To mark 50 years of challenging attitudes to disability, we asked 50 people from all over RDA to let us take their picture and tell their story. The resulting collection is a celebration of the brilliant, fearless and pioneering people who help to make us what we are today.
Rollercoaster-mad blogger
Meet PhoebeMeet Phoebe …
I love theme parks and rollercoasters. I don’t find them scary. When I’m older, I’d like to work at Alton Towers or be a showjumper.
I am 15 years old and I have Asperger’s Syndrome. My disability is invisible, and it can be frustrating at times. At school, my teacher said: ‘There isn’t anything wrong with you; you don’t look autistic’. I don’t want to be treated differently; I just want people to understand. My Instagram account @aspergers_style has over 8,000 followers and helps to raise awareness and offer support.
I started at Scropton RDA in 2017. My first lesson was a group ride and I was led by a volunteer, as they wanted to find out how capable I was. After that I could ride on my own. I read books about riding and watched YouTube videos and I have progressed really quickly. Now I do showjumping and dressage. I have also started volunteering and I even did my work experience at RDA.
In 2018 I qualified for the RDA National Championships. I was really nervous as I hadn’t been riding very long and thought that maybe I wouldn’t do very well. But I wanted to come in the top ten so I just tried to do my very best. I ended up coming 7th and I’m already looking forward to next year.
The riding makes me feel independent. I like the atmosphere at RDA – they try to understand you. I’m definitely more confident now. I find it easier to talk to people and look them in the eye, and it has become a bit easier to deal with new things. I have made lots of friends – especially my best friend Lexi – and the horses are like friends too.
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Life transformed by volunteering
Meet JamesMeet James …
Horses have always been my escape. I have been at points where I have been close to getting in trouble and getting kicked out of school and things like that. When I was little doing them, it was just messing around but now I’ve realised I want it to be my career and I want it to be everything – well it pretty much is everything in my life.
Park lane have taught me so much since being here like I noticed the change in me from when I first started. Just the way I speak, my attitude, and the way I treat people. It’s just improved so much and I think that RDA has really helped with it. It has boost me, like before when I was at secondary school I had no self-esteem at all. I was suffering from depression and everything. I talked to no one, I hated having to talk to other people. Coming here has opened my eyes to how everything can be and should be. It has taught me so much and that’s why I Iove the RDA. I never expected that from a job.
I started volunteering at 16. Then I passed my RDA Carriage driving exam just after my 17th birthday. Then just after my 18th birthday I was doing interviews.
I want to focus on one thing at a time and get as much done as possible. Once I’ve got enough qualifications I might go off to the army – go join the king’s troops. Park Lane help push me to do things and in a few years’ time I’ll join and do an apprenticeship as a farrier.
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Fire jumping stunt double
Meet LindaMeet Linda …
I got involved in stunt riding as film people used to come and practice their riding at the stables I worked at. One day I had a phone call asking if I wanted to come and see them. They were making this film and they needed someone small to come and ride.
I didn’t want to get involved – I didn’t want to be used for my riding just because I was short. But as my brother in law pointed out – I was flat broke and I needed the money.
I went ahead and met the director. It was such fun. The film was called Willow and it was set in the medieval times. Warwick Davis was playing the part but he couldn’t do the faster riding scenes. I got to do it again a couple more times for different films. We flew in helicopters up mountains, galloped down a ski slope in thick snow and jumped bareback over fire.
Carriage driving came much later. 20 odd years ago I cracked my vertebrae and it was just one fall too many. I lost all sensation in my body. I couldn’t move at all when it first happened but I got the movement back. When I felt ready to get back on a horse the RDA helped me. But the sensation wasn’t the same. Now I have no awareness of my body I didn’t get that lovely feel that I used to have, so they suggested carriage driving.
It is making such a difference and I am building my strength without realising. It is physio without thinking about it, but above all it is a pleasure for me – it’s the spiritual feel good factor!
The thing I love most about carriage driving is getting to places I couldn’t get before. Driving around and having the freedom of being in control of where I am going. Being independent is so important to me. I have to rely on so many people. I know they don’t mind – but I mind.
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Young eventer takes time to volunteer
Meet JoshMeet Josh …
I want to be a professional eventer like my Dad. I love the cross country and the adrenaline you get from it. I compete Novice at the moment, but by the end of this year I am aiming for higher.
I started volunteering at Stratford RDA for my DofE with school. I like the side walking the most because you get to chat to the riders. Dad said that the biscuits at the end was my favourite bit but that’s not quite true.
The volunteering fits into my week quite easily because I just go in the morning and then come home and ride. I’m not the type to get up at 6am every day to ride unless it is a competition, so fitting in riding around school is a bit more difficult. I am usually allowed to come home and ride a couple of days in the week as long as I catch up on work. School are quite good about giving me the flexibility to come home and train for the competitions.
I would like to get through 6th form and then I want to go straight into the eventing. The plan is that I take over my parent’s yard. I have my eye on two of dad’s horses but I think that’s still a long way away at the moment.
I like watching dad ride because I can learn from him. He is encouraging, but compared to some of the other people he teaches he’s really tough on me! I know I need the criticism, but then when I do it well he always says well done.
I am still volunteering with RDA even though my Duke of Edinburgh is complete. It’s nice to give back to the community and the riders love it so much.
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Brave blogger battles the bullies
Meet BryonyMeet Bryony …
Everybody has their own difficulties, but when you’re on a horse you can just be you.
I’ve got cerebral palsy and I’ve got depression, anxiety, PTSD and dissociative seizures and voices and I also see things as well – that aren’t the nicest of things. The seizures look like epilepsy but they’re not. They are brought about by anxiety and when I’m horse riding I’m so relaxed and calm that I don’t get them.
My mum and dad and my care coordinator are really good at helping me, because even though my confidence still isn’t 100%, I feel like I can talk to more people about how I use horse riding in my therapy. Me and my psychologist try to use my experiences with horse riding to help me with my voices and my thoughts.
I was about 8 or 9 when I started at RDA. I’m 20 now. When I was at school I was bullied a lot and I felt suicidal, and this was the one thing that made me feel like I belonged. It was a good distraction: I had to focus on what I was doing right then, rather than what happened at school. I trust the horses more than I trust people. I know if they do something wrong they don’t mean it.
I have a blog called DeafeatingDisability.com. I can share my experiences but also I get to hear other people’s stories and I can relate to them and feel like ‘oh, I’m not the only one’ or ‘oh yeah, I didn’t think of it like that’. It’s nice to know that there are people similar to me out there, even though it’s hard, they still feel like they can talk about it.
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From highway maintenance to inspirational coach
Meet DavidMeet David …
It’s very much a male orientated environment I work in. It really is. The gritting operation is full on. I was in construction for 16 years and came to the county council as a road worker. Basically I look after highway maintenance in my area. When the ice and the snow comes we’re here in this office 24 hours a day, and the furthest thing on your mind is Lowlands Farm.
I first came to Lowlands when my daughter wanted riding lessons. One day, one of the RDA riders was there helping and I thought, this girl can hardly walk and she’s teaching my daughter to ride a horse. That was quite inspirational for me. I’m sat here for half an hour and I’m just watching – I can get involved with this one way or another.
I started helping out walking next to the riders. I also joined the ground crew at RDA’s National Championships. I absolutely love it – this group of lads giving their time up to help. We have the best time.
I suppose I noticed we were really struggling without enough coaches. Someone mentioned I should think about it, and that a lot of the children we deal with don’t have male influences in their lives – maybe there’s just mum, or female social workers and teachers.
I’m loving every minute of it. I really am. The best bit for me was a little boy who started coming to me about six months ago. He couldn’t sit, couldn’t stand, couldn’t do anything. When he started, me and his dad had to support him completely. It was another coach who said ‘try letting go’. So we did, and he was able to right himself. Now he can do about ten times round the arena with minimal support.
Two weeks ago he gesticulated to me, he put his arms out. So I said ‘do you mind?’ and dad said ‘no’, and I held him and he gave me this massive hug and he put his head into my neck and I had tears running down my face. And I thought: you know something, that’s what this is all about.
