{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox military installation |name=Army School of Equitation |image=Weedon Bec - depot entrance - geograph.org.uk - 3701224.jpg |caption = The canal gateway at Weedon |type = Barracks |map_type = Northamptonshire |pushpin_map_caption = Location within Northamptonshire |coordinates = {{Coord|52.2325|N|1.0834|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |ownership = [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] |operator = {{army|United Kingdom}} |built = 1922 |used=1922 to 1940 |architect = |built_for = [[War Office]] |garrison = |occupants = Depot of the [[Intelligence Corps (United Kingdom)|Intelligence Corps]] }} The '''Army School of Equitation''' was a [[British Army]] school at [[Weedon Bec|Weedon]] in [[Northamptonshire]], created in 1922 and closed in 1940. In the worlds of cavalry and horses it was commonly called simply '''Weedon'''.
==History== [[File:Stables at the former Army School of Equitation - geograph.org.uk - 4057794.jpg|thumb|left|The stables of the Army School of Equitation photographed in 1974]] The site had its origins in the Military Ordnance Depot established there in 1805.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/weedon-bec-a-home-fit-for-a-king-new-bbc-film-casts-controversial-light-on-historic-military-hub-4078093|title=Weedon Bec: a home fit for a King? New BBC film casts controversial light on historic military hub|date=24 March 2023|newspaper=Northampton Chronicle|access-date=22 July 2025}}</ref> By 1919, it was also the home of the Royal Artillery Riding Establishment after the riding school at the [[Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich|Royal Artillery Barracks]] in [[Woolwich]] was designated solely for the purposes of teaching cadets at the [[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich]] to ride.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1919-11-18/debates/87fbc555-cf0a-4fbe-8d07-415dba4bc467/RoyalArtilleryRidingEstablishmentWeedon|title=Royal Artillery Riding Establishment, Weedon|date=18 November 1919|publisher=Hansard|access-date=23 November 2025}}</ref>
In December 1922, the Royal Artillery Riding Establishment amalgamated with the Cavalry School, previously based at [[Netheravon House]] in [[Wiltshire]], to form the Army School of Equitation at Weedon.<ref>Richard Mead, ''The Last Great Cavalryman: The Life of General Sir Richard McCreery, Commander Eighth Army'' (Casemate Publishers, 2012), [https://books.google.com/books?id=3a-_4BEGiOwC&pg=PA30 p. 30]</ref> The first Commandant was Colonel [[Charles Walwyn]], known as "Taffy".<ref name=JB2>John Board, ''Horse and Pencil'' (1950), p. 36</ref>
The choice of location gave an area with good riding country, in the heart of England, served not only by the [[Grand Union Canal]] and [[Weedon railway station]] but also by a branch line to the military depot.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4562836|title=Northamptonshire: Weedon Bec. 'Plan of Weedon Barracks' |publisher=National Archives|access-date=22 July 2025}}</ref>
The school came to be seen as the leading centre of British horsemanship and was described as "the Mecca of cavalrymen throughout the Empire".<ref>''[[Blackwood's Magazine]]'', vol. 264 (1948), p. 300</ref>
The [[Great Britain at the Olympics|Great Britain]] equestrian team at the [[Equestrian events at the 1936 Summer Olympics|1936 Summer Olympics]] in Berlin was raised from the Army School of Equitation at Weedon, with [[Philip Bowden-Smith]], a former Chief Instructor at Weedon, as team captain. It won the Bronze Medal in the team eventing.<ref>"Army Horsemen Honoured: Olympic Games Achievement", ''[[The Times]]'', 10 October 1936.</ref>
Weedon closed in 1940.<ref name=GAB>George A. Bennett, ''Let's All Enjoy the Horse Show'' (1951), p. 38</ref> Its demonstration horses were dispersed and were noted for their high standard of accuracy in performing the school movements.<ref>Board (1950), p. 67</ref> Ten years later, the term "Weedon seat" was still being used for the style of riding taught at Weedon.<ref name=GAB/> Instead of the old-fashioned "backward seat", it taught a version of the "forward seat" developed by [[Federico Caprilli]] in the Italian Army's school at [[Pinerolo]].<ref>Michael Clayton, William Steinkraus, ''The Complete Book of Show Jumping'' (1975), p. 34</ref>
