The Equestrian Centre is a picturesque, period stable yard and manor house set in 37 acres of glorious English countryside, tucked away in the heart of a modern British city, Milton Keynes. With excellent transport links to London, exploring the capital city or further afield on your days off is easy to do and the Centre is situated within walking distance of supermarkets and a large shopping centre.
The Equestrian Centre is a social enterprise organisation; all profits from our commercial activities are used to support the Milton Keynes based children’s charity. The charity has a strong track record in creating positive outcomes with children. The Equestrian Centre and the charity share the site and the opportunity we offer will benefit both organisations.
Our team prides itself on working with and welcoming a wide range of people to our yard; people who’ve never ridden before, nervous riders who’d like to build confidence, returning riders who want to refresh their skills and those who’ve ridden a lot. We are a really friendly place to work, a place where everyone feels welcome and part of the team and where we all “muck in” – or perhaps, more appropriately, “muck out!”
Your help will be varied – it may involve maintaining the stables, gardens and paddocks. You may be required to help with mucking out – we will train you. WORKAWAYS interested in practical tasks and land maintenance would find plenty of opportunities to practice
We provide ongoing training for all our volunteers and work-away guests and we are
We offer you shared accommodation in the Manor House which has 3 bed sitting rooms and kitchen and bathroom. You can also use the main kitchen in the house and there is a washing machine in the boot room. We provide bed linen and towels. We pay £60 per week subsistence in exchange for around 30 hours’ help per week on the stable yard – you will be provided with a rota as part of our team. You may be asked to help at the weekends.
We have wifi on-site, and communicate via WhatsApp.
Please note that the Workaway program is run by a fellow volunteer and I may not be able to respond immediately to your enquiries. Thank you for your understanding
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
To help develop the first riding school in the UK that operates entirely for the benefit of disadvantaged children. Also a great opportunity to speak English.
Registered charity
This host is a registered charity in the UK and is looking for help with their charity project. Guidance on charity worker sponsorship by a UK registered charity, can be found here.
Help
We are looking for workaways who would like to join our team and help us develop the Centre for the benefit of our customers and those children that come to us, who have no sense of hope for the future. There will be a variety of roles and tasks depending on your experience
We always need people with horse experience-who can undertake yard work and are confident around horses. You would be required to lead in lessons. Those with horse experience can help in the equestrian centre with the opportunity to work with the the children that come to us via the charity
Also at times we need help to up the site (painting/general maintenance/groundwork/outdoor maintenance).
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Accommodation
We offer shared accommodation in a first floor flat at the centre. We provide 3 bed sitting rooms There is a full kitchen and sitting room in the house and utility room with washing machine and drier downstairs.
We offer a subsistence allowance - so you will be responsible for your own cooking - and a large supermarket is within easy walking distance.
What else ...
The care for children that is at the heart of the charity extends to everything we do at the equestrian centre. We place the highest importance on caring for and respecting our horses and ponies, our people and our beautiful place. We pride ourselves on being a really friendly place to work, a place where everyone feels welcome and part of the team. We are a non smoking site.
We are 6 minutes walk from Central Milton Keynes bus and train stations. From here it is easy to get buses to Oxford and Cambridge and there is a 35 minute direct train service to Euston station in London. Milton Keynes is a thriving town with a wonderful theatre, cinemas, and a big shopping centre with cafes and bars. Bletchley Park, the centre of the wartime codebreaking is just 20 minutes away. Milton Keynes has beautiful parks and a huge network of cycle routes.
I stayed with them for three weeks in August this summer. It was my first workaway experience, so I was very nervous, but I have to say that thanks to all the volunteers and the wonderful people who work at the stables, they made me feel at home. The town of Milton Keynes where I stayed is quiet and perfect for getting around England by train or… read more bus. In just three weeks, with every Saturday and Sunday free, I managed to see London, Cambridge, and Oxford, and all the wonderful parks and green spaces of Milton Keynes. The work is tiring, yes, but truly very rewarding. They teach you everything there, they are welcoming and good, and they helped me a lot with my English—great emotional and loving support. Thank you for the wonderful experience you gave me. Best regards, Lavinia, from Italy.❤️
Micky and Frankie were with us in the spring helping with the grounds and horses. They left us early to go to a permanent job , but achieved a lot in the time they were here.
