Bel-Air Equestrian Centre
     – cross-country specialists

Horses and Bel-Air are inseparable, and the stars of this show are the horses themselves. Some we have bred here through several generations. Others we have bought from reputable breeders throughout Ireland. Some have excelled in the show ring, others on the hunting fields of Wicklow and Wexford. Our horses are well schooled and well chosen for the various equestrian activities we provide. If you are comfortable in canter outdoors, we will have a suitable horse for you. However, we are not well geared to facilitate beginners or children under thirteen years.

Special riding holiday packages can be tailored to suit your particular needs. We specialise in building rider confidence over cross-country fences on experienced horses. Other riding is available too: flat-work, show-jumping, cross-country jumping, clinics in all disciplines and hacking through fields and forest.

In the Autumn we arrange “Mock Hunts”. These are particularly popular and while we do not bring hounds along and therefore are not actually hunting, the riders get a taste of some of the obstacles likely to be encountered on a typical Irish hunt.

Bel-Air is a 200 acre working farm, farmed by the Freeman family. Among grazing cattle, sheep and horses and along the headlands of arable crops, the land is peppered with an array of cross-country jumps. We have a sand arena for show jumping and flatwork lessons, and just beyond a boundary gate is an access point to thousands of acres of state forest. The whole area is outstandingly beautiful. It is a great place to ride horses! 

Hunts, dressage events, horse trials and shows take place regularly throughout the year and Bel-Air is the home of the Bel-Air Riding Club. We are approved by A.I.R.E. and the B.H.S. and we are members of A.I.R.C. and E.H.I. Bel-Air is the oldest established equestrian centre in Ireland and the U.K.