Welcome!
Concord Equestrian Center (CEC) has been responsible for introducing the sport of english riding to both beginner adults and children as well as polishing skills in the show arena for nearly twenty years in Del Mar Horsepark. Prior to owning CEC, Mark Conley operated a similar business in Texas after retiring from a successful show career on the East Coast 'A-level' show circuit. Since then Mark (pictured right) has returned to showing in both the hunter and jumper arenas and enjoys guiding young and/or green horses through the beginning of their show careers as well as putting the polish on more advanced horses for their riders.
What we do
While we do not have rental horses available or offer trail rides to the public, we do offer riding instruction and training to riders of all ages (5-adult) and levels on school horses, lease horses and those owned by the rider. In addition we offer special training for horses whose riders do not ride or who wish to have their horse introduced into the show arena by a seasoned professional. Consignment programs are available to owners who need to put some polish on their horse and then have them sold. To find out more about our program please visit the 'Our Program' link above.
Why ride? Why introduce riding to your child?
Riding has several physical, emotional and intellectual benefits that many people are unaware of. First of all we like to emphasize the relationship that is built between a person (child or adult) and an animal that is kind and gentle yet large and strong and for that reason can seem scary. All the instructors at CEC enjoy the challenge of relating to the student how to firmly establish a gentle and subtle manner of communication with their mount both from the ground and on their back.
It is also very important to realize that riding is a physical activity. Adults who ride regularly often feel stronger and tend to be in better physical shape after a few months. We suggest that children ride at lease twice a week so that they can become strong enough to properly and more easily learn the skills we teach. Just like any sport, repetition is crucial and the only place we can do that in on horseback!
Lastly are the mental benefits of riding. Coordination, body awareness and focus are all improved while the rider struggles to guide their mount through exercises. Sometimes it can be a challenge enough just to memorize the exercise given!!
Opportunities at Concord Equestrian Center
As noted above, repetition is crucial especially as a rider decides that is in time to enter the show arena. We have lease opportunities available that give the rider the opportunity to enjoy as many as five lessons a week. We also have tons of experience in carefully matching riders to ponies or horses as they decide that ownership is the way to go. In very special cases we also consider participants in our program for working student opportunities. At present we are also actively seeking an adult who has some experience to join the us in a work-study program that could progress into some work instructing and assisting with camp programs over the summer.