Latest News
Posted on March 2nd 2023
HBAED Visits The Riding A Dream Academy
Danny and William, Year 9, report on our recent visit to the Riding a Dream Academy, where we got to learn about horseracing and ride some horses too!
It was a blast! This astonishing academy is based in The British Racing School, Newmarket, Suffolk. From the moment we arrived until the moment we left we were dazzled by the array of beautiful racehorses and ponies.
We left school via minibus at 7:15 and arrived there at 9:30. Once we arrived, we were greeted with open arms by the staff (and with juice cartons and cookies). We entered a medium sized classroom where we received our body protection, horse riding helmet and appropriate boots.
Afterwards we were given a tour of the whole facility (as well as the horses!). The horses also greeted us. We saw the thoroughbred racehorses and the riding school ponies. We observed dozens of trainee jockeys warming their horses up in the yard getting ready for a morning of racing.
Right after the tour we hopped in their own minibus and watched the students on horses (12-week course) galloping down the straight for six furlongs (0.75 miles) as we followed beside. The speed was breath-taking! Now this is going to get interesting... Harris Boys' Academy is incredibly lucky because we were able to ride on some horses at trotting speed. We were also taught to steer, start and stop. It was so much fun! After our exhilarating riding lesson, we were treated to tasty pasta with some sauce and juice. Delicious!
After lunch we walked to another building and we tried out a large, medium, and small jockey simulator. They were fun! It was exhausting trying to maintain the correct riding position whilst the simulator galloped away; it gave us a new found respect for jockeys and their incredible fitness levels. Right after we competed that task, we entered the classroom and watched a documentary about Khadijah Mellar and how she was the first Muslim woman to win a jockey race. There is also a scholarship in her name at the British Racing School. This documentary was about her life as a Muslim jockey.
We hope to return to this incredible academy and wish the day were longer! Big thanks to all the staff that participated on this trip!
Danny and William, Year 9
