Kirkintilloch stable owner 'left with nothing' after fire destroys £13,000 of equipment

A stable owner says she has been “left with nothing” after a fire ripped through her equestrian centre near Kirkintilloch.

Amanda “AJ” Gardiner was forced to watch as buildings on Saddler’s Brae farm went up in flames on July 18.

The 48-year-old has run her equestrian school on Langmuir Road, where she teaches disadvantaged children to ride, for seven years.

AJ Gardiner with her beloved horse AJ Gardiner.

She told STV News: “I took on the farm following a lot of difficulties in my life, and it was a bit of a mess. It didn’t have grass in the field.

“It’s a personal thing for me to be able to open the doors to people who have difficulties in their lives, both adults and children, and it’s a safe and loving place. It’s a wee family.”

Amanda has had her livelihood shattered after the storage unit was completely destroyed, and the roof of her stable block collapsed during the fire.

Every piece of equipment, from harnesses to carts to grooming tools, and even equine medication, was kept in the storage unit that went up in flames.

The storage building contained valuable equipment. AJ Gardiner.

“It was mindblowing. I was brought up in the countryside and around farming, and I’ve never seen anything go like that before”, she explained.

Remembering all the equipment she had gathered over the years that had now been destroyed, AJ says she has been left with nothing.

While her horses – Chico, Jhango and Zorro – were unharmed in the incident, they now refuse to go into the stables due to the lingering smell of smoke.

Amanda says she is cautious about letting the horses roam because of potential soil contamination.

Horse-drawn carts were stored in the building and are now all destroyed.

A GoFundMe has been launched to raise funds to go towards rebuilding the units before winter, keeping the horses sheltered from the cold.

She estimates that the cost of the equipment lost in the fire totals over £13,000 and hopes that with the help of donations, she will be able to begin again.

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 2.08pm on Saturday, July 18, to reports of a fire on Langmuir Road, Kirkintilloch.

“Operations Control mobilised six fire appliances to the scene, and firefighters worked to extinguish a fire affecting a farm storage building.

“There are no reported casualties, and crews left after ensuring the area was safe.”