Manege van Loon is located in Loon op Zand. Just outside the built-up area, the company is located against National Park "the Loonse and Drunense dunes". With more than 50 years of experience in organizing outdoor rides, giving lessons and keeping horses, Manege van Loon has built a good reputation in the Netherlands, but also abroad.
History
The history of Manege van Loon starts in the sixties. Then Jan van Loon - mainly as a hobby - started giving riding lessons. These lessons took place at a location in the middle of the village. In no time, the hobby grew into a riding school, which continued at this location for another five years. In these five years, the business has already grown so much that the buildings become too cramped and a move to another location becomes necessary. The riding school at that time has about 25 horses.
Moving
This new location was purchased in 1970 as a calf breeding farm at Kloosterstraat, which with its land lies adjacent to the Loonse and Drunense dunes. The old calf stable was converted into a full-fledged riding school with 30 stalls, an indoor and outdoor arena. The riding school horses stand in stalls and the boarding horses in boxes. At that time, the emphasis was mainly on giving lessons and providing outdoor rides. As the Netherlands becomes increasingly prosperous and the customers more demanding, the canteen is expanded (this is so far a converted school bus!). After a few years, it becomes increasingly popular to keep the horse at home. These developments led to a decline in the number of boarding horses.
The helm!
As a result of these developments, Manege van Loon is focusing more and more on recreation. There is also a growing need for people from the suburbs to go into nature on horseback. All boarding horses will leave the barn and make place for a more specialized offer in the field of recreation. Because some of the recreationists come from far away, a number of primitive overnight accommodations are created.
A renovation
In 1990, the neighbor's land was bought with it in order to realize a large-scale renovation. The old indoor arena was converted into a bar, restaurant and hotel with 11 fully-fledged hotel rooms. In addition, a new indoor arena was built with 60 stalls. Outside will be stalls so customers can bring their own horses.
Welfare
Because the welfare of horses is becoming increasingly important, the stands were changed to walking stables in 2010. This means a small change to the stables so that the animals can stand both inside and outside. For the horses, however, little changes, as they have always been outside as much as possible!