Riding school needs your help to save their indoor arena!

A riding school in the Lake District is asking for your support to help save their indoor arena – and they’ve launched a crowdfunder to make it happen!

Harness Change at Cumbria Rural Academy is the only riding school in the Lake District with an indoor school, and it needs to raise money to replace the arena surface. The current one has been used for years, but it’s now worn out and needs upgrading to stay safe and comfy for ponies.

The best part? If the riding school can raise £7,500, Sport England will match it with another £7,500 – but it needs help to hit this goal!

Harness Change is a British Horse Society (BHS) approved centre and has been offering riding lessons and horsey activities since 2007. As well as lessons and Pony Club fun, the indoor arena has hosted more than 3,800 special sessions for riders with disabilities, additional needs and students who benefit from a calm, indoor space to ride in. It’s also used for school visits, alternative education programmes, therapy sessions and even life skills coaching – all with the help of ponies!

The team at Harness Change are passionate about making riding and pony time available to everyone. CEO Zara Myers said: “Our community is at the heart of everything we do. At Cumbria Rural Academy CIC, we’ve seen first hand how horses change lives.”

Now the school is calling on the equestrian community to get behind it and help save this super-important indoor space so it can keep offering awesome opportunities to riders of all ages and abilities – whatever the weather!

Want to help? You can donate to the fundraiser here.

Photo credit: Jon Stroud. Photo pictured is not the actual riding school.