Newark, Nottinghamshire

Oakridge Arena

Golden sand, a full ringside and the hush before a sliding stop. In August 2026 this is where WES crowned its national champions.

What's on here Visit Oakridge

80m x 40mIndoor oval arena
400+Ringside seats
36Indoor stables

Photo: Fae Loudoun Photography

Built for the big moments

Walk into Oakridge and the scale hits you first: an 80 by 40 metre oval arena under one roof, more than 400 ringside seats, a VIP gallery and terrace, and a restaurant with its own chef. It was purpose built with competitors in mind. Reining, dressage, horseball, polocrosse and driving have all run on this sand.

For western riders it is home ground. The Oakridge Western Riding Club, one of the largest western clubs in the UK, meets around once a month, and the Sherwood Shows bring AQHA, NRHA and World Reining qualifying classes to Nottinghamshire through the year. From 14 to 16 August 2026 it hosted the WES Nationals: three days of national championships, every one of them on this arena.

At Oakridge

Three ways in

Learn from a world-class reiner
Head trainer Lee Rutter has ridden western all his life. At the 2010 World Equestrian Games he posted the top score in the individual reining qualifier, 217.5 on Setting Off Sparks. He teaches every level, on the centre's horses or your own.
Photo: Sent to Moments That MatterMeet Lee
Ride the Sherwood Shows
Easter, the summer camp and the Halloween show, with freestyle reining and a Saturday-night ranch trail. Shows that feel like a weekend away.
Photo: Fae Loudoun PhotographySee the dates
Stay the weekend
36 indoor stables, hook-ups for horseboxes and caravans, a tack shop on site, and the cafe and bar open on event days.
Photo: Fae Loudoun Photography

The Nationals 2026, on this sand

A piebald cob with a long white mane and tail trotting through a horsemanship pattern, ridden by a rider in a lime green shirt. — Photo: Fae Loudoun Photography

A rider in a riding hat and patterned shirt on a black and white cob with a long white mane, stepping over wooden ground poles. — Photo: Fae Loudoun Photography

A rider in a grey riding hat rides a grey horse at a jog on a loose rein in a western saddle, in an indoor arena. — Photo: Fae Loudoun Photography

A black and white feathered cob walking across the arena with a rider in a blue denim shirt and riding hat. — Photo: Fae Loudoun Photography

A rider in a black cowboy hat on a black cob with white feathered legs, walking across a sand arena. — Photo: Fae Loudoun Photography

A piebald cob with a flowing cream tail and feathered legs trotting past a wooden obstacle, its rider in a riding hat. — Photo: Fae Loudoun Photography

Your turn

Find your next ride at Oakridge

Lessons, clinics, club nights and shows all year round, for every level.

What's on here Lessons and training

Where this comes from: Oakridge Arena's own website (the venue, lessons and training and shows and riding club), Horse Illustrated on the 2010 World Equestrian Games, and WES's own records of the Nationals 2026. Facts read on 6 November 2026; photos are credited on each. Something out of date? Tell us.

Plan your visit