Riders raise thousands for charity at Sandringham event

Nearly 200 horses and carriages have made the most of a chance to enjoy the scenery of The Queen's Sandringham Estate.

They were taking part in the spring sponsored ride and they helped to raise an impressive £3,200 which will go to the Sandringham and West Norfolk churches.

The Queen gives permission for this ride, and another in the autumn, to take place on her estate offering riders and drivers the choice of five, eight and ten-mile routes.

Although this ride took place on one of the hottest days of the year so far everyone was able to take advantage of woods and shaded tracks and the heavy rain earlier in the week made the ground soft and the going good for the horses.

Organiser Anne Holt said: “I received such lovely comments from a lot of riders telling me how they enjoyed the routes.

“Once again we had beautiful horses and ponies of all shapes and sizes take part and riders both young and older. It's amazing to watch them all set off and come back and they tell us tales of their ride when they come to collect their rosette.”

These rides have been held twice a year since 2002 and in that time have raised in the region of £80,000 for local charities.

The next Sandringham Charity Horse Ride is on Sunday. October 7, and this time the money raised will go to West Norfolk Riding for the Disabled - The Magpie Centre.

For further details please e-mail holtabode@btinternet.com