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Mum’s medical miracle
Meet LilyMeet Lily …
Lily’ story, as told by her mum, Alison
“My grandad retired at 60 and said ‘life begins now’ and he jumped out of an airplane the very next day. And then he said: right I want to give something back. So he joined the local RDA group and he did that every week, sometimes twice a week, for 25 years. He was even presented with a lifetime achievement award from Princess Anne in his home town for his commitment.
He told us about the children he used to help and he said you should think about RDA for Lily, because she was quite wobbly and used to fall over a lot. He died shortly after that. Lily was 3 when we started coming to Patchwork.
It was a perfect pregnancy – it just all went wrong in that last two hours.
She had a pioneering brain cooling treatment to try to halt the damage but unfortunately, she had sustained a significant injury to three parts of the brain when her heart stopped beating. The specialist told us she would be disabled and that 1 in 100 babies could go on to have a normal life. I thought: right, we have a 1% chance. How do we make that 1% chance happen?
It was an intensive start to her life with physio, exercises and sensory stimulation every day. She did start to develop some bad brain pathways when she was younger which meant her legs would go stiff, she would arch her back. The specialist said there’s a chance you can break this pathway.
So we basically wrapped her up in a ball every time she did it. We carried her so her hamstrings were pulling and stretching all the time, and every day I used to lie her on the carpet and do stuff with her hips and her legs and the walking motion. Amazingly, she went on to walk at 15 months.
I used to think: Lily will be what she will be, but we will make her as good as she can be. I used to visualise her walking down the aisle with my husband linking his arm. She has never questioned anything – not the physio – nothing. She just gets on with it. She is just amazing.
I think Patchwork epitomises every little bit of kindness that we have received in her early years. They are so warm, they are like a family for Lily. It is like a bunch of doting grandmothers and grandfathers – we just feel loved here.
People have been so kind, and I just felt so – not lucky – I don’t believe in luck, but grateful, for all of the kindness. I had this innate desire to give something back. That’s when I became a volunteer at RDA. It just feels right to be here, to be a volunteer and carry on my grandad’s legacy.”
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Music fan heading for a career in radio
Meet PranayMeet Pranay …
I got into riding because I was unfortunately not very well when I was born. I had a left Hemiplegia and I was premature. I spent a long time in hospital. I have heard all the stories of how nice all the nurses and doctors were. The physiotherapist said to me that for therapy and fun why don’t you take up riding. I started at Chigwell Riding Trust when I was four and I’ve now been going for 14 years.
My first horse to ride was Poppet. I got on and I felt proud to be on a horse. The horse’s natural gait (walk) is similar to a human being. This helped me because I couldn’t walk and horse riding has helped me get stronger physically. It has also given me a hobby and helped me to be confident and determined.
My other passion is music and when I was little and I used to collect tapes and then CDs. I think I brought all the ‘Now’ albums. I am into 90s music and I like the 80s too. Even new music – when I’ve heard it once I remember it.
I want a career in media and I’m a student at the Global Academy. They have all these amazing facilities: Radio and TV and music studios – and all the teachers are industry professionals. They had an official opening in 2017 with Heart Breakfast and LBC with Prince William, Kate and Harry as part of the Heads Together campaign. I helped as part of the production team with presenters Emma Bunton and Jamie Theakston and got to meet them all which I was very proud of.
At the moment I am doing my final major project and I have chosen to do an audio Podcast on the benefits of riding and volunteering at an RDA by sharing my story. I am so passionate about the work they do here at Chigwell, I just want to show people what it is like.
When people meet me, they always say they never see my disability. I still have cerebral palsy, a mild visual impairment and learning needs but I don’t let it affect me. I just say it is all about your ability rather than your disability.
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RDA coach fitting 40 years into 3
Meet HelenMeet Helen …
I am a volunteer and coach with Pegasus RDA in Manchester. We set up Pegasus three years ago and about two months before we launched I got diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. Since that time I have had three different types of IV chemotherapy. I’ve had a lumpectomy, lymph node clearance in my right arm and a total hysterectomy because of the progression to my ovaries. I’ve recently undergone microwave ablation on some tumours that were growing. I am currently on a tablet chemotherapy that is working really well for me because it doesn’t make me lose my hair – hence the pink hair!
I’m now registered disabled, so I have gone from being an RDA coach and volunteer to actually fully understanding both sides of the coin. It has helped me understand people better, especially when riders don’t want to get on the horse or when they are scared. I can’t tell you what is like to walk into a hospital and sit in a chemotherapy chair. Your heart goes through the floor every time and that has given me more empathy.
We try to make our group as inclusive as we can and combine fun with learning, and that’s not just for our riders, that’s also for our volunteers. Pegasus RDA is going from strength to strength and I’m immensely proud of all that we have achieved in the last 3 years.
It’s an awful situation and this disease is probably going to kill me, the prognosis is two to five years and I’m already at year three but I have to carry on living. I have two choices. Either give in and just become a patient permanently or I try to fit 40 years into three and that’s what I am trying to do.
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8 time Paralympic Gold Medallist
Meet SophieMeet Sophie …
I started riding with the RDA when I was 6. We had physios come to our school, they happened to believe in the benefit of horse riding for children with disabilities so instead of doing PE they sent us to the local RDA Centre every week.
I guess riding at that age gave me freedom – I couldn’t walk or run like the other kids but when I was on a horse I felt free. It kind of escalated from there really. I honestly don’t think I would have even sat on a horse without the RDA. In fact, my mum was allergic to horses. It has given me so much confidence and an ability to accept my disability and so many skills that I am using in my day to day life. I work at an investment bank, without getting on a horse I wouldn’t be doing that now.
I used to play football and hockey but I was rubbish at them! I just kept falling over. Dressage was the only sport that I was actually any good at. I thought well let’s see how far that goes. Now I’m sitting here an 8-time Paralympic gold medalist.
When I was coming out of my freestyle in London I could feel the anticipation in the air, my brother and cousins whipped their shirts off and they had ‘we love Sophie’ on their chest. The whole 10,000 strong crowd just erupted! There’s not really words to describe that feeling – I still get a bit emotional thinking about it.
Now I want to leave a bit of legacy. I look back on my journey and think what I did 15 years ago I couldn’t do now! So I want to raise money to help other riders to make the shift from RDA therapy to Para dressage. To make their journey a bit easier. That’s what I hope to achieve – to raise money with my membership club for people who want to get closer to the action of para dressage. I want to share that journey from RDA to winning gold.
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Dreams of galloping through fields
Meet BaileyMeet Bailey …
Bailey & Shilah’s story, as told by their mum, Amy
Bailey and Shiliah’s mum was my best friend. She passed away from ovarian cancer 12 weeks after Shilah was born and Bailey was 3. I’ve had them ever since.
Bailey was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy when he was six months old and he also has learning and behavioural problems. I remember thinking: he’s a soldier, he’ll be ok.
He was with me half the week even before Lisa got ill. I was working full time as a clinical support worker in a hospital and he’d be dropped off in a taxi at the end of my shift.
Shilah was tiny when she was born and needed a period in special care. She had delayed speech and she has coordination problems, but she’s confident and I want her to stay that way.
I was just hoping they would take to riding. I wanted to feel they could escape and be the same as everyone else – it doesn’t matter what your disability is when you’re up there.
I tell the kids they’re capable of anything. Bailey says he wants to gallop through a field and feel the wind in his face. I’m so proud of the children. I wouldn’t change a thing. But I’d have my mate back.
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Volunteer to Vaulting Coach
Meet SamMeet Sam …
If it wasn’t for volunteering, I wouldn’t have the job I have now. Going back 10 years I was very shy. The idea of any kind of public speaking would be terrifying and overall I had fairly low confidence levels. Now I work in Procurement for a large multinational, managing commercial relationships and I can comfortably give presentations and speak at conferences.
I started at RDA because I left school, declined a place at university and was unemployed. I was not the sort of person to sit around twiddling my thumbs, so I started looking to do some volunteering.
I started at the Clwyd Special Riding Centre, doing jobs around the stables and leading or side walking in sessions. I didn’t plan to be a coach, but you know how these things happen. The role needed filling and I thought, why not. I started coaching riding and it wasn’t long before I was then coaching vaulting.
