Park Lane Stables set to return home after renovations are completed
Park Lane Stables (PLS) is getting ready to return to its Teddington home as construction work comes to an end.
The stables have undergone significant renovations since plans were greenlit in summer last year to bring the site up-to-date, originally dating back to the 1830s.
New additions include a new counselling room, a spacious break area, and larger pens with a new horse-friendly rubber flooring.
The stables also feature a modernised version of the 'cuddle door,' a popular addition first brought in during the pandemic to allow passers-by a chance to interact with one of the stables' horses..
Architect Sam Kamleh, who helped design the stables with colleague Damian Jakubek, shared some of the challenges the project faced.
"Once we opened it up, I couldn't believe they lived here," she said, sharing that some of the Victorian-era walls lacked foundations.
While work on the Park Lane Stables has come to an end, the work is just beginning for its staff.
Lexy Mitton, a coach who helps PLS' owner and founder Natalie O'Rourke manage the site, said the stables will slowly reintroduce its horses and riders to the new stable over the next few months to get them used to the urban environment.
"The first priority of the RDA is the welfare of everyone, riders and horses [...] we want to ease them in and make sure everyone is comfortable and happy," she explained.
Ms Mitton, who has been coming to the stables since she was a child, said: "It's like returning home."
"There's such a community [in Teddington], we're returning to that community," she added.
The stables, part of the Riding for the Disabled Association, was forced to move to a temporary home across the river at Manor Farm in Petersham after their landlord refused to renew their lease, despite a national crowdfunding campaign raising £1.3m to allow PLS to stay.
Thankfully, Park Lane Stables was able to buy back its Teddington location in late 2021 after receiving contributions from over 32,000 people.
Manor Farm's owner, Pete McCormack, first offered PLS a home at his stables over the phone after seeing them featured on the BBC.
Mr McCormack said he told Natalie, PLS' owner: "I don't know you, you don't know me, but if you ever need help, I've got stables over in Richmond and you can stay as long as you like."
He added: "Natalie thought it was a prank call at first!"
After three years on Manor Farm, Mr McCormack says he will miss the riders and horses of PLS.
"You could be in the worst mood in the world, but there's always joy and there's always smiles when they're around," he said.
While the process will be a gradual one, staff expect the first horses to arrive at their new home from September.
In the meantime, the stables' riders are gearing up for the RDA National Championships following several successes in recent regional competitions.
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