WHEN you are learning a riding skill, it helps to be trained by the best and Julie Thomas is a former pupil of the legendary Molly Sivewright, former international dressage rider and one of the top equestrian judges and instructors in Europe.

A List One dressage judge and an international judge of show hacks and Arab horses, Mrs Sivewright also runs courses at national and international level at her Talland School of Equitation at Ampney Knowle, near Cirencester, Gloucestershire.

So, no doubt Mrs Thomas is hoping some of the Talland magic will rub off on her own new riding school at Broughton Green, near Hanbury, Droitwich.

For this is a riding school with a difference.

It offers higher level tuition in small groups.

Four is the maximum allowed in a group and Mrs Thomas also offers one-to-one instruction.

She said: “I want to concentrate on riders who really want to see a difference in their riding and I’ll take from complete beginners to advanced. But they must be serious about their riding. This isn’t a place for hairing around fields on ponies or galloping up roadside verges. The experience I gained at Tallands was invaluable and I want to pass it on to the right people.”

Her school, Wards Farm Stables, has its own experienced and wellschooled horses and ponies – some of which have competed at national and international level – for students to ride or they can bring their own. It also has a large indoor arena and outdoor school.

Mrs Thomas was a former leading junior showjumper and her centre offers instruction in all the equestrian disciplines – dressage, showjumping, cross country and side-saddle.

She said: “Being taught by Mrs Sivewright was an amazing experience. I couldn’t have had a better tutor and it gave me the best grounding I could possibly have. That’s why I want to concentrate on high standard tuition myself.”