The vaulting was a bit different, quite active and I could really see the benefit for the participants. I was always quite sporty – I played Badminton and did martial arts – and the vaulting was a similar skill set in a way to the Martial arts, they are both quite gymnastic and performance based.
Now also coach at another group, Perry RDA, at the The Cavalier Centre. They asked me to help out for a few weeks and it has now been 7 years. But it is such a fantastic place, I am proud to be helping there.
I love the team ethos of vaulting: seeing the participants working together, learning new skills and having fun. The vaulting allows you to be creative, mixing moves with music and working towards competitions is always good fun. I feel very proud when I see them go on to achieve – whether that’s competing or something in their home lives that RDA has helped them do.
From starting leading and side walking I am now the Activity Lead for vaulting for the whole of RDA, and I’m Chairperson for British Equestrian Vaulting.
The RDA gave me the skills and confidence to go out there and do the things that I do. I can’t say enough how beneficial it has been to my progression not just to my career but the development of me as a person.
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First rider to become RDA Regional Chair
Meet YolandaMeet Yolanda …
Aged six I had my first open heart surgery. I was born with a narrowing of the aorta. Also my thumb on my right hand had not developed properly. Before I started school my thumb had been removed and my index finger was made into my thumb. When they did the heart surgery they found I had Scoliosis.
In 1974 my Orthopaedic Consultant recommended horse riding and I started at the Yeovil and Sherborne RDA. They were pioneers really – and I couldn’t believe I was finally in charge of something in my life!
I always looked forward to the summer display as Mrs Batten usually had a few of us over for the weekend. We would get the ponies tacked up and go for a hack out across their farmland with a picnic lunch, returning home to clean the tack and feed the ponies. Then we got to swim in their outdoor pool and camp out in a marquee overnight.
About 20 years ago following my 3rd open heart surgery, I was diagnosed with chronic lung disease and now I use a ventilator to take over my breathing at night.
I was heartbroken when I had to stop riding, but Mrs Batten got me a place on an RDA carriage driving holiday. I remember thinking maybe I’ll be able to carry on with my beloved horses and life will not be so bad after all. I was right. I started driving regularly: competed, went on holidays and even represented my group at Windsor Horse Show.
I became Regional Chair for RDA in the South West last year, which is enabling me to not only champion the work RDA does, at the same time be able to give something back. After all the RDA has given me so many wonderful experiences and memories that will last forever.
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Renowned jockey takes up dressage
Meet TyroneMeet Tyrone …
In my career I rode about 850 winners. When you’re an apprentice, you can’t wait to go racing. 15 years in, it’s just another day. I never got nervous, but I promise you now you’ve got to have bottle. I can’t think about that now.
I had the stroke 3 years ago when I was 49. I wasn’t racing anymore but I was still riding out. I couldn’t tell you what happened for the first three months. I didn’t know where I was. Every day after that I’ve been trying to get better.
I didn’t know about RDA until I moved back to Lambourn. It’s a big step. I’d been used to riding horses my whole life but I hadn’t ridden for two years. I wasn’t sure I could do it. Right from the first day I was determined to walk to the mounting block and leave my wheelchair at the gate. Getting on wasn’t pretty, but we’ve found a way.
When I got on that first time I remember feeling so happy and thinking that’s it – I’m back.
Coming to RDA is a new step. I thank Frances so much for getting me going. And it’s not just the riding, it’s the time she spends. It’s a lot to ask someone to do and I think the world of her. From where I am now, I can only get better. I might not get where I want to get, but I’ll try. And I’ll keep trying until it’s time for me to stop.
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Pioneer of RDA in Russia
Meet SueMeet Sue …
In Russia in the 1990s the official policy was there were no disabled people. They didn’t exist. I was asked if I would go to there to help start RDA.
Disabled people weren’t allowed out in public or on buses. My contact, Peter, had a daughter with cerebral palsy. They lived on the 17th floor and they weren’t allowed to use the lift. We went round different stables asking if anyone had a pony we could use to help show how riding could help people who are ‘slightly delayed’ as we had to call it. They said ‘well you won’t get anyone because there aren’t any’.
It was me, Peter and a priest. I showed them how to take care of the pony, how to feed it, keep it clean and tack it up. We found an old boarded up swimming pool and used that as a round pen. That first week, we didn’t know if anyone would come. I could cry thinking about it even now. People put their kids in wheelchairs, covered up, and wheeled them for hours – bringing them to someone who might be able to help.
After that we got going quickly and I ended up going back four times a year for 10 years. Peter and I went all over Russia, which was amazing. I went to Siberia to help in an orphanage where the children had scoliosis after a nuclear accident. They were horrendous times.
After Russia I went to Hong Kong, China – lots of interesting places. But Russia changed me as a person. I remember Peter’s mother would go out in the morning and queue for a ticket which allowed you to buy whatever was in the shop that day. She then joined a new queue to find out what it was – it might be bread, it might be a cabbage, it might be a tin of pilchards – and then she had to queue to pay for it. So she’d come back after a whole morning out with maybe a single loaf of bread.
When I went home, I went to our local supermarket and I thought I can walk in and buy whatever I like and none of my family will be hungry. And I thought of Peter’s mum saying ‘we’ve got soup, or we’ve got pilchards – isn’t this wonderful’. I actually sat on the floor and sobbed.
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Growing in confidence
Meet ShilahMeet Shilah …
Bailey & Shilah’s story, as told by their mum, Amy.
Bailey and Shiliah’s mum was my best friend. She passed away from ovarian cancer 12 weeks after Shilah was born and Bailey was 3. I’ve had them ever since.
Bailey was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy when he was six months old and he also has learning and behavioural problems. I remember thinking: he’s a soldier, he’ll be ok.
He was with me half the week even before Lisa got ill. I was working full time as a clinical support worker in a hospital and he’d be dropped off in a taxi at the end of my shift.
Shilah was tiny when she was born and needed a period in special care. She had delayed speech and she has coordination problems, but she’s confident and I want her to stay that way.
I was just hoping they would take to riding. I wanted to feel they could escape and be the same as everyone else – it doesn’t matter what your disability is when you’re up there.
I tell the kids they’re capable of anything. Bailey says he wants to gallop through a field and feel the wind in his face. I’m so proud of the children. I wouldn’t change a thing. But I’d have my mate back.
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“I know I can do anything”
Meet SamMeet Sam …
I’ve just completed a nail beauty course. It’s similar with the horses – I like to make things look nice. I find the grooming very therapeutic. When I was younger my disability got in the way of basically everything that I wanted to do, but it’s different now – I’m able to do more things. I would end up getting teased a lot and bullied. People would call me nasty names. I know I have learning difficulties but I don’t see why it should stop me. I don’t really see myself as having a disability. I see myself as a normal person, because I am in my own way.
I started riding here about 30 years ago, because my mum used to help out. Every time they tried to get me off the pony I would cry and say please don’t, please don’t! Every weekend and after school I would come here and just ride and ride.
When I left school I started volunteering. I think it helps me doing both sides.
I’ve been watching this person on Youtube called Olivia Towers. She has really inspired me with her videos, it’s made me think ‘wow I want to do that with my riding’. Because of her I feel so much stronger and its pushing me to learn more. I just finished my BHS in horse knowledge as well.
I have come so far. I just had to push myself out of my own comfort zone and do things that I have never done before. These days I have a massive bucket list – there are at least 20 things I really want to do. I have done so many things I didn’t think I would, so now I know I can do anything!
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Trying to change the world … a little bit
Meet MattMeet Matt …
After university, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I went to live in the Swiss Mountains for a couple of years, working at the international Scout Centre. It was a good antidote to living in London. Also, being a manager of volunteers, I guess that is where I probably started being interested in how people giving their time for others could have an impact on themselves as well.
I’m not very good at doing nothing, and if I am doing something I feel like it should be useful and make a difference. So if I’m not running, which is sort of fairly inherently useless apart from to keep fit, the rest of the time I tend to spend that trying to change the world a little bit.
