Bainbridge Island is getting back in the saddle.

And there’s a familiar name at the reins.

Alexandra Jackson, executive director of the Washington branch of The Communication Alliance to Network Thoroughbred Ex-Racehorses — a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to the retraining and ultimate relocation of former racehorses — has recently partnered with Hazel Creek Montessori to bring new life to Bainbridge’s once prominent equestrian community at the newly formed Bainbridge Island Riding School.

Having offered classes to riders of various age and skill for just about two months now, Jackson said the support and enthusiasm from the community for the program has been reassuring.

“I think the coolest thing about it, honestly, is that Bainbridge used to have such a strong equestrian presence and we lost it,” Jackson said, citing increased development and regulations as well as a struggling economy as the reasons why. “Now it’s just like, ‘Where do you go if you have a beginner rider and you don’t own a horse?’

“For me, it’s really a dream come true to be able to offer a program that allows riders of any ability to come and ride and really become equestrians,” she added.

Roughly translated: This ain’t your average pony ride.

“I’m so old-school,” Jackson laughed. “I make [students] clean their boots after. I make them wash the horses. There is no pony rides; it’s serious, but they all seem to really like that.”

The location at Hazel Creek is perfect, she added, as it allows the younger students to walk over from the Montessori or to take a bus in the afternoons from other nearby island schools for classes during the week.

Though a perennial fixture in the island’s horse riding community, the facility at Hazel Creek, run by Janice and Oliver “Ollie” Pedersen, was facing some tough decisions when Jackson happened to call.

“Before, they offered lessons as part of the Montessori program and they also offered lessons to the public to anyone who wanted to come, but because it was just that time of transition and things were growing so quickly it was like, ‘Well, we’re going to have to cut back on this until we come up with a new plan,’” Jackson explained.

Then Jackson called, interested in reviving horse riding culture, especially amongst younger riders, on the island.

“It’s a dream come true for us,” Janice Pedersen explained. “We ran this program for 25 years.”

Then, with the Hazel Creek school “booming,” Pedersen said, there simply wasn’t time enough to keep up with everything.

“And then [Jackson] walks onto the property, and it was just the answer to our dreams to have Alex step into this role and have her take on a program that’s so well established,” she said. “These horses are so well trusted. They’ve taught hundreds of children to ride.”

“It’s been really great,” agreed Jackson. “The support from the community has been incredible because it really brought up that need that there isn’t a great place for beginner riders to go, and there isn’t a lot of equestrian institutions that still focus on the old school principles.”

The program focuses on beginner and intermediately skilled riders, with some first-timers in attendance as well. The youngest student is less than 4 years old, though most are older.

The horse-riding community, Jackson said, can seem cloistered and mysterious to the less informed, and it’s a secondary goal of her program to dispel those myths.

“On one hand, [people think] that it’s easy to do or not a sport — that drives me crazy,” she said. “On the other side of that, more on the social side, people think that it’s just a community that you can’t get a foot into, that it’s too expensive to participate in and that’s just really not the truth.

“When you’re here you put your horse first and safety first and we’re going to make you good.”

For a schedule of classes, more information and course prices, contact Jackson at 206-240-3559, visit www.biridiingschool.com or search Bainbridge Island Riding School on Facebook.