Fifteen minutes
above the city.
Woodside Road, Sandyford, Dublin 18. Off the M50 at exit 13, or the Green Line to Sandyford and a short taxi. Free parking at the yard, hats and boots waiting inside, and a fifteen-minute head start before you ride.
- Exit 13
- off the M50
- 44 / 44B
- Dublin Bus
- 8 min
- taxi from Sandyford Luas
- Free
- parking at the yard
Woodside Road, Sandyford, Dublin 18
The yard sits above Sandyford on the edge of the forest. Open the directions in your own map app rather than copying the road name across.
Driving, or getting here without a car
Half the people who ride with us come off the M50. The other half are staying in Dublin for a few days and have no car at all. Both work.
By car, off the M50
M50 exit 13, then fifteen minutes up to Woodside Road. Free parking, horsebox access.
Come off the M50 at exit 13 and follow Sandyford up towards the mountains. Allow fifteen minutes from the motorway, and a few more on a Saturday morning. Put the centre itself into the satnav rather than the road name — the directions button above opens it in whatever map you already use.
Luas, then a short taxi
To Sandyford, then a short taxi — about eight minutes.
This is the one we would tell a visitor staying in town without a car. Green Line south to Sandyford, then pick up a taxi at the stop — about eight minutes up to the yard. Sort the return before you ride rather than after, and ask in the office if you would rather have a number to ring.
Dublin Bus, 44 and 44B
Routes 44 and 44B from the city centre.
The cheapest way up and the slowest, so check the timetable on the day and give yourself more time than the app suggests. If the bus lets you down, ring the yard — nobody loses a slot to a bus that did not come.
Two things to bring. We have the rest.
Long trousers and a rain jacket. Riding hats and boots are provided free.
- Long trousersJeans, leggings, tracksuit bottoms or jodhpurs. Anything long enough that the stirrup leather is not against your leg.
- A rain jacketYou are riding on a Dublin mountain. Bring one even when the morning looks settled, because the forest gets its own weather.
- A riding hatFitted to your head in the office when you arrive, not handed over in a size. That is what the fifteen minutes are for.
- Riding bootsIf you have not got a boot or shoe with a small heel, we lend you a pair. Children’s sizes as well as adults’.
Not wellingtons, if you can help it. They are loose on the foot and a loose boot is the wrong thing to have in a stirrup. A flat walking shoe or a trainer will do you until we find you boots. Gloves are worth having in winter, and if you are riding in a skirt or shorts, bring something to change into — nobody wants to spend an hour being rubbed by a saddle flap.
What happens when you arrive
Please arrive 15 minutes early so hats and boots can be fitted.
Parking, the ground underfoot, and the rain
Parking and horseboxes
- Parking is free. No barrier, no ticket, no app, and no charge whether you ride for an hour or spend the morning at a show.
- There is room for a horsebox. Space to turn one and somewhere to leave it while you ride. Ring before you set out so we know a box is coming.
- Leave the gateway clear. Horses come in and out of it all day, most of them being led by somebody with both hands full.
- Bring the lead rope, not the valuables. The yard is busy and open. Anything you would hate to lose is better left locked in the car.
Accessibility, plainly
This is a working yard on the side of a hill, and we would rather tell you now than have you find out at the gate. Between the car park, the office and the arena the ground is a mix of concrete, gravel and, after a wet week, mud. There are no long flights of steps, but there is no smooth level route either, and the forest trail is a stony track that climbs.
Mounting is from a block, at your own pace, with somebody at the horse’s head the whole time. Riders come to us with all sorts of things going on, and the honest answer is that it depends entirely on the person.
So do not guess from a web page. Ring the yard on +353 87 223 7981 before you book and describe what you need. You will get a straight answer from somebody standing on the ground in question.
Irish weather, honestly
We ride in the rain. That is not bravado, it is the climate — if the yard shut every time the sky went grey, nobody in Dublin would ever get on a horse.
- Lessons go ahead. The arena is covered and all-weather, so an hour in it is the same hour whatever is happening outside.
- Walkouts go ahead in rain. The forest takes most of it and a jacket takes the rest. The view over the bay is often better after a shower than before it.
- What stops us is wind and ice, not water. If the mountain is genuinely unsafe we ring you and move the slot. If we call a ride off, we move it or credit it — you are never out of pocket for our weather.
When the yard is open
| Wednesday – Sunday | 9:00 – 18:00 |
|---|---|
| Monday & Tuesday | Closed (open in school holidays) |
| School holidays | Seven days, 9:00 – 18:00 |
| Booking online | Any hour |
Office hours are riding hours: if there is somebody in the office, there is somebody in the yard. Outside them the booking page stays open and the yard reads it in the morning. We reply within one working day.
45 stables, a covered arena and 3,000 acres of forest out the back gate — it is worth allowing yourself a few minutes at the end to stand and look at it.
Four questions about getting here
Can we get here without a car?
How long should I allow to get here?
Is there parking, and can I bring a horsebox?
Are you open on a Monday?
Woodside Road, whenever suits.
Pick a slot and the confirmation carries the directions, the hours and the yard's number. Nothing to print, nothing to remember.