A lot of the time at RDA it doesn’t feel like a job. I think if someone had asked me what I wanted to do when I was younger, I’d say I wanted to do something that I enjoy. So I guess I found that here.
I’m Volunteer Development Manager for RDA UK, and I’m kind of a non-horsey person in a world where horses are important to what we do. I don’t think I have ever felt like a conventional fit, but I do have some useful stuff to bring in. My idea has always been to help us look at the people side of RDA, and how that feeds into our participants having a good time.
We should never forget as an organisation that what we do is pretty radical. I quite often say this to volunteers when I do training, because when you are involved in something all the time it’s easy to forget that what we do is special and important.
This is really quite a special place to work. There is a true team spirit here, a common shared purpose. That is something not to ignore about RDA. At every level of the organisation there is passion – whether that is with the staff team or right at the top with the volunteers – everyone is passionate about what we are doing. It’s an exciting time to be here.
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Over 100 marathons in 2 years
Meet LesleyMeet Lesley …
I have run over 100 marathons. I’m part of the 100 Marathon Club – and hold the record there for being the oldest woman to start doing marathons and reach the one hundred mark. I completed them in 2 years and 6 months.
Over the years I have done a lot of stuff that took me out of my comfort zone and it’s always a reminder that some of our riders may be doing things that they find difficult. So a little bit of discomfort or pain that I am going through is A. by choice and B. it stops at the end of the marathon.
I have always said I am not a runner – I still feel inclined to say that but it is a bit of a nonsense when you have done as much as I have done now. I started to do the odd 10 miles, then the odd half marathon. It has been a journey, a huge journey, because I have met some super, super people and I have run in places that I would never have visited.
I don’t know what makes people stay at RDA, we all have different reasons but I think part of it is wanting to give something to others who may have more to deal with. It is a joy really to see these riders succeed and have parents say ‘I didn’t believe that they would ever be able to do that’ and that riding has made such a difference to them at home or school.
One of the headmasters did say to us about one child ‘please don’t give up on him because it makes such a difference to him.’ you know that’s kind of what it is about, helping someone to be a part of something. It’s the bigger picture – it’s not about the rosettes – it is about what you can do for someone to give them a better quality of life.
What I would say is, you just don’t know what you might be good at. I didn’t know that I would be this successful – I’m no Mo Farrah, granted, but you just don’t know what you are capable of.
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Learning through horses, learning for life
Meet GregMeet Greg …
I’m in my final year studying at The Fortune Centre. It’s great if you’re thinking about getting a job with horses. There’s about six of us in my group and we’re good mates. I live on the main yard with the horses. It’s a long day in the winter when you have to get up at 7 to get them in and it’s dark and cold, but I’m alright with it. In the evenings we go out, we go to the pub or to the cinema, or stay in and watch TV.
On an average day we’re on the yard learning about different things: how to tack up, how to put the bridle on and put the bit in their mouth. It’s not that easy. Some of them won’t let you put it in straight away. I do a lot of grooming and I have to learn what they all eat. We ride every day as well.
One day a week I have to go and do the shopping and sometimes I do the cooking for the house in the evenings. I’m learning to be independent.
I’d like a job with horses. I’m looking around at the moment to see what I can find.
I started volunteering and riding at Penniwells RDA when I was 16. I’m 24 now. I still come back when I’m not at Fortune Centre. I love to see how different people ride and learning from them. I muck out, get the horses ready, help in the lessons. They keep me busy!
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Motorsport fanatic breaking records and breaking down barriers
Meet ColinMeet Colin …
At the age of 20, I was run over by a lorry. I suffered horrendous injuries – including an above knee amputation.
My first experience of horse riding was through my local RDA. To say it was a profound experience would be an understatement. Horse riding really did save my life. You have to understand, at that time I was in a very bad way, both physically and mentally mainly due to not being able to walk. However, going from losing one leg to gaining four when riding was very cool, plus being on horseback was the only time I was out of pain. RDA gave me the confidence to challenge myself and others and put me on the path I am on now – living life to the full whilst helping others along the way.
Since then, I’ve done a wheelchair ascent of Ben Nevis, helped achieve a new world record for a team of wheelchair users pulling a Boeing 757, set up the South Ayrshire Tigers Powerchair Football Club and been on several long distance motorbike rallies for charity.
I’ve been a motorsport fanatic my whole life, but I never thought I’d get my race license and actually start racing – especially as a 54 year old lower limb amputee. I’m the first disabled driver ever to race in Super Lap Scotland. It was a dream come true. I’m also the first disabled person in the UK to become a Level 2 Motorsport Coach. In 2016 I helped set up the charity Disability Motorsport Scotland and so far we’ve arranged track days for over 130 disabled people as drivers and passengers.
I’m also now Chairman of Carrick RDA, where my life started again, way back in 1996. The last 35 years have been one heck of a rollercoaster – but I’d rather have the ups and downs than going nowhere. THANK YOU RDA, from the bottom of my heart, and from all my family and friends too. Here’s to the next 50 years.
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MS campaigner writes ‘life wi’ the Broons’
Meet AnneMeet Anne …
Most RDA folk know me as the old wumman who got her backside tattooed wi’ the RDA’s slogan “It’s what you CAN do that counts”. I did it as a fundraiser for RDA.
I’m more than that though. I wis diagnosed wi’ MS in 2003 and started volunteerin wi’ the MS Society on their Policy and campaigns Forum, campaignin and lobbyin, hoping to make things better for MSers. I became a Self Management course leader too, helpin people live well wi’ MS, which I’m passionate about.
I also wrote a series of 18 blogs for MS Scotland, some of which are now on MS National Website under the title “Life wi’ the Broons” written by Mrs Broon.
My background is one of being an only child, mad about animals, especially horses, who was brought up in a family who didny “get it.” When I found out I was adopted it made sense! I started ridin (happy hackin) when my own children were small and as horse mad as me, eventually havin to give up when I was diagnosed wi’ MS and was wobbly.
It took me 6 years to start finally start ridin again wi RDA. I was too scared of findin out that it was yet another thing that I couldny do. But I found I CAN! I might not be able to walk to the end of my street, but I can get on a horse and go a couple of miles over ground that my mobilty scooter canny even manage.
I compete now but Rosettes dinny matter, it’s settin yourself a target and achievin it – that’s what matters.
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Boy from The Valleys owes it all to horses
Meet MikeMeet Mike …
I was brought up in a complicated, dysfunctional family environment, as a result I find it easy to engage with students with similar social challenges. It means I can understand where my students are coming from. I too like them, appreciate the benefits of being around horses brings and turns negative attitudes into a positive outlook on life – and that’s where the horses are the release. Thank god for the horses. They just opened up an opportunity for me in life where there weren’t opportunities at the time growing up in the valleys of Wales. With all the pits closing down, the boozers got the better of a lot of my family and friends.
I couldn’t tell you what triggered it. What started it. We didn’t have enough money to have ponies, no way. That was a privileged thing, but in the same street that I lived there was an old gentleman that used to go up and down on a horse and cart on a Sunday. I offered my help to muck out and groom and I did that for two or three years right up until I left the valleys.
He had this Shetland pony and we had a cart and filled it full of fruit and veg and we used to sell it on the corner of the street. I would have been about 12. So I guess that’s where it all started – that and corralling pit ponies off the mountains. We used to ride them and show off to the Pony Club ladies.
At 16 I left school. I had to decide what to do and it was definitely going to be horses. At the time the only place that was doing courses for equine was in Pembrokeshire – 100 odd miles away from where I lived. I left school in the June and I started the apprenticeship in July and that was it. I never returned home.
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World first pony trek to Everest Basecamp
Meet MaxMeet Max …
Like all the best ideas, this one started in the pub. I was with a couple of volunteers from my RDA group at Hyde Park and said that I’d always wanted to trek up a mountain on a horse.
I have cerebral palsy and have been horse riding since I was 5. The physical therapy I get from it has always been invaluable – even more so as an adult.
Fundraising for RDA’s new National Training Centre really spurred us on to do the trek. Having ruled out Kilimanjaro, we found an organisation that could support us trekking to Everest Basecamp, and then the really hard work started.