(Very good
)
13 May 2025
Left by Workawayer (Judy) for host
I just returned from five weeks in Milton Keynes, and it was amazing! The area is beautiful, the people are friendly, and then there are the remarkable horses/ponies! The previous feedback is very accurate and detailed. It is a great place to walk and enjoy nature, but also close to the town center, which makes it easy to travel by bus or train to… read more different areas in England. The staff and volunteers are kind and patient. I would recommend this Workaway. I learned a lot and value the time I spent there.
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
I stayed with them for three weeks in August this summer. It was my first workaway experience, so I was very nervous, but I have to say that thanks to all the volunteers and the wonderful people who work at the stables, they made me feel at home. The town of Milton Keynes where I stayed is quiet and perfect for getting around England by train or… read more bus. In just three weeks, with every Saturday and Sunday free, I managed to see London, Cambridge, and Oxford, and all the wonderful parks and green spaces of Milton Keynes. The work is tiring, yes, but truly very rewarding. They teach you everything there, they are welcoming and good, and they helped me a lot with my English—great emotional and loving support. Thank you for the wonderful experience you gave me. Best regards, Lavinia, from Italy.❤️
Micky and Frankie were with us in the spring helping with the grounds and horses. They left us early to go to a permanent job , but achieved a lot in the time they were here.
(Very good)
13 May 2025
Left by Workawayer (Judy) for host
I just returned from five weeks in Milton Keynes, and it was amazing! The area is beautiful, the people are friendly, and then there are the remarkable horses/ponies! The previous feedback is very accurate and detailed. It is a great place to walk and enjoy nature, but also close to the town center, which makes it easy to travel by bus or train to… read more different areas in England. The staff and volunteers are kind and patient. I would recommend this Workaway. I learned a lot and value the time I spent there.
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
I went there in october 2024 and it was nice! You get to know the work behind riding lessons and the life at an equestrian centre. All the people are very friendly and help you! Don't feel shy to ask them sth. if you're not shure with something.
The weather was okay, we luckily had many sunny days. You will share a floor with other volunteers and… read more live/sleep in an old manor house. The house is near the city centre and train station and I got lucky to experience one of the light festivals in that time.
The tasks are varied, but it's a lot of mucking out. You will also help in lessons, bring the horses in/out, make them ready for lessons, sweep floors, wash their food baskets,..
Thank you for the experience!
It was an absolute pleasure to help and add value to such a place. I was honoured to have this amazing opportunity to contribute positively, to a social enterprise where all the profits from the Equestrian Centre are used to support the local charity, which transforms the lives of Milton Keynes’ most disadvantaged children.
Beautiful Centre with lovely ponies and horses, some real sweeties that I took a liking to. The work was as described, rostered 25 hours per week with free days to use at your leisure. I spent a month here and really enjoyed working with everyone, both staff and volunteers are friendly. Janeen is the yard manager and she looked after me well.… read more Nothing was a bother, all I had to do was ask. The local train station is within walking distance, making travel to London or surrounding areas accessible. Accommodation was ok. I started off in the single room, as there were 2 other workawayers, but moved into the double room once someone moved on. Had access to a big kitchen downstairs where I was able to cook my own meals, washing machine and dryer also available. Centre was kind enough to supply vests and spray jackets if required. I was given the opportunity to ride one of the horses (which I did a few times) and helped out with school holiday "Halloween Week" which was lots of fun. If you have a love for horses and don't mind physical work then this place will suit you.
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
(Very good)
18 Oct 2023
Left by Workawayer (Kristina) for host
It’s just an amazing place with amazing people and beautiful horses! I stayed with them for three months and it was a wonderful experience for me!
