Eccleswall Court, was farmed by its previous owners until it was bought by the Scudamore family in 2002. A substantial Georgian farmhouse, it is situated in Bromsash, an essentially rural area, 3 miles from Ross-on-Wye, South Herefordshire and is steeped in history. The present house dates back to 1827, although there has been a dwelling on this site for centuries.

The dove cote tower is what remains of the Chapel of St Thomas. This Chapel was last mentioned in a deed dated 1725. In addition the remains of a Saxon Mote and Bailey Castle, a mound circa 700- 800AD, are evident in the garden, and some of the walling around the upper lake is believed to be part of the old fort.

 

All our facilities at Eccleswall Court, are on and around the yard, surrounding fields and farmland. They are all within easy walking distance and are for private use. We are centrally based and near to such racecourses as; Hereford, Worcester, Warwick, Chepstow and Cheltenham. We have 100 acres providing plenty of space for turn-out paddocks – our horses get turned out daily. In 2016 all fencing was replaced with electric fences and we now have CCTV in the yard. The boxes are laid out in three separate yards;  Oxo Yard (33 boxes) – named after Grandad Scu’s Grand National winner,  Linwell Yard (9 boxes) – named after Grandad Scu’s Gold Cup winner and the Monbeg Dude Yard (8 boxes).

Stabling for 50 horses

The majority of the stables are of the loose box type with rubber matting, bedded with Bedmax – a dust-free woodchip shavings – The layout of all stables ensures excellent ventilation.

Gallops & Horse Walker

The All Weather woodchip gallop was constructed in 2004. It is a 6.5 furlong, consisting of an initial flat/gradual inclining 2.5f followed by a sweeping left handed bend leading to the 4f straight uphill gallop (extended in summer of 2012).

The grass gallop, when weather permits, is used and is 4.5f long.

The dirt gallop lies parallel to the grass gallop and is used when the weather permits. It is of a similar length but has a slightly steeper gradient than the grass gallop.

We are also lucky enough to be surrounded by acres of beautifully picturesque farmland, which we are able to canter around. This includes a very long steep bank which we call “Pughs bank” – this is approximately 4.5f long, starting with a gradual incline before quickly but evenly increasing so that the last half furlong is very steep. The horses love the hack over to Pughs, which takes you through streams and woodland – it is situated in an area of preserved natural wildlife habitat – we use ‘Pughs’ to ‘freshen horses up’ as well as being a very good tool for increasing fitness and stamina.

The Claydon 6 horse exerciser was installed in 2006, replacing our rather older model. This is situated in the middle of the sand school, next to the lunge pen and trotting track. It also has a roof and wind proof sides to keep the horses dry on the wetter days!

Schooling Fences

Our schooling ground consists of a range of hurdles, brush hurdles and portable birch fences. We also have portable hurdles in the sand school.

Sand School & Lunging Pen

It features an oval shaped school, with fencing on the inner and outer perimeters. The design enables use of the middle area and there we have a fenced lunge pen and the horse walker. The school is ridden in daily and is used to warm up and cool the horses down. We also have portable hurdles, barrels, poles etc that we can school over. We have found it a great help when schooling youngsters and invaluable to be able to lose school horses in a safe and purpose built environment.

Equine Spa

This spa facility was built on the lake side in 2005, which lies parallel to the sand school. There are 2 bays, each lined with rubber matting and fresh lake water is pumped into and out of each bay. The spa is used frequently and is beneficial to horses with leg problems e.g. tendons, ligaments, sore shins.

Equissage

This massaging roller sits just behind the horses withers and is a useful aid for sore, stiff, or tight backs.

Centurion Therapulse Pulsed Magnetic Blanket

This uses a relatively new and very affective form of physical therapy, Pulsed Magnetic Field Therapy. The therapy is designed to be used as an enhancement for a wide range of musco-skeletal diseases and degenerative conditions. On the yard we use the blanket for horses with circulatory problems, sore backs, muscle tightness, acute inflammation and chronic pain.

Centurion Transpirator

The transpirator delivers pure water vapour, at a controlled temperature into the entire respiratory tract, air saturated to 100% humidity, which penetrates into the deepest and smallest airways. The transpirator is used on horses with excess mucous, viral infections, those who bleed and those who suffer from a variety of respiratory illnesses.

Horsebox

The yard has its own horsebox and we also use a racehorse transport company when there are runners at more than one meeting.