It was a far greater physical challenge than anything I have ever done. We trained in the UK – building up my endurance riding week by week. It was tough, but there were always hots meals and a warm bed at the end of the day. Nothing prepared us for the conditions on Everest. Altitude was continually a problem. It was relentless.
I had to walk more than any of us expected, as the terrain wasn’t always suitable for riding. I have hip dysplasia, so every step I take is painful, and it gets worse over time. Day 4 was the worst –walking nearly all day and then, when I did ride, my pony Rocky decided to roll with me on his back. I genuinely questioned whether I could carry on. Knowing that my team would support any decision I made, and knowing they had my best interests at heart made me want to keep going.
Reaching Basecamp was magical. People had heard about our trek so there was a real buzz and so much support from everyone.
21st Century living – a busy work life any everything that goes with it – can be quite isolating. RDA groups are like ready-made communities. Being able to participate and be part of that has always be valuable. Trekking to Everest and raising £60,000 was my chance to say thank you.
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Pioneer of riding for physiotherapy
Meet JoMeet Jo …
Born 1929, a pony mad child, my mother mistakenly assumed I would outgrow this, but horses remained a primary interest when, aged 19 I trained as a physiotherapist. At that time many children with learning or physical disabilities were kept ‘out of sight’ at home. Riding was not therapy, and doctors often saw it as likely to add to their workload. Horses bit at one end, kicked at the other and you fell off in the middle.
However, a few notable pioneers were achieving remarkable results using horses to help disabled people – and were happy to involve anyone seriously interested. I was – very.
Stella, a physiotherapist using riding as physiotherapy, found it could open a new life for polio victims. Sheila Shaw, a key personality in the horse world was having success through riding for children previously labelled uneducable.
Inspired by personal contact and practical support from both, I started a riding group in Pembrokeshire and found working with disabled people and horses opened up possibilities outside routine physiotherapy treatment. Tales from the first riding holidays for severely disabled adults in west Wales would fill a book in either language!
As RDA developed nationally and internationally, so did demand for more physio input and helper training. I was so lucky to be involved at many levels throughout UK and beyond. It was all great fun -with a spin off bonus of finding many friends already involved and making many new ones.
After 50 years I still get a huge buzz when I see a horse and rider achieve something unexpected together.
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Boccia World Championship medallist
Meet BernadetteMeet Bernadette …
I first got into RDA through my special needs school when I was about 8 years old. I have cerebral palsy and can’t walk, so I would ride every week. It was always my favourite day. When I changed schools I had to stop going to RDA, but always wanted to go back to it.
By the time I was 18, I was sure I wouldn’t ride again, so I got involved in Boccia. At 24, I won a bronze medal from Great Britain in the BC1/BC2 team event at the 2006 World Championships. We played inside a giant tent on Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro. It was probably the most surreal experience of my life, as not many people can get to say they did that! I will forever be grateful for the amazing experiences I had as a Boccia player, but four years ago my life really changed for the better when I got the chance return to where it all began: RDA Carrick.
As soon as I came back, I knew I was home. I felt like I also gained a second family. They’ve not only helped me with riding, but also helped me to become more confident in myself and have instilled a belief that I can do other things too. They have been there for me when my confidence was knocked: I was really sick after the 2017 RDA Nationals in Hartpury, where I rode Thunder (RDA Unicorn’s wonder horse) after our horse Max became suddenly lame, just days before the event. The team at Carrick kept my spirits up when I was diagnosed with a rare auto-immune disease of my liver which is called PBC. I was only 35, so it was a massive shock for myself and everyone else around me, as I’m teetotal and don’t smoke.
Even now as I still adjust to the daily challenges an autoimmune disease brings, I maintain a positive spirit, attitude, and any day I’m involved with RDA activities with Carrick is easily my favourite day of the week!
I like to read books, write, and take photos in my spare time. Whatever the future holds for me in terms of my health, I know I want to stay involved and help spread the word about RDA as much as possible for the rest of my life.
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Birthday present that changed everything
Meet AngelaMeet Angela …
George was my husband David’s Great Great Grandfather and he ran the last horse drawn taxi business around Kingston in London. David’s mum’s family are all from around there. I’m always reminding the boys that they come from two Kingstons: London and Jamaica.
My parents were part of the Windrush generation. They met in the UK, married and settled in Manchester. As children, they did everything they could for us. I remember my mum even taking a job as a cleaner so she could give me piano lessons.
David got me into horses. He bought me riding lessons for my 23rd birthday. He was just my boyfriend then and still trying to impress! I’d never ridden before and to be honest the thought of getting on a horse and bouncing up and down well, it wasn’t what I was looking for.
But I loved it. I loved that feeling of being around the horses. Living, breathing, sentient beings. So I went back for the second lesson and by the third lesson I was well and truly hooked.
I have learned a huge amount from David’s death. A lot about me and our children too.
I wanted to go away and hide and keep myself to myself, but then a friend suggested coming to RDA to help with the horses. The first day I went to Windsor & Ascot was the day of their picnic. The boys came too and everyone was so cheerful and welcoming.
They taught me carriage driving and now I’m a coach. I came to RDA for the horses but it has taught me so much about people, about respect and fairness. It has also made me think about how families, communities and even carriage driving change yet remain constant.
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Civilian rider for Household Cavalry
Meet AlexMeet Alex …
I get up at four every morning so I’m in London in time to ride the cavalry horses before work. I’m a civilian rider for the Household Division and we exercise the horses in Hyde Park. It’s a great way to start the day.
I started at RDA when I was 14. In ten years of volunteering I’ve grown up alongside some of our riders. When I did my ten fundraising challenges, there were times I thought: this is horrible, I want to stop. But then I’d think: this is just a couple of hours struggle and I can go home and put my feet up. But we’ve lost riders and had riders too sick to be able to carry on and you think this – what I’m going through now – this is nothing compared to the people I have met and come to love.
We had a boy with autism who came to ride with us and his mum said ‘don’t be offended, he doesn’t talk’. At the end of the half hour lesson he said ‘thank you Fudge’ to his pony. I remember his mum burst into tears. It’s those little things you see that have a big impact on riders and their families.
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Bolivian basketball player turned carriage driver
Meet BettyMeet Betty …
Age 19 I was a national basketball player in Bolivia when I was involved in a car crash. I remember being lifted out and feeling my spine breaking. In Bolivia at that time people didn’t understand about disability. They thought it was curse from god and my parents moved us to another town. My father was going to build me a downstairs room with a bathroom. I asked him what I was going to do with my life and he said “you will stay in here and peel potatoes!” I had an uncle who was disabled and he never went outside. I knew I couldn’t live like that – to never have the sun on my face. So in 1979 I came to England.
I learned English and got a job with an export company who needed a Spanish speaker. I was still really sporty and did wheelchair basketball, but also I found the Diamond Centre and started carriage driving. It’s really good for strengthening my back and I love the freedom it gives me to go out into the countryside. I was so keen to do it the first time I didn’t tell them I was 8 months pregnant – they probably just thought I was a bit fat – but I did suggest that we didn’t do trotting!
Having a sense of community is really important to me, and I have that at RDA. You can see the difference it makes to the riders and carriage drivers – and the volunteers too. We all help each other and it has given me so much joy over the years.
I married an English man and we have three boys – they are grown up now. Our picture is still on the wall at Stoke Mandeville hospital, where I spent so much time in the early years. When the boys were younger, we travelled all over the world and had lots of adventures. We visited South America several times. By moving away, I have seen more of Bolivia than I ever would if I had stayed in that room.
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Motorbiker who asked for arm amputation
Meet ClaireMeet Claire …
I actually chose to have my arm amputated.
In 2006 I crashed my motorbike into a lorry. I remember bits of what happened and from what people have told me. I remember seeing the lorry and then I just remember waking up in hospital. I was in hospital for a month and they sedated me for quite a big chunk of that, I am not really sure how long.
As soon as my casts came off my arms I was riding again. About a year after my accident I got involved with RDA and now I’m a para-showjumper and RDA coach. For my day job I’m a support worker for Mencap in a home full of 20 something year olds. Their behaviour can be a little difficult sometimes but the good bits make up for it.
