Hargate Hill, Glossop

I had lessons at Hargate after they were highly recommended. Unfortunately my experience is not one that reflected the recommendations.

Different instructor for each lesson which isn't such a bad thing but it is a bad thing when they all teach opposing methods of riding.

Moved to another school and have made more progress during a couple of lessons than I did in the dozen or so at Hargate.

New school go into detail to help improve all aspects of riding ability.

Only wish I hadn't thrown so much money away on inadequate lessons having paid for private.

Waste of my time and money and I'm not going to go into the unapologetic arrogance from management/owner when I spoke of my dissatisfaction.

Poor show all round.

I've not been riding here for very long but the privates I have had have been absolutely amazing and after having two months off from riding I've improved so much in my lessons! They teach you about your position, how to get the horse to bend, your lines, pretty much everything you need to know to become a great rider! The horses I've ridden are absolutely lovely and are happy to let you ride them. They seem like they always want to please. The yard is always clean and the girls on the yard are really friendly and tell you where to go or what to do if your unsure! It's a fab place and I'd definitely recommend it!

Hargate Hill has great facilities with ample menage space and a good set of show jumps. Although for a livery, the indoor school is often unavailable due to lessons being taught there and in the winter it is often overcrowded. however if you are prepared to go up early when it is snowing it is often deserted. i kept my competition horse there for 2 years and kept to myself in one of the quieter blocks on the yard. i found the staff very friendly and helpful when i needed them especially when my horse was injured in the field everyone pulled together to help me get her in. if it wasn't for everyones help we wouldn't have got her out of the field at all so for that i am exceedingly grateful as well as all the support we both got. there is a great atmosphere up there as you are right in the hub of activity with regular unaffiliated shows and a well attended Pony Club, Riding Club and the riding school of course.

The turnout is not great and the fields are very big and a little overcrowded which can be dangerous for younger children catching their ponies and getting ambushed by large excitable animals. On the other hand, stabling is excellent with airy floodlit stable blocks, well swept tidy yards and good room for all your belongings.

The hacking in the area is fantastic with private gallop fields, close by bridleways to the Longdendale trail and over to Hayfield and new mills and a new bridleway by the railway line which you don't even need to go on a road for.

The livery services are good value for money if you are tight on time you know your horse will be in safe hands. The prices are very good for the facilities offered and the bedding and hay is good considering it gets delivered to your door the morning after you ordered it.

i think there is definite room for improvement as far as the whole running of the place goes but for only a few staff to deal with hundreds of people, horses and maintenance each day, i think they do a very good job.

I made some lifetime friends and many memories at Hargate hill and although it isn't perfect, I would definitely keep my horse there in the future. :)

Competitively priced for the facilities on offer as a livery: use of indoor and outdoor schools, show jumps and working hunter fences, and horse walker which usually works. However the advertised "shower room" has been out of functional use for about 4 years, and I can't remember the last time the solarium looked safe. The cross country is also barely useable due to the state of the fields (which I will come to later).

And although stabling prices are competitive, hay and bedding have been steadily overpriced for the last 10 years. I don't use livery services, although MOST of the staff are amicable and have exams to around BHS stage II. Lessons are average, with only 2 qualified instructors in the staff cohort.

Despite this, the yard has two major failings which cannot be overlooked. Turnout is atrocious. Grass livery is not available, although they have been advertising 'year round turnout' since the site opened. With 150 acres a very simple worming and rotation programme could easily be implemented. However the yard is managed on a very much money-orientated basis, where two cuts of hay are required off every field, before it can even be considered for turnout. On top of this the fields used are very much overstocked: the 'mixed' field is a ragwort, swampy mess that has not been rotated since its purchase over 5 years ago. The 'boys' and 'girls' fields do not fare any better, and in response to mud rash and injury worries the reply is often "don't turn out", and appalling attitude to horse management.

I believe a lot of these issues are through ignorance rather than intentional rudeness. The yard is not run by the brightest bunch, and the work ethic appears to be "do less, charge more". However blatant favouritism and special treatment does sour the atmosphere somewhat for older clients who reside there exclusively for convenience.

With a different manager, and a better attitude towards clients, this yard could be fantastic. Unfortunately I don't see these problems being remedied at any point in the near future.

