Our Story

We love sharing our passion for horses with others.

Codetta is a small, family business which values a personalised approach. This allows us to get to know our riders well and help them achieve their goals.

Having had a life-long interest in horses, and a coaching history spanning over 30 years, we decided the time was right to share our love of horses with others from our home.

We started with just two horses and as our client base grew, we soon welcomed more furry friends to the team. We want to stay small (the pony rides business is for fun - it’s not our main job!) and give all the horses the life they would have if they just had one rider. The horses get around 4 -5 rides each week - weather permitting - just enough to keep them ticking along happily, not overworked, but not too bored either.

Regular visits from our farrier, chiropractor, bodyworker, vet and dental professional keep the team comfortable and in working order! We are also super fussy about appropriate feeding and paddock management. It can be a huge job maintaining the troops, but they are worth every minute. The ponies are all such treasures and we want them to be happy as we really value their service and love them to bits.

Big ‘Ashby’ is a family horse with the perfect gentle nature for helping adults and children learn to ride. His favourite speed is ‘slow’ and he loves to be on the lead. He is really an overgrown child’s pony! Ashby’s large size (16.3hh at least) can be intimidating for smaller riders so we welcomed ‘Lollie’ to Codetta to join the team for our younger clients. She is a cute Welsh pony, 11.2hh, and is friendly with people and other horses. She loves to play hoofball and thinks she is the boss of all the horses! Older gent ‘Mac’ is a retired event horse who has won many ribbons over his career. Even though he is in his late 20s, he is in great health, is active and still acts like a youngster. ‘Delphi’ is a 9 year old thoroughbred mare and is leased from her home in Ashburton. She is beautiful and has floating paces and a gorgeous nature. She is used for riders with some experience. ‘Timmy’ and ‘Eddie’ (both 12.2hh) have Welsh bloodlines. Eddie was purchased from a loving family on the West Coast mid-year 2021. He is a sensitive soul, perfect on lead rein and and an excellent calm jumper. Tim is perfect for teaching our younger clients to canter and is a keen jumper. ‘Misty’, also a welsh pony, is nosy and has a lot to say! He is always keen to be ridden and almost catches himself. He is very smooth to ride and teaches young children to rise to the trot easily.

We are very proud of our little team of furry friends.

We offer a range of services from 15 minute pony rides to hour long lessons and horse mastership for those looking to further their theory knowledge. Holiday programmes include forest and beach rides and pony club experiences. More learning can be arranged through participation in local training days, shows and low-level jumping competitions.

Our regular school term bookings are full at present, however we do have some weekend spaces on occasion and plenty of school holiday availability.

Feel free to message us to discuss what experiences you are looking for.

We hope to meet you soon!

Keryn Wilson :)