Needs pro shootPony Camp
summer 2026
Five days at the yard for ages 5 to 17. Grooming, tack, stable work and riding every day, in groups made up by age and by what each child can already do. Friday afternoon is the jumping show, and you are welcome on the fence.
- €280
- Half day, the week
- €350
- Full day, the week
- 5 – 17
- Ages, grouped
- Mon – Fri
- 10 am to 1 pm or 3 pm
Camp is the same yard your child would come to for a lesson, given five days in a row. That is the whole idea. A week is long enough to be handed one pony on Monday and to still be looking after it on Friday, which is the part that sticks.
It runs every full week from June to August, Monday to Friday. Half day is 10 am to 1 pm. Full day is 10 am to 3 pm, with lunch eaten at the yard. Children are signed in at ten and signed out again to whoever you name on the form.
Places are limited, and July goes first. A deposit of €50 a child holds a week, and the balance is due 14 days before the week starts.
Is my child old enough?
From 5 to 17. Under five is Pony Play instead — one hour, privately, with a parent beside the pony the whole time.
The small group
Usually a first summer on a pony. Short rides, a great deal of grooming, and somebody at the pony’s head until they would rather there was not.
The middle group
Off the lead rein, into trot, and on to poles by Wednesday. Most of the week is spent doing rather than watching, which is what this age wants.
The older group
For riders who want to jump and to be trusted with a pony properly — catching, tacking up, cooling down, putting it away. The whole job, not the ride alone.
What they actually do all day
Riding is about a third of it. The rest is the yard: grooming, tack, feed, and learning to be useful around an animal ten times your weight.
- Day one
Meeting your pony
10 am – 1 pmHats and boots fitted, groups made up, and the pony each child will have for the whole week. Then grooming from the ground: brushes, hooves, and where to stand so a pony always knows you are there.
1 pm – 3 pm · full dayLunch, then the tack room. What every strap is called, what it does, and how to carry a saddle without dropping it on your foot.
- Day two
Sitting still
10 am – 1 pmThe first proper ride. Position, holding the reins without hanging off them, steering round cones, and halting when you mean to rather than when the pony decides.
1 pm – 3 pm · full dayMucking out, water buckets and hay. The unglamorous half of keeping a pony, which is most of it.
- Day three
Trot
10 am – 1 pmRising trot, one group at a time, for as long as each child wants it. Nobody is asked to keep going once they have had enough.
1 pm – 3 pm · full dayPoles on the ground — walked first, then trotted — and a game or two on horseback.
- Day four
The first jump
10 am – 1 pmCross-poles at walk and then at trot, for the groups that are ready. The younger group does the same exercise with the poles flat on the sand.
1 pm – 3 pm · full dayWashing tails, plaiting manes and cleaning tack for tomorrow. Everyone rehearses their round.
- Day five
The show
10 am – 1 pmWarm-up, a walk of the course on foot, and the running order. Ponies turned out properly, by the children who ride them.
1 pm – 3 pm · full dayThe jumping show, from 2 pm. Rosettes for every child. Families on the fence, and nobody minds the photographs.
The jumping show
The week ends in the arena with a course of small jumps and a running order. Every child rides, every child gets a rosette, and the pony they have looked after all week is the pony they ride. It is the reason most of them come back the following summer.
- 1:30 pmPonies plaited and tacked up, course walked on foot.
- 2:00 pmThe show starts. Families welcome on the fence — no need to tell us.
- 3:00 pmRosettes, then everyone puts their own pony away.
Needs pro shoot
Who is watching them
If you want to talk to the people who will be with your child before you pay anything, ring the yard. +353 87 223 7981
Small groups, all week
There are never more than 20 children at camp in a week, split into groups by age and ability, each with an instructor. The same instructor stays with the same group from Monday to Friday, so nobody has to explain themselves twice.
Signed in, signed out
Children are signed in at the office at ten and signed out at one or at three, to whoever you name on the form. Tell us on the day if somebody else is collecting.
Hats fitted, not guessed
A riding hat is fitted on the Monday morning and kept for that child for the week. Boots the same. Both are provided free — there is nothing to buy before camp starts.
Tell us the awkward things
An inhaler, a nut allergy, a wobble about big animals, a hard year at school. Put it on the booking form. It changes which pony your child gets and who walks beside them on Monday.
What they bring
- Long trousers. Leggings or tracksuit bottoms are fine. Jodhpurs are not required and nobody will notice.
- A rain jacket. This is Ireland in July. Send one even on the good mornings.
- A packed lunch and a full water bottle, for full days. There is a place to sit and eat.
- Sun cream, and a change of clothes. Both get used most weeks, often on the same day.
- Not a hat, not boots. Riding hats and boots are provided free and fitted on the Monday morning.
If it rains
- Camp runs. The arena is covered and all-weather, so the riding happens in the wet the same as it does in the sun.
- Most of the day was indoors anyway. Grooming, tack and stable work are all under a roof.
- The Friday show goes ahead in the covered arena if the weather is against us. Bring a coat and stand inside.
- We only stop for weather that is unsafe, which in practice means high wind. You would hear from us that morning.
What a week costs
| What you book | Price |
|---|---|
| Half day · 10 am – 1 pmFive mornings, Monday to Friday | €280the week |
| Full day · 10 am – 3 pmFive full days, with lunch eaten at the yard | €350the week |
| Half day, by the dayIf the whole week does not suit | €60a day |
| Full day, by the daySame as above, ending at three | €80a day |
| Deposit to hold a placePer child, and it comes off the price of the week | €50today |
Nothing is added at checkout. The balance is due 14 days before the week starts.
The weeks
Thirteen weeks, Monday to Friday, June to August. July fills first every year, and it fills before Easter.
Places are held in the order deposits arrive, and the yard keeps this list. If the week you want shows as nearly full, ring +353 87 223 7981 — plans change more often than you would think.
The summer, in photographs
Real photographs, taken by the family at camp, at shows and out on the yard. No stock, no borrowed children.
Needs pro shoot
Most photographs on this page came off a phone. Camp week is the first thing a professional photographer should be booked for — children, ponies and rosettes in one afternoon, at the resolution this page deserves.
Questions parents ask
My child has never sat on a pony. Is camp too much?
How are the groups made up?
My child is doing half days. Do they miss the Friday show?
What happens if it rains all week?
What does my child need to bring?
Can we book single days instead of a week?
We have paid the deposit and now we cannot come.
Hold a week for the summer.
A deposit of €50 a child holds a place, and the balance is due 14 days before the week starts. If you would rather talk it through first, ring the yard — somebody who is at camp all week will answer.