The Princess Academy of Equestrian

In Bangalore city, near the dusty, polluted region of Mekhri Circle, buried deep into the heart of Palace grounds lies a small, isolated little farm-like place which is known as the Princess Riding Academy. When I first went to the place a year or so ago, it struck me as being a farm right out of an Enid Blyton story-book, all sorts of animals, dogs, cats, hens, cows and some 20-30 horses, it was really a place with a lot of rustic charm but no real Equestrian background.

Enter the Riding enthusiasts, a bunch of amateurs who really had a keen interest in riding turned the club around. Now when I go there, the place strikes me as a true academy of equestrian excellence. When the club started there were hardly any people who were knowledgable about horses but now the club has a 11 time national champion as the instructor who is also an Arjuna Award winner. The club is now considered Bangalore's best riding club, the others being Embassy Riding school and BARI (Bangalore Association of Riding Institute). These clubs frequently have 'Shows' where they pit themselves against each other. In the recent past, Princess has swept these shows, and at the recently held National Equestrian Championships, it had a creditable performance.

The amazing fact about this club is that though it is just one year old, it shows the maturity levels of a full fledged established Academy, and the performance levels in the shows it competes in are quite remarkable.

This Club strikes me to be the best of the three existing in Bangalore currently because it manages to meet the finances of the members, as well as expose them to the joys of riding. The rates of the club are about one-third that of Embassy's but it offers the same riding facilities, while it is much better than BARI's facilities. The beauty of the place is that you have the whole of Palace Grounds to ride in, all 500 Acres of it.

In my Opinion if you live in Bangalore, and want to learn to enjoy riding, Princess is the best place where you can learn about the sheer joy of riding because it is in a class of it own when it comes to pure, unadulterated enjoyment.