[[File:Former stables of the Weedon Cavalry School - geograph.org.uk - 4054209.jpg|thumb|right|The floor of the former stables, now a feature within a housing estate]]
Weedon gained fame through the achievements of its pupils, including [[Harry Llewellyn]] and his horse [[Foxhunter]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Genevieve |last=Murphy |title=Sir Harry Llewellyn Bt |format=obituary |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-sir-harry-llewellyn-bt-1126621.html |work=[[The Independent]] |date=1999-11-17 |accessdate=2008-10-15}}</ref>
In 1950, John Board wrote that "All English riding to-day is based on the teaching of Weedon."<ref name=JB2/> In 1952, he added that "nearly all of our best horsemen" had graduated from the school, adding "Now there is no Weedon."<ref>John Board, ''Horses and Horsemen: Hunting, Jumping, Showing, Polo'' (1952), p. 133</ref>
==Commandants== *1922–1923 : [[Charles Walwyn]]<ref name=JB2/> *1923: [[George Alexander Weir]], {{post-nominals|post-noms=CMG, DSO}} *1926–1930: [[Wentworth Harman]]<ref>"Harman, Lt-Gen. Sir (Antony Ernest) Wentworth" in ''[[Who's Who (UK)|Who Was Who]]'', online edition, 1 December 2007, accessed 30 October 2023 {{subscription required}}</ref> *1934–1938: [[John Blakiston-Houston (British Army officer)|John Blakiston-Houston]]<ref>[https://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Army%20Commands%201860-.pdf Army Commands], accessed 29 October 2023</ref> *1938–1939: [[James Joseph Kingstone]]<ref>[https://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_K01.html#Kingstone_JJ "Kingstone JJ"], British Army officer histories</ref>
==Question to War Secretary== On Tuesday 25 July 1939, in the House of Commons [[Somerset de Chair]] asked [[Leslie Hore-Belisha]], [[Secretary of State for War]] "whether it has been definitely decided to close down the Equitation School at Weedon; and, if so, whether he will consider establishing a training and remounts depot there to supply the remaining horsed cavalry regiments."<ref name=Hansard/> The reply was {{Quote|"The establishment at Weedon comprises an equitation school, where officers and other ranks are trained as instructors in equitation; and a remount wing. The transfer of the school and remount wing elsewhere has not yet been finally approved. A depot squadron for training cavalry recruits has been opened at Edinburgh."<ref name=Hansard/>}}
Chair then asked "May I take it that, if it is decided to transfer the establishment from Weedon, it is not proposed to abolish the Equitation School as such?"<ref name=Hansard/> The reply to this was {{Quote|"I hope that my honourable Friend will not read into the answer more than it contains."<ref name=Hansard>[https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1939-07-25/debates/5d399431-ad4e-4dde-b577-c03dfafdd842/EquitationSchoolWeedon "Equitation School, Weedon"] debated on Tuesday 25 July 1939, in ''[[Hansard]]'', Volume 350, hansard.parliament.uk, assessee 30 October 2023</ref>}} ==Aftermath== The Equine Training Squadron of the [[Defence Animal Training Regiment]], based at [[Melton Mowbray]], has stabling for 140 horses and grazing for 260. It provides training for all riders and horses going to the [[Household Cavalry]] ([[Life Guards (United Kingdom)|Life Guards]] and [[Blues and Royals]]) and the [[King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery]]. When [[Anne, Princess Royal]], formally opened a riding school there in 2008, it was referred to as "the new Army School of Equitation Riding School at the Defence Animal Centre". <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212429/http://www.thegloss.com/2008/02/07/odds-and-ends/calendar-of-the-british-royals-february-2008/ "Calendar of the British Royals (February 2008)"], accessed 30 October 2023</ref>
==Notes== {{reflist}} ==See also== *[[Irish Army Equitation School]]
[[Category:1922 establishments in England]] [[Category:Military equestrianism]] [[Category:Training establishments of the British Army]] [[Category:Military units and formations established in 1922]] [[Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 1940]]