THERE were great celebrations in Co Down at the weekend as Adrienne Stuart marked the 40th anniversary of Gransha Equestrian Centre. Family, friends and Gransha clients gathered in the courtyard at Clandeboye Estate near Bangor on Saturday afternoon, where a very family-orientated function included a bouncy castle for the younger guests, while others enjoyed a hog roast and a catch up.

After leaving school at the tender age of 17, Adrienne went to work on an Arab stud farm in north Wales, then as a groom in Austria, where she spent three years before moving back to Ireland to work for equine vet Robin Cutler in Drumconrath.

Then, in 1980, she rented Ballymacormick Riding School, a tiny place where she had previously been taught as a child by Marylin Dickson. Her dad helped with the business side of things but, as her parents weren’t horsey, Adrienne looked after the equine side herself. She stayed there for four years, until she got married in 1984, when she moved to Greyabbey – not an ideal location for a commercial business.

She often passed a farm on the edge of Bangor and thought it would be a great place for a riding school… It came up for sale in 1985 and they bought the farm. They converted outhouses into stables and then built some more. Originally, Adrienne taught riding lessons in a field beside the house and held shows. She ran summer camps, where children came and stayed in a large bedroom in the house, known as the dormitory! They added a small sand arena, which proved useful and the first indoor arena was in operation by 1990.

Adrienne’s daughters, Kirsty and Courtney, both wanted to work with horses and teach, so in the autumn of 2014, Adrienne saw an advert for a 76m x 24m shed in England. After drawing up a business plan and approaching banks, they bought the shed. That just left the latest addition, known as the TopSpec Arena. Gransha now has facilities to rival any equestrian centre – two indoor arenas and two outdoor arenas plus a small warm up. They continue to teach an average of 160 riders per week.

The growth of Gransha over the past 40 years has certainly created a great foundation for the next 40. Congratulations!