Toronto Equestrian, a riding school co-owned by Julianne Clifford and Sue Iwan and located on 150 acres on the Uxbridge Pickering Townline, has announced the opening of a second location in the heart of downtown Toronto.

Toronto Equestrian Downtown will be based out of the historic Horse Palace building on the grounds of Exhibition Place, site of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. The Horse Palace is a Canadian Heritage Building which first opened in 1931 and contains 1200 stalls over its two levels, and a schooling ring. The Toronto Police’s Mounted Unit horses have been housed there since 1968.

The riding school will offer an extensive lesson program including private, semi-private and group lessons, introductory classes, in-house schooling shows, and more aboard their string of 14 horses. Members of Toronto Equestrian Downtown will also be welcome to enjoy the many programs and benefits offered at Toronto Equestrian’s Uxbridge location, including clinics, camps, and hacking.

Clifford is an Equestrian Canada certified instructor with over a decade of coaching and training experience. Iwan is also EC-certified with years of experience overseeing inner-city riding school operations and coaching to a provincially competitive level. She trains with Level 3 coach Margie Gayford and Olympic gold medalist Tom Gayford. Both Clifford and Iwan have run a private riding school out of The Ex previously.

Accessible by TTC and GO Transit, the equestrian centre is ideally located for city residents. Pandemic restrictions allowing, the riding school will open in February 2021; pre-registration for Toronto Equestrian Downtown opened on December 1st, 2020. Use the “Contact Us” form on the website or email torontoequestriandowntown@gmail.com to pre-book lessons.