed some help to develop better posture and musculature and felt confident that, together with our incredible team of equine professionals, we could get him in better shape. He seemed quiet and amenable. It’s important to remember that horses are prey animals so adept at hiding pain as signs of vulnerability would make them easy targets for predators.
We firstly got his teeth checked and found significant issues that required several visits over a period of months to begin to resolve. We bought him a saddle and had it fitted. We worked with our farrier to help his feet with supportive shoeing and supported his digestion with ad lib forage, balancer and gut support. He had physio and massage sessions. After several months we hadn’t seen the improvements we’d hoped for and, as we got to know him, noticed struggles in other areas. He was finding relationships with other horses hard, either becoming very attached or aggressive towards other horses. He showed subtle signs of stress when we approached with tack and found canter transitions difficult. We got his back X-rayed and discovered a number of touching spinous processes (kissing spine). We considered options and medicated his back with steroid to relieve pain and inflammation. This seemed to work but his behaviour continued to change and he showed increasing rather than decreasing signs of stress as he started to move his body differently. We turned him out for a few weeks to see if he would settle but he showed signs of struggle even in the field. He was always on high alert and the rest of the herd tended to ignore him (horses know). His feet deteriorated as did his hind leg movement. We felt we were fighting battles on too many fronts (teeth, feet, gut, back, hocks) and his quality of life was too severely impacted. Prey animals need to be able to move quickly to feel safe.
We gave him a few more weeks on great grass with horses he could get along with and let him go on a good day rather than wait for a bad one.
Caring for Ollie has been both emotionally and financially catastrophic for us. We take comfort in the fact that he was well loved whilst with us and that we did everything in our power to make him comfortable. It’s so important to listen to horses’s subtle signs of pain and take them seriously.
Thank you to our incredible team of professionals who contributed to Ollie’s care and to our staff and volunteer team who work tirelessly to care for all of our horses and ponies.
Thank you Ollie.
24/09/2025
Join our team!
We’re recruiting a Business Administration Level 3 Apprentice
Click the link below for more information and to apply.
Business Administration Level 3
23/09/2025
Jerry enjoying a Turmeric Tea 🫖 with volunteers from ncfe_uk
Water buffets are a great way to offer choice and interesting flavours. Jerry chose between mint, camomile, turmeric and apple.
We love our beautiful buckets very generously donated by yeti 🧡
23/09/2025
A busy day with this great group from ncfe_uk.
They weeded, shovelled 💩, washed and scraped walls, created water buffets and lick mats, groomed lovely Larry and scratched some of his itches! Thanks guys 😊
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We are a unique equestrian centre situated in the Ouseburn Valley in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne combined with an Equestrian and Activity Club for 8 - 18s where we help our Members to develop life skills such as self-esteem, self-confidence, and resilience.
We have a superb team of qualified instructors and well mannered horses to provide
horse riding lessons ranging from beginner to advance.
Stepney Bank Stables is approved by the British Horse Society and the Association of British Riding Schools. We are also a Pony Club Centre, this means that we have passed rigorous checks to ensure that our horses, facilities and equipment are fit for purpose and that our staff are appropriately qualified and skilled.
Stepney Bank Stables was honoured by ‘Her Majesty The Queen’ with the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Award 2003. We have also been awarded Investing in Children Membership as a result of our continued commitment to involving young people in the planning and delivery of our work and were winners at the Charity Awards receiving a Judges Commendation for our work with children and young people in 2014.
Equestrian and Activity Club (EAC)
Joining our EAC gives young people aged 8 - 18 the chance to be involved with all of our activities at the stables. As well as riding, you’ll help look after our horses. learning all about them and what keeps them well and happy. Our more experienced volunteers also help beginner riders in their lessons and support new volunteers. There are also many other activities to join in with, exciting trips to go on and interesting workshops to take part in.
Vision
To enable young people to transition positively into adulthood and become positive contributors to society.
Mission
Enhancing lives through horses.
We primarily, though not exclusively, engage with 8 - 18 years old children and young people from the local community. We aim to develop the emotional and social capabilities of our attendees resulting in raised self-esteem, self-confidence, levels of aspiration, employment potential and social mobility. Our attendees will achieve physical benefits, including an increase in fitness levels, whilst participating in the Equine Activities Club (EAC) which will contribute to their overall well-being. We attract young people from a diverse range of socioeconomic backgrounds creating a mutually beneficial, socially inclusive environment.
Values
We believe that every young person involved in our project has the potential to achieve success and flourish. We value diversity and celebrate individuality. We encourage our young people to develop personally and reach their full potential. We are committed to supporting our local and wider community and to being an integral and valuable element of both the Ouseburn and wider area of Newcastle upon Tyne. We are fully inclusive and welcome individuals of any gender and from all social and ethnic backgrounds.
We love to hear from you, so please contact us by email or phone as messages via Facebook might not be picked up straight away.