I am very disappointed to see the negative comments here but feel that some of them are down to sour grapes and lack of experience. I have kept my horse at Hargate Hill Equestrian Centre for 11 years and before that was a client of the yard from the 1980s onward. I have been involved with horses for nearly 60 years so know what I'm about and would remove my horse like a shot if I met with the sort of conditions and intransigence that other reviewers have reported. The yard passes its official inspections every year and I find it to be well run. I have never had rudeness from the management or staff and they have often gone above and beyond the call of duty in an emergency. Obviously in 30 years there has been the odd glitsch but a quiet and polite word with the staff or management usually sorts it out. Perhaps "polite" is the operative word!

Bedding, feed and hay are supplied at prices which compete fairly with local suppliers and the stable rents and livery charges compare favourably with other yards which have far fewer facilities. It speaks volumes that so many of the livery clients who leave for cheaper and more convenient pastures new very soon return their horses to Hargate Hill.

The Centre has recently attracted a college from as far away as Huddersfield to do equine and small animal courses and they would not transport their students all that way 3 times a week if the place was substandard!

Hargate hill is the worst yard ever if your thinking of putting your pony on this yard big mistake!! The turn out is discusting lots of horses on this yard being turned out in knee deep mud every day if you want your pony to live out its with the school ponys and they put out one bale between them all which causes them to fight alot our pony was only there for two weeks and she ended up with two big kicks one on her leg the other on her bum she also had two rugs ripped and whenever we brought her in she ate like she was starving due to no grass and being chased away from the hay she seemed really down all the time also the bath in the field was always empty so we had to stand there for 30min everyday to fill it up the riding school takes priority at Hargate hill because it obviously makes the most money!! We were told to pay every 4 weeks but the yard manager Jenna used to ring us on a weekly basis mithering for £25!! We spoke to Jenna the yard manager about our pony coming in for a rest as she wasn't doing so well and there was an empty stable but she told us if we didn't like it we should move off!! My friend also has a 25 year old pony who was told the same when he got mud rash so they couldn't get rid because he was going in the field all the time. The shower room at Hargate constantly doesn't work it runs out of water and the farrier leaves 100s of nails on the floor to get stuck in horses feet which we also complained about and was told they were too busy I should imagine they don't care as the vets bill wouldn't be there's. I am so disappointed at the standards at Hargate hill I had hoped with a bhs they would be better but obviously not. If you care about your horse/pony don't send them here!!!

In the end we walked off Hargate hill and it took the yard manager a week to notice our ponys were missing to which she rang us and asked for her bill to be paid no concern for the horses or ponies whatsoever!!!

Hargate Hill has the facilitates but Not the Management, Any complaints you may have are met with the simple answer of "If you dont like it move off" The turnout is appalling the field is knee deep clay that once you get stuck in you cant get out, There is more than 20 horses out and only two piles of hay which causes alot of fighting resulting in injury to all our horses and ripped rugs, The fields are never rotated so your horse is stuck in the same muddy conditions all year round. The rules you are given when you move on are clearly not followed by anyone on the farm and no effort is made to correct this. Very poor management, would never go on this farm again!!!!!

We help out at hargate hill and we think its great! All the staff are pleasent and we love all of the horses there but our favourate horses are Buddy, Ozzy and Jason! Weve just had 4 new school horses arive but theres not enough space. The new horses are called: Princess, Max, Dolly and Paddy! We love them all! The only thing we dont get, which we want, is a free lesson for the work we do! All the facilities are great! When you book in for a lesson they put you on a sutible horse of your height and ability. Sometimes the horse you want is not avalible but dont worry theres plenty more good horses! We rate this 4 stars!

Hargate Hill is a great riding school and livery facility. The yard is kept clean and tidy at all times. The riding school horses and ponies are kept in good condition and are good to ride. There are horses for all abilities and once that you have been riding there a while you can usually choose the horse you would like to ride. The lessons are varied, you can learn something new each time you go. There are four arenas (2 outdoor, one indoor and an outdoor jumping). The instructors are fair (some nicer than others) but they are all good at teaching you how to ride. The prices can be steep but I think you get what you pay for as it is good value for money. I don't know much about the livery services but from what I have heard, it is quite good. I would recommend Hargate to anyone.

Stabling quality is reasonable, and there is adequete turnout in Summer months. However overnight turn out is of poor quality and emphasis in recent years appears to be on making the most hay possible rather than appropriately rotating turnout, resulting in the poor quality of the most frequently used fields. Riding facilities are good with access to jumps and 4 good arenas, though indoor use is limited. As a riding school it has suffered in recent years for advanced riders with a greatly reduced number of working horses and qualified staff. In addition prices are still increasing, without any apparent improvement in facilities to warrant it. Livery services are ok, but "special treatment" of a few staff favourites can leave others wondering why paying bills on time is not sufficient to warrant reasonable consideration of their requests.