It’s always fun to drool over lust-worthy equestrian facilities, and Spencer Wilton’s new stable yard is sure to impress. The British Olympic dressage medallist and his husband Darren Hicks, moved their horses in over the summer to the stunning Cotswold Club Equestrian, near Naunton in Glos, which is a luxury equestrian facility founded by Charlotte Dunkerton. Charlotte’s vision was to create a five-star equestrian centre, with all the facilities a rider could want for their horse, while also providing a relaxed social atmosphere.
Let’s take a look around…
Spencer has room for 10 horses in his section of the indoor barn – where the current star resident is his Rio Olympic silver medal winner Super Nova II. The horses here enjoy enormous, airy stables, and there is a large private tack room, two wash bays with hot water and a solarium.
Darren Hicks’ courtyard-style yard may be open to the elements, but it is no less impressive, reached through a romantic archway, and also offering 10 luxury stables and its own tack and feed rooms.
Indoor schools don’t come much brighter than this – the glass walls make this 80x50m arena feel even larger than it already is. With a viewing gallery and glass-fronted lounge overlooking the action, it is set to host a number of clinics and conventions in months and years to come.
If you ever felt your own yard was lacking something, perhaps it was this bar! At the Cotswold Club, riders and connections are treated almost as well as the horses, with a stunning, cosy lounge taking pride of place in the centre of the complex.
There’s not much that beats cosying up by a log fire with a drink – or cupcake – in hand after a tough schooling session or exhilarating hack. Actually, maybe if it was followed by a massage…
In addition to the two further social spaces in the pipeline, both overlooking the indoor arena, the club will also soon boast treatment rooms where riders can indulge in various treatments from visiting therapists.
The 20x60m outdoor arena, with an all-weather surface by Equestrian Surfaces, nestles alongside the indoor, framed by shrubs and – on the day of our visit – lots of gloriously autumnal trees.
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The centre also boasts a useful all-weather canter track, as well as seven furlongs of all-weather gallops just a short, beautiful ride away.
With smart post-and-rail paddocks – monitored by CCTV – and woodchip turnout pens for use in winter, in additional to the indoor facilities, this is certainly an enviable place for your horse to call home.
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