Ealing Nub News aims to support our community, promoting shops, businesses, charities, clubs and sports groups.

We will be profiling some of these businesses and organisations regularly in a feature called 'UP CLOSE.'

Today we caught up with Ailean Mills, the director of Ealing Riding School, which has over 30 horses, plus a variety of baby goats, chickens and dogs.

The history of horses in Ealing goes back centuries to the Rothschild family that owned Gunnersbury Park.

The Rothschilds had lots of horses, but about 100 years ago in the 1920s, cars started to become more popular and horses became less used.

Fast forward six decades and to 1984, which is when Ealing Riding School moved to its current location on Gunnersbury Avenue in Ealing Common, which is approximately seven acres.

Ealing Riding School is run by the Hill sisters - Gemma and Kelly - and is unique as it's the only horse-riding school in the borough, with Mills describing Ealing as 'lucky' to have the riding school.

She told Nub News: "Riding schools are something usually associated with the countryside, it's rare to have one in an urban environment.

"People who live in big cities usually don't get the opportunity to ride much, so it's great that we can offer that to them."

Ealing Riding School caters to both novices and experienced riders and is open to everyone no matter their ability.

"We want to encourage everyone to experience horse riding, which is why we try to keep our prices affordable, we're not like the traditional stereotype of old-fashioned country club riding schools.

"Horse riding as an activity is both physically and also mentally beneficial, which is why we want people to try it.

"It's better than a gym workout for your stomach, legs and overall strength, while mentally it's about building relationships and learning how to be in the moment," added the director.

Ealing Riding School also offers a mental welfare programme called 'Be More Horse', in order to give back to the community.

Mills said: "Adults and children with mental health problems often benefit a lot from being around horses and stables and it makes them very happy when they build a close relationship with the animal."

They also run an academy for children who want to learn how to ride but come from low-income families that can't afford to pay for lessons.

As part of their community access programme, they also offer free pony time for kids aged between two and six every Thursday afternoon, in order to meet the ponies, learn about their welfare and get the feel of sitting on a saddle.

Although horse-riding itself is a big part of what the riding school offers, other activities are also available.

These include a Gallivanter Meadow camp, with wood whittling, den-making and resilience challenges – for children, adults and corporate - as well as spending time with horses and ponies outside of riding.

Similarly to most businesses, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the riding school has been hit hard economically.

"We've been closed to the public for months, but still have all the running costs, as this is a 24/7 job.

"We still have to look after the horses, feed them and exercise them, along with paying the members of staff that are working.

"We luckily still have a small stream of profits coming in from people who own horses and need somewhere to house them as they don't have their own personal stables, but that's nowhere near enough.

"We're hoping for a reasonably good spring and summer, as most people are expected to spend their holidays in the UK once restrictions ease."

Ealing Riding School is blessed to have lots of great volunteers who love helping out but are always on the look-out for more.

If you're interested, they have a bookable volunteer induction session every Friday 5-6pm.