Apparently, when the hospital told me that my arm didn’t work anymore, the first thing I said was ‘well chop it off then!’ They were mortified and very reluctant. They said ‘we don’t do that kind of thing anymore.’
But it was heavy and a real pain. It was permanently in a sling. I had burnt it badly several times on the cooker. If the pan was just a little bit too close to the edge I would smell burning and then realise it was my arm.
His name was Professor Kay. He is the one that eventually took the arm off three years after the accident. He did the world’s first hand transplant. I pestered his secretary every day to get an appointment. He told me that it wasn’t worth doing any of the transplants and knew that I wanted it ‘chopping off’. I agreed and it was gone six weeks later!
I instantly felt better.
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Country music-loving, trumpet-playing skier
Meet DanielMeet Daniel …
People can be very prejudice about helping the blind, but sometimes I need help, especially now my eyesight is deteriorating. I can feel safe here though because I know everyone.
I have been registered blind, but I know that the horse will keep me safe. As long as you are calm the horse is calm. The horse can sense if you’re sad or stressed, excited or panicking. I do get excited but not like when it’s Christmas and Easter.
I can do carriage driving without crashing. It is difficult to say which one I prefer over driving and riding. When I am riding, I can feel a lot more, like the sense of where I am and changes in the wind and atmosphere. It is a bit harder on the carriage but I can still feel the wind. If the weather is totally diabolical it can affect me a lot and how much I can sense what is around. When I went on a blind sailing holiday that is how I knew where I was going – with my hat flapping in the wind.
I am very musical and started playing at school. I learnt the recorder first. Then the piano, then the accordion. Then the trumpet, of which I have two: one is a penny trumpet and the other one is a brass trumpet. I love country music and want to get a proper cowboy hat like the people in Texas. I have done Western riding before – I sure liked it, Yes Ma’am!
I love skiing and have also been water skiing and jet skiing and off-roading. When I did motor cross I was miked up and I was given instructions of when to go left and right. They wanted me to go around in circles but my idea of motor cross is not going around the car park slowly in circles!
I think we should involve more people with RDA. If you have a disability, that shouldn’t stop you from doing anything. From my personal point of view, just because you are blind or severely visually impaired it does not mean that you should give up the things that you enjoy or you love doing.
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Mounted policeman’s horse with the heart of a lion
Meet DougMeet Doug …
“I’m born and bred in Handsworth in Birmingham. My first picture on a horse was a donkey called Silver at Weston Super Mare and that’s probably 1959. I joined the mounted police in 1973. I remember blokes at work used to say to me ‘it’s always a different horse when the chips are down’. No it’s not, it’s you that’s different.
Eventually I got my own horse to train. I ended up taking him to Orgreave during the Miners’ Strike. He was only a little horse. But he had the heart of a lion – galloping on the road into a full-blown riot.
You’d go from something like that to the Pope’s visit to Coventry. Thousands and thousands of people, and suddenly we were surrounded by about 200 singing nuns. That was crowd control of the best kind!
I broke my back when I was thrown from my fifth horse. I was in a full body cast and then spent four months in a metal cage. So at the age of 45 I was unemployable, uninsurable, not realising I was going into clinical depression. RDA transformed my life. I started coaching and that was it. I’ve never looked back since.
We should be bloody proud of what we do, and not go round and say I’m just an RDA volunteer. I’m sorry that just winds me up, you’re not just an RDA volunteer. You are an RDA volunteer. Be proud.”
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‘Hidden disability’ campaigner meets Harry & Meghan
Meet EvieMeet Evie …
Prince Harry and Meghan were hugely supportive of my writing and work with children. The ‘WellChild Award’ was in recognition of my work with schools and medical companies-educating on hidden disability. We all felt appreciated and valued which I think is so important. It’s something that I really encourage in my talks, even if it isn’t riding-try to find a sport or hobby that makes you feel valued and that you can enjoy. It will give you a drive and passion to continue with it whatever you’re dealing with.
I was diagnosed with Spina bifida at a year old. I was lucky that my mum introduced me to horse riding at a very young age and realised the benefits of it for my legs. Horses went from being my physio to becoming that one consistent thing in my life. However poorly, I have always been able to turn to the horses.
When you have a medical condition, you can become really isolated and start thinking that you are the only person in the world that has to deal with this when actually there may be 20,000 others in the country. But once I knew there were other children like me I wanted to reach out to them, so I started visiting primary schools to talk about hidden illnesses and invisible disabilities.
My book was based on a puppy called Lucy that goes to school and struggles to make friends because of her hidden disability, as she can’t keep up. When her classmates realise, they help and she has a really good day. Children connect and empathise with the puppy and then I explain that people have hidden disabilities too. It’s actually based on my own little dog that has weak legs. I just think it is really important to get that message out there and help as many people as possible.
I have big ambitions to be in the Paralympics show jumping. My mum is like a really big worrier. I feel like she does all the worrying and I do the riding. We work really well as a team and I wouldn’t be able to do anything without my mum.
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Journalist who survived a terrorist attack
Meet GilesMeet Giles …
I decided to give up journalism after a terrorist attack in Mumbai killed god knows how many people in the hotel I normally stayed in. I was about 400 yards away and you could hear the explosions and gunfire. I thought, if I had been in my usual hotel, there’s no way I could run.
I caught polio (or rather, polio caught me) when I was eight weeks old. It took out my left leg, right arm and both shoulders and I spent 18 months in a children’s isolation hospital. My mother had to write to the Matron for permission to visit me on Sunday afternoons. Permission was not always granted on the grounds that her presence might interfere with the smooth running of the hospital!
I became an aviation and shipping journalist. I was on the first British Airways flight into Harare, as well as many inaugural flights with, amongst others, Virgin Atlantic. I think my liver has more or less recovered!
About 15 years ago, my muscle strength and stability deteriorated rapidly. Initially my consultant said it was just age and I thought, ‘that’s interesting, I’m getting old in one leg!’ It turned out to be Post-Polio Syndrome. Basically, it attacks the muscle groups it failed to get the first time round. In about 18 months I went from being able to walk a few miles to being practically housebound.
In 2014, I got roped into a team for our village quiz night, and one of the team asked if I had ever considered carriage driving. I had a go and have loved it ever since.
We drive out from assorted farms around the area, and we always have a good picnic. I can’t get over how wonderful the volunteers are. They are giving up their time and I never realised how much is involved. It’s like a swan gliding along, and the paddling underneath is all the volunteers looking after the ponies and getting everything ready – and making the egg sandwiches!
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Success might take time – but you’ll get there in the end
Meet JaspaMeet Jaspa …
I was born in South Africa, but we moved to Wales when I was 18 months old. Pretty much ever since there have been horses – and there has been RDA.
In the beginning, I guess I got roped into it – probably kicking and screaming as a teenager. But mum was inspiring as a coach, I always felt like she was ahead of her time. She always challenged her riders and we were the first RDA group to do vaulting. I started coaching before she decided to retire because she was like ‘come on, it’s your turn now’.
I’m a teacher. I teach French, Welsh and English to mainly years 7 and 8. But on Tuesdays I do RDA. I get here about half seven in the morning and it’s dark and usually drizzling and I think ‘ok, deep breath’. And we finish at half five or so. It’s a long day and at the end of it I’m knackered. But in a good way – you know that good feeling you get. And I couldn’t do anything without our amazing team of volunteers.
The main thing is being able to see things from a different perspective and to be adaptable. You have to adapt to the ability you’ve got in front of you. Not everyone learns in the same way. I always say to the kids at school, if you don’t understand it, it’s not your fault it’s mine, because obviously I haven’t explained it in the right way.
RDA has made me more flexible, more patient and willing to play the long game. You know it might take weeks, months, maybe even years to get that tiny step. But you’ll get it in the end.
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A fresh start after 4 years under section
Meet JennyMeet Jenny …
There’s something about volunteering at RDA that has always been beneficial. Being able to give something back and give my life a focus when it didn’t have one. I’ve been in hospital for four years under section. Things came to a head and for my own safety I knew I needed to be in hospital.
