Mission Statement

The Riding Centre Association is a nonprofit organization that provides a foundation in safe riding and the care and management of horses through affordable lessons to children and adults of diverse capabilities from Yellow Springs and surrounding communities. People of all ages, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds benefit from day camps, group and private lessons, and our therapeutic riding program.
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Location

The Riding Centre is located at 1117 East Hyde Road in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Click here to see a map. The grounds occupy 60 acres of land that is part of the 1,000-acre Glen Helen Nature Preserve owned by Antioch College and overseen by the Glen Helen Ecology Institute. Through the generosity of Antioch, the Yellow Springs community, and countless volunteers, the Riding Centre has been able to offer lessons, therapeutic riding, and day camps to the Miami Valley at affordable cost for over 50 years. Facilities include two barns, rolling pastures, a large outdoor ring, a lighted indoor ring, a cross-country hunt course, several wooded trails, outdoor shelters for the horses, and stables.
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History

The Riding Centre was the brainchild of Louise Soelberg and was founded in 1959 as an educational, nonprofit project dedicated to teaching the love, care, and understanding of horses. Following a back injury that ended her career as a professional dancer, Louise turned to her other primary love – horses. A unique woman, Louise created a one-of-a-kind equestrian facility. She convinced Antioch College to lease her 15 acres of farmland that was part of Glen Helen, a large nature preserve held by the college. The property included a broken-down barn and a dilapidated, abandoned house she would come to call home.
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By 1961, a formal lease agreement between Louise and Antioch College set aside 60 acres of Glen Helen farmland for the development of the Riding Centre. Its purpose would be to provide educational and recreational services for Antioch College and Yellow Springs. Horsemanship was offered as a physical education class for Antioch students, and costs were kept to a minimum. This practice has continued to the present. This unique nonprofit, charitable learning institution for horsemanship exists thanks to the pioneering spirit, dedication, and love of a remarkable woman. Always putting the needs of the horses before her own, Louise lived out her life in voluntary poverty and died peacefully in 1994, at the age of 90. Her legacy is carried in the hearts and minds of those running the operation today.

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Present Day

Today the Riding Centre is a thriving organization that has an active lesson program, offering both regular and therapeutic riding lessons and horse boarding, and a strong foothold in the community, thanks to the dynamic leadership of manager Carolyn Bailey. As a former student of Louise’s, Carolyn began taking riding lessons at the Riding Centre at the age of eight. She became the manager in 1989 and has kept the spirit of Louise alive through her dedication to teaching all things related to horses. As well as being the lead riding instructor for the lesson programs, she is also one of a handful of master instructors of therapeutic riding in the United States and Canada. Through Carolyn’s steady management, the Riding Centre has had a successful therapeutic riding program for more than 20 years, as well as continuing Louise’s legacy of promoting a love and understanding of horses.


50th BW
In 2009 the Riding Centre celebrated its 50th anniversary, and we look forward to 50 more years of sharing our love of horses with others. Read Lauren Heaton's wonderful article published in the Yellow Springs News.