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
(Excellent)
9 Oct 2019
Left by Workawayer (Pia) for host
Vicki collected me from the Coach Station and welcomed me very warmly. She showed me the yard, the stables and the flat. She explained me everything and accompanied me to my first grocery shopping. The flat is nice and has a big living room. Unfortunately the condition of the flat depends on the workawayers who lived in there before but you can… read more make yourself comfortable. A good washing machine with included drying option is provided but be aware that it is used for horse blankets too (They try to change this and it wasn't really a problem for me.). There are always a lot of volunteers and stuff members at the yard and everyone is very friendly. You can always ask questions and they will show you the things you have to do. You shouldn't be afraid of free and excited horses in the field. Some horses are a bit tricky but they have high safety standards and they normally give the calm ponies to the workaways. There's always a working rota for the workaways. You work 5 Hours 5 days per week. There's a reception where you sign in when your working shift begins and you sign out there as well. What I didn't like was that we almost always worked in shifts. So most of the time one of us workawayers worked while the other had free time. Therefore it was sometimes a bit lonely but you normally have your days off with the other workaways. That's great! We made trips to Oxford, London and Cambridge which was wonderful! The train Station Milton Keynes Central is very close! And can easily reached by foot. That's a big advantage! A supermarket is very close too. The big city center can also be reached by foot. There are lots of shopping opportunities but be aware that Milton Keynes is a planned city. So it's missing some atmosphere. There are no interesting old buildings nor small streets like you find them in other british cities but Milton Keynes has a lot of parks and lakes. The work is exactly as Portia described it. You will be able to have a lot of contact to horses because you will groom and tack up a lot because the children don't groom nor tack up their horses themself. The weekends esspecially in summer are very busy. Then the horses have to work a lot. If you want to ride you should go to the Equestrian Center in winter because then there aren't that much children. In the weeks the work was quite relaxed. When I applied for the workaway the profile sounded as if I would learn a lot about therapeutic riding. This wasn't really the case but now the profile has changed and now it describes the work absolute correctly. So if you like animals, leading children, being outside a lot, getting in contact with other workaways from different countries and having a calm time without lots of social media (because of the very limited WIFI) you will have a great time. I really enjoyed my experience because I had the best flat members ever :)!
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
(Good)
15 Sep 2019
Left by Workawayer (Portia) for host
I loved my time at the stables. Working hours were clear, with set 5 hour shifts in a roster and 2 days off. Since they usually started at 8am (7am weekends) and went to 1, or 1-5, there were plenty of hours in the day to see the local area. Easy transport links everywhere - London, Cambridge, Oxford, Northampton. Buses and trains. The work was… read more enjoyable, quite physical and I definitely got fitter. Did lots of filling hay nets, skipping stables, bringing in/turning out horses, grooming, tacking up/untacking, leading in lessons. Also helped set up fences, check water, weeding. Great experience of a working stable. Accommodation nice enough, lots of people at the stables and often more than one workawayer to get to know. I had a great time. Food allowance was ample and kitchen facilities good.
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
(Excellent)
10 Jun 2019
Left by Workawayer (Kaja) for host
I had my first experience with workaway at the Centre and it was amazing. Vicki collected me from the Coach Station and took good care of us (me and three other workawayers). Everyone at the Centre was so welcoming and nice, that it was hard to say goodbye after two month. Despite that, they were patient and kind, if there was something we didn´t… read more understand right away or if we needed specific vocabulary. On some days the work was harder than on others, but it could also be fun and interesting as I learned a lot and I also got to ride twice.
The city Milton Keynes has some beautiful parks and other areas, but overall it is quite small. Nevertheless, the Equestrian Centre is located very close to the central train and bus station, so you can easily visit other places in England on your days off.
To sum up, I would definitely recommend going to the Equestrian Centre, because you will get to know many amazing people (and horses of course) and you will make lots of memories.
Thank you for everything,
Kaja.
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
(Excellent)
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Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
General Maintenance