I have a friendship group now and it’s something I can build on. At the end of the day it’s having someone who believes in me; who has faith in me – I’ll cry my make up off in a minute – it’s not easy to turn round and go ‘I’ve got a massive mental health problem’. It scares people off. I never thought I’d end up in hospital for four years, but that was what happened.
I’ve been to three RDA groups at different times in my life and I wouldn’t want to be without it. At Bambers Green I met a wonderful group of ladies who supported me. At Herts and Essex Border group I thought: this is doing my confidence good, this is getting me out of the house, you know, I’m not worried about putting on weight anymore. It was good for me all round. I could get there early and have a bit of quiet time with the horses, when I needed it.
At Penniwells I can build up my confidence in stages. When I can get myself here more regularly, I can start thinking that maybe I’m settled enough to work. I love volunteering, but in reality getting a job would be nice. I want to earn my own money. I will get there eventually.
There were these twins. When I first met them they had these wheel frames behind them, and gradually they’ve progressed to two sticks. And on their last day at Penniwells they wanted to show me how they could walk for the first time without any support. We all walked towards each other and I was in tears.
I suppose in the same way, Sarah the manager here is seeing me progress, and I know she has over the years I’ve been coming here. But I still miss and love my original RDA pony, he was the first one that got me going again. He’s still very special. If I go back and see him, I think he remembers me. It’s that animal magic isn’t it.
(since telling her story, Jenny has been discharged from hospital, is living in the community and has been for her first few job interviews)
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Countryfile Farming Hero
Meet JuliaMeet Julia …
When I heard about Care Farming, the idea began to take root. I always knew our farm had so much to offer as an all-round experience, and I wanted to help young people excluded from education.
I visited my local Pupil Referral Unit and said: I am a farmer, I run an RDA group. Can I help? before I knew it we had three teenagers and a teaching assistant on the farm twice a week.
When you know what these young people have had to cope with already in their relatively short lives – it’s no wonder they find it hard to engage in the classroom. We tend to get the very difficult kids. Half of them are so difficult that the school doesn’t want them at all. But it doesn’t seem right to me that you can be a 13 or 14 year old not even learning basic maths and English.
Today we work with young people from ten different schools who spend a couple of days a week here volunteering with our RDA group and helping out on the farm. They take care of the animals, learn to drive the tractor, gain equestrian skills and knowledge, and help to grow vegetables. They even cook what they’ve grown for lunch.
We’ve always been good at managing behaviours – I just make sure they never feel cornered. If someone is getting stressed we encourage them to go for a walk, to have some space, to go and see one of the animals – anything to break them out of the repeated cycle of negative behaviour that they have learned to rely on.
It’s a family environment where they have the opportunity to experience trust. We create situations for them to care and to see adults caring; to do something helpful and to be thanked for it – these are everyday experiences for most people but it’s completely new for these youngsters.
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West End star
Meet LeoMeet Leo …
“I’m ten and a half. My favourite subject is maths because it’s full of sums and I’m the one in my class who finds the sums not too hard. I like going on my iPad and Xbox. My favourite game is called Train Sim World.
I like trains. I can name all the stops from London Waterloo to Portsmouth. Riding on the train is best. I like to stand by the doors opening them and making the announcements. My favourite train is the (250 20?). It has big wide doors and is blue with a yellow bit on the front.
The way I feel is that when I get on a horse I feel powerful. The horse has got most of the power and it makes me feel like I’m safe. I see light and shadow. I can see all the way to the trees but I can’t pick out any small objects on the ground. Sometimes I don’t feel very safe because I can’t see the small things, but on the horse anything in front of me the horse will see it for me.
I’ve been to three RDA places because we have moved. I got into RDA because mum said I should do it. When I was four I didn’t want to wear the riding hat. But when I started coming I liked RDA and I liked the horses and it snowballed from there. It didn’t really snowball!
I really like hacks outside. It gives you and pony some fresh air. And it gives everything some fresh air that is outside with us. The light is ok because I always have my glasses on when I’m riding. My favourite horse is Tilly because she has the same name as my baby cousin. She doesn’t look like her. She’s a lot bigger for starters.”
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Gymnastics on horseback – with no feeling in your legs
Meet LizzieMeet Lizzie …
“I think it’s about learning to do what you can with what you have. I have had some really quite random injuries. This shoulder I did two years ago – I did it just doing a forward roll off the horse – it’s actually a lot easier than it sounds.
I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. It’s genetic. And it’s progressive. It affects your collagen, which is in about 98% of your cells so it can affect almost everything. I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 22. It means a lot when someone says ‘yes this is an actual thing’.
I rowed at university and for various clubs. I was at one of the para rowing camps and this woman said how she was part of the RDA. I rode as a child but I stopped after I broke my back aged 13 doing gymnastics. So I started at my local RDA group – Cambs College – and there was a vaulting club at the same stables. It was just addictive from the word go.
Now I’m an RDA Coach for riding and vaulting. I’ve also gone back to gymnastics. If I hadn’t done RDA I would still be at that level of ‘oh they won’t want someone in a wheelchair’.
I always thought that I would never be able to stand up on a horse. Obviously not having feeling in my legs and my feet it’s quite a nervewracking, but I wasn’t really thinking about that when I decided to try it. Then my friends looked over and they were all like ‘oooooh she’s standing up!’ Then of course I fell over.”
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Olympic torchbearer and mouth-painter
Meet LorraineMeet Lorraine …
‘No limbs: no limits’ – that’s my motto.
I started carriage driving about 30 years ago because I wanted to get out into the countryside, I wanted to be with people, to talk to people. And I wanted a challenge – to see if I could do it.
When there’s a will there’s a way for everything. I don’t say ‘I can’t do it’, because I can do it. I don’t say I’m disabled, because I’m not.
I do mouth painting, lace making, card making and sculptures. I volunteer at local hospitals going round to patients, and I cheer them up, give them a bit of a boost. Sometimes they want a bit of a laugh, sometimes they want a prayer, sometimes they want to talk.
Carrying the Olympic torch in 2012 was a great experience. I was on that road and in my head I was humming ‘duh duh duh duh duhh duhhh’ like I was running in Chariots of Fire. The Policeman said ‘can you go a bit faster?’ but I wanted to go slowly to make the most of it!
I’m proud of all my achievements. When I got the MBE it was for volunteering at the hospital and fundraising for RDA. It was presented by Princess Anne, President of RDA. I met her before when I did carriage driving at Windsor Horse Show. She has a wicked sense of humour and a great smile and she said to me ‘very good Lorraine.’
At the moment I’m practicing for a sponsored swim. There’s no stopping me you know. I carry on. I carry on with my life.
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East End Physio is world expert in horses as therapy
Meet LynneMeet Lynne …
I was brought up in a council estate in Sussex with no access to horses at all. My only connection with horses as far as I know, is a postcard I have of my grandfather on a horse in the First World War. That’s all.
In 1974 I went off to The Royal London Hospital in the East End to train to be a Physiotherapist. The uniform was like going back to the 1950s! For practical sessions we had to wear brown lace up shoes, white starched dresses and brown ties and for gym sessions, white socks, wrap around brown skirts and brown knickers! Not exactly glam rock!
A community placement involved taking disabled children horse riding, so that was my first involvement with RDA, which has continued ever since. Seeing the enjoyment that the children got from it: the freedom to get out of their wheelchairs to sit on the back of a pony in the fresh air – especially for children from the East End of London was wonderful.
At that time there was little information about the benefits of hippotherapy but over the years the underpinning theory and science has greatly increased. A literature search for hippotherapy now results in hundreds of peer reviewed papers from all over the world.
My own definition of hippotherapy is the application of my physiotherapy skills and knowledge within an equine environment. The three dimensional movement of the horse is very similar to our human movement whilst walking and gives the child or adult the opportunity for lots of practice time whilst mounted. Essential with development skills for young children my ultimate aim is to achieve a balanced forward facing “riding” position without using hands for support. This means children can have the confidence to balance whilst sitting and then be able to use their hands for play and activities of daily living. Children need to be able to sit independently before starting to walk and so practicing sitting on the back of a horse is ideal physiotherapy.
