The Menege-- The Royal Riding Academy

The Facade--very unassuming.  Who would have thought a stable and riding arenas were behind these doors.

          

         A friend from Mackinac Island told us about this riding academy right in the heart of Amsterdam.  Seeing as our little island has many many horses, we decided to have a look for ourselves.  What a delight.   You enter through a very unassuming archway into a beautiful area area. We saw youngsters in a class riding around the ring.  

The large riding arena. the academy dates from 1744.

The Academy dates from 1744.  The original building, stables, etc, were demolished in 1891 in favor of a canal extension.  This new building was built in 1892, and is still being used today.

Youngsters at their riding lesson in the arena.

We wandered through the stables.  The academy currently has 35 horses and 15 ponies.

The stables with horse's name above.

       We had coffee and sodas in this beautiful tea room.  There are doors which open to a balcony with tables and chairs so one can watch the riders in the ring below.

The tea room, with a balcony, through the doors on the left,  overlookingthe riding arena.

There is a small entrance charge today which includes a drink in the tea room.  You can wander as you please throughout the entire establishment.  We had a great two hours here wandering the place.