Top Horse Friendly Beaches

Photo courtesy of Abigail Hobbs Photography – https://www.abigailhobbsphotography.com/

There is nothing like a long gallop on a sandy beach amongst the waves, breathing the salty air. As well as a great deal of fun, beach riding can also provide useful training for you and your horse; firm sand is fantastic for trotting, cantering and galloping, ideal for building muscle tone, strength and stamina.

Riding on a beach can also be dangerous so you need to be careful: deep, soft or very hard sand can injure horses, especially at speed, and sinking sand or mud is potentially fatal. Make sure you assess the footing to make sure it’s safe to go at speed.

Always check the tide times before planning your trip: https://www.tidetimes.co.uk/

FORMBY BEACH – LANCASHIRE

Formby is a great place to take your horse for a gentle ride along the beach. The only parking suitable for horseboxes is the Lifeboat Road car park, the only access to and from the beach for horses is via the Lifeboat Road path. For an inland ride, there is a short section of public bridle path that runs through the woodlands from Lifeboat Road to Wicks Lane in Formby.

HOLY ISLAND – NORTHUMBERLAND

The white sands of The Holy Island of Lindisfarne offer a vast area to exercise your horses with a picturesque backdrop of Lindisfarne Castle.

REDCAR BEACH – YORKSHIRE

Redcar is a popular beach for horse riders based in the North Yorkshire region. Redcar’s award-winning flat sandy beaches stretch eight miles, south-east and north-west and was once the favourite beach to exercise the racehorses for Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer, Ferdy Murphy.

MABLETHORPE – LINCOLNSHIRE

Mablethorpe beach provides miles of perfect flat sand with the odd pool to splash in! Riding is allowed on all of the Lincolnshire County Council beaches – covering most of the Coastal Country Park’s coastline.

RED WHARF BAY – WALES

Located in Anglesey, Red Wharf Bay provides a beautiful beach to ride on. Depending on the fitness of your horse you can either hack to the beach or there is a suitable car park at the far end of Llanddona Beach. Cool off and ride over to the Ship Inn at Red Wharf and enjoy a drink before heading home.

CAMBER – EAST SUSSEX

Camber Sands is a popular beach for horse riders. Riding is permitted at low tide only, the summer season is restricted from the last Thursday before Easter Sunday to 1st October inclusive. During this period riding is permitted weekdays early mornings (off the beach by 8.30am) and evenings (after 7 pm).

HOLKHAM BAY – NORFOLK

Favourited by the Household Cavalry, Holkham Bay features miles of undisturbed sand to have a blast on. There is dedicated parking for horseboxes, but it is limited and in summer months, it is less busy in winter, but the area can become waterlogged. Riding is not permitted on the sand dunes, shingle ridges, saltmarsh or within the pines.

BREAN BEACH – SOMERSET

Brean Beach offers 7 miles of space to gallop, small lorries and trailers are also able to park on the beach. Whether you’re looking for an exuberant ride, family activity or just some time to yourself, you can always take in the scenery and sea air with your own four-legged friend on the Somerset beach.

Photo courtesy of Abigail Hobbs Photography – https://www.abigailhobbsphotography.com/