Future of Olympic legacy riding centre is uncertain

No decision has yet been made on the London equestrian centre created after the 2012 Games

- LUCY ELDER

A £1.6M equestrian facility created as part of the London 2012 Olympic legacy is facing an uncertain future.

The Royal Greenwich Equestrian Centre opened in 2013, offering training, parttime and degree courses run by Hadlow College. It featured arenas, a hydrotherapy pool, mechanical horse, treadmill, spa, paddocks, stabling for around 20 horses and more.

Funding came from a direct investment by Sport England, plus some financial backing from British Equestrian (BEF), Hadlow College, Greenwich Council, the Olympic Development Authority, the 2012 organisers and the Mayor’s Fund for London.

H&H reported at the time that the foundation courses were “well booked”, and 40% of students were local residents. It also offered riding lessons to local people; a condition of its planning permission was to provide a minimum of 82 hours of community riding per week.

But as H&H went to press (5 August) there were questions over its future. Hadlow College went into educational administration in 2019 and North Kent took over its equestrian courses, which are based at the Hadlow campus in Kent. On 1 August, a North Kent spokesperson told