Local riding clubs hope to gallop to greater popularity

Horse riding is known worldwide as a noble sport from which both mind and body benefit – albeit an expensive pursuit. Nevertheless, whether you’re a passionate rider or a curious novice, there are a few options in the outskirts of Bucharest.

Simona Bazavan

“Horse riding in Romania hasn’t been promoted in any organized way and, as a result, the wider public still mistakes its leisure side with the sporting discipline. This is why it is considered a very expensive activity,” Francisc Petrovici, director of Sport Club Hipocan, told Business Review. Against this backdrop, the crisis has taken a toll on the market too, with the number of clients falling in 2010 against previous years, according to Petrovici.

Local equestrian club owners say that horse riding is much more than a business and that it all began with their own passion for horses at a time when there were very few options locally for the riding enthusiasts. Nowadays, the market for such services is still an underdeveloped one. “I would say that the market is below that from any other given European country,” Sebastian Florescu of the Bucharest Riding Club (Clubul de Echitatie Bucuresti) tells Business Review.

The club was founded back in the early 1990s, as the first private club in the country. “Dan Filimon is the founder of the Bucharest Riding Club. It all began in 1992 with the need to have a place to lodge performing horses in the city, as state-owned clubs at that time did not offer this service. Starting with his horses and help from a group of friends it all developed naturally, turning from a hobby into a business,” Florescu remembers.

The club offers horse boarding (EUR 300/month), riding lessons (RON 80/45 min session and RON 800 for a 12-session course) for which riding wear is required, horse training, harness and horse trading. “The landscape, proximity to Bucharest and direct access to the Baneasa Forest make us different from other clubs in the capital,” says Florescu. The Bucharest Riding Club owns 44 horses, employs five trainers, and gets about 50 customers each week.

“Riding is a balance sport, by which I mean that it improves both a person’s physical and mental condition, bringing us closer to nature,” Emilia Dumitrescu, owner of Arkadia Horse riding club, tells Business Review.

She goes on: “Riding was at a first a hobby but because I fell in love with these wonderful creatures I decided that I had to own my own club. (…) The investment wasn’t a very large one back in 1999 when I founded it, but I would say that today the value of a riding club can be between EUR 2 and 4 million depending on its facilities.” She adds that such a business is a long-term investment.

“The local market is growing but there are also difficulties such as too few local experts in the field as well as insufficient horses from a certain level up,” Dumitrescu concludes.

A riding lesson at Arkadia Horse costs RON 50/30 min, and the club also offers obstacle horse jumping lessons (RON 100/45 min), forest rides (RON 150/ 60 min) and horse boarding (EUR 320/month). The club has four training horses, four trainers and between 50 and 70 customers each week.

Founded in 2001, the Corbeanca Sport Club (Clubul Sportiv Corbeanca-Hipocan Corbeanca) offers in addition to the usual range of services, a series of special programs for schools, kindergartens and companies. The club has a 5,000-sqm academy, four trainers, two stables with a capacity of 120 paddocks, performance and training horses. It is visited weekly by about 60 customers.

A riding lesson costs RON 50/30 min, a 10-lesson course is RON 450, forest rides are RON 150/60 min and horse lodging will set the owner back EUR 250 per month. For leisure riding no special equipment is required and pupils can take their first lessons as early as the age of four, Petrovici says.

“The club is not a business but a very expensive hobby for its founding members who support it financially as it is not self-financed,” he explains. Since 2006 about EUR 50,000 has been invested in refurbishing the center and acquiring the necessary equipment for competitions.

Elsewhere, the Mogosoaia Equestrian Academy (Clubul Sportiv Academia Ecvestra) was established in 2000 by Ion Dulugeac and is located 15 km away from the center of the capital on the banks of the Mogosoaia Lake. A greenfield investment, the club was founded out of a passion for performance horses but it later came to include services for the wider public in addition to an array of specialized equestrian services, according to Cristina Dulugeac, coach at the club. For riding lessons the club has three trainers and a coach.

Another option for horse lovers is the Piccadilly riding club, which offers lessons (RON 50/40 min), boarding for horses and horse trading. Between two and three weekly sessions are recommended for children looking to improve their performance. For a grounding, three to four months are required to learn how to ride alone and to correctly trot and canter.

Getting into the right saddle

Basic horse riding equipment for novice riders consists of a proper riding hat for protection, jodhpurs (special trousers) for comfort and heeled riding boots that prevent slippage through the stirrup. This gear is required wear by some riding clubs.

When it comes to the riding equipment market, the local offer mostly consists of online tack shops that offer a wide range of products from basic wear to branded saddles. Prices begin at RON 200 for hats and RON 150 for jodhpurs and boots.

DMCA

PROTECTED