Being involved with RDA on lots of different levels with many inspirational people over the years has been life changing for me. If you’d have told me all those years ago, as a student physiotherapist, that one day I’d be speaking at international conferences about using horses as therapy I’d have thought you were having a laugh.
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Horse racing nun and first female firefighter
Meet Mary JoyMeet Mary Joy …
When I was at school I didn’t achieve much academically. In those days there was no formal name given to an under-achieving child. You were described as being slow and not very bright.
When I left school I went straight into a horse career where I’ve remained ever since. Whilst at home, special needs children from London would visit and I’d take them for rides in the woods. These children had never seen a pony before or been in the country and it was a life-changing experience for them.
I think that, because I myself had been through something similar, having had a learning difficulty, although probably not as bad as these children, I knew that horses would help them.
When I joined the Fire Service I had no idea that I was the first female fire fighter. I just answered an appeal in the paper. When I went up to the station the guys nearly fell over backwards! The experience was incredible and still remains with me.
I’m a very ordinary person who happens to be a member of a religions congregation. I always knew that I was being called to something deeper but I didn’t know how or when or what it was. This calling has been with me all through my life.
When I was a junior professed sister I heard about a charity horse race in Ireland, raising funds for a mission in Peru. I’d ridden a few races earlier in my life so I thought I’d take part. The BBC followed me in training and I was tipped to be the favourite, which is never good. I came second but in the following years I was more successful in winning.
And then somehow I just happened to end up at Wormwood Scrubs, which is a miracle in itself! I had three ponies and a scrap of land – and the council gave me a month to sort it out. 30 years down the line I’m still there.
Going through school not being an achiever is very tough for any child. I see many vulnerable children and could cry when hearing some of their stories. The horses treat them as equals and help them to become achievers. I’ve learnt so much from horses and they are still teaching me.
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Para Showjumper thinks in sign language
Meet MattMeet Matt …
So there’s lots of bits to my RDA story, and it’s all really important to me.
I think in sign language, then I have to remember the English words and then I have to try and remember the English grammar and what order I should put the words in, and change them from how I have it in sign in my head and put it in English.
In my family I am the only one who is deaf. It’s difficult when there’s lots of hearing people and they’re having a conversation and I don’t know what’s going on, or I say something and I’m interrupting because they are talking about something different. The autism also makes it hard for me. I don’t always like being with people all the time.
So I suppose now my life is all about the horses, and everything that links with them.
We came here when I was six. And I was just happy when I was with the horses. When I started riding I had a leader and side walkers. We went slowly so it was easy for someone to walk next to me and do signing. As I got better and faster that was a bit of a problem! These days I have my own horse and I compete in Para-Showjumping and dressage.
I’m really proud to be a volunteer. When I started I did things like grooming, helping with tacking up, and things around the yard. As I got older and started doing more on the computer I found there were other things that I could do to help. That developed into social media, and now that’s the focus of the volunteering work I do. The aim is to make people aware of what’s happening, to get them involved and get more people to understand what we do.
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Artist and blogger is Youth Ambassador for Parallel Lifestyle
Meet MoniqueMeet Monique …
One of the best parts of my RDA journey so far was winning the Sculpture class at the National Championships. It was great that people liked and understood my achievements in RDA portrayed through my artwork, which I called “Independence”.
The scene shows just me, my trainer and the horse, and reflects my progress through riding. The title and the sculpture help tell my story. Independence is my long-term goal.
I was born with a rare chromosome disorder and ataxic cerebral palsy, plus lots of other stuff I would have to ask my mum about! I started riding 10 years ago, as part of my extended physiotherapy, but it wasn’t until I joined the Arrow Riding Centre that I really began to see the possibilities of what I can achieve.
My first experience of the Regional and National dressage competitions was very overwhelming and daunting – riding in an arena which looks like the one I have watched on TV was nerve wracking! Three years later, I returned to National Championships 2018 and it was a completely different experience. Over the three days at the Nationals, I saw what a wide range of experiences the RDA has to offer everyone, from showjumping and carriage driving to dressage, and vaulting – which I’d like to try one day.
Riding has given me the confidence to challenge myself in more ways than just on a horse. It has given me a route to independence and helped me to learn to be myself, and opened doors such as becoming a member and blogger for Whizz Kidz, and a Youth Ambassador for Parallel Lifestyle.
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Oldest RDA competitor at 90
Meet PaulMeet Paul …
I’ve just turned 90. Of course I grew up during the war, we had a pony in the field at the back which belonged to an old boy. This was his last pony in the field and I learned to ride on that. I didn’t have proper lessons or anything. I mean literally sitting with my legs out like I’m on a chair. That was the way we did it in those days.
When I left school I worked at a Livery yard, followed by two seasons show jumping. I did National Service in 1947-49 and was quickly requested to take up a position as the colonel’s groom, looking after 20 horses and six men. It was during this period that I injured my back lifting the ramp on a horse box. This has troubled me all of my life.
My life has been a whole series of firsts. I was the first to lead a group ride over the Ridgeway long distance bridle path in Sussex. Then when I came up to Stafford, as a youth worker, I ran Horse Mastership courses. I assessed and trained the first Gold mounted expedition for the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Whilst living in Croydon, I persuaded Warlingham horse club to take some of my kids and hire ponies from the local riding school to go on a course, which had never been done before. It was during this time that I trained and qualified as an AI and a visiting instructor for the pony club. Then when I was at the RDA Nationals Doug told me that he thought I was the oldest person who had ever ridden at the Championships – and that was 10 years ago.
I started off teaching riding with RDA – now I ride with them. It is pure therapy to just keep my arthritis under some sort of control. It is the movement of the horse. I’ve got arthritis the whole way down my neck, all the way down my back and into my hips now. It’s pain the whole time, but it’s no doubt the riding helps. We do Pilates as well. With arthritis you just have to keep it moving, you can’t stop.
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Haptic technology transforms experience for deafblind rider
Meet RichardMeet Richard …
Richard is profoundly Deaf and totally blind. The percentage of people like him in the UK is in single figures. Most people who are deafblind have a bit of useful sight or hearing. He was born prematurely and has always been deaf, then he lost his sight aged 14.
I almost feel that his autism helped in a way. We already had structures and routines and tried to keep things the same as much as possible. He did become quite depressed though, but back then there wasn’t any counselling for deafblind people.
He’s always enjoyed active things: climbing, sailing, abseiling, cycling. He did all those things when he was just deaf and we just carried on with them after he went blind.
He used to go horse riding too. But after he lost his sight the place he was going to couldn’t communicate with him and he was just led round. When Doug from RDA watched him ride, I know he wanted more for him.
Doug persuaded a team from Imperial College to design a Bluetooth device that Richard now uses to ride. It has vibrating bands that fit around his arms and Doug uses his mobile phone to give Richard directions left, right and stop if he needs them. The first time I saw it used was when Richard competed at RDA’s National Championships. I was thrilled for him. It has given him autonomy and independence.
RDA sees abilities and aspirations rather than disability. Richard is very fit, active and intelligent – so why can’t he do what other people do? It’s a pity there aren’t more Dougs in this world. I’m grateful he had the belief in Richard to allow him to achieve.
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Life changing brain surgery and ‘Scamps’ the therapy dog
Meet SamMeet Sam …
Scamper is a trained therapy dog. Mum and I take him on a Saturday to Acorns hospice, this unit for kids who are terminally ill or have serious diseases. We got the idea a couple of years ago when I had a brain operation which got rid of the bit of brain causing the epilepsy. Fortunately, it worked – ever since then I haven’t had any fits. When I was recuperating, we had a therapy dog come into the ward. Mum and I thought why not let Scamper do that as well? It made such a difference not just to me but to the other people in the ward.
I really like history: planes, tanks, veterans that sort of thing. If I read something, it just goes in and I will always remember it. I can name lots of German generals and American, UK and Russian ones as well. When we watch university challenge I get as many questions right as my dad – and he knows a lot.
I used to have low muscle tone and because of that my balance wasn’t too good. My coordination was awful and I had epilepsy. When I was growing up it was really hard work. I had to go to physio a lot. The physio said ‘Have you tried riding?’ and we thought we would just give it a go. Now 8 or 9 years later I’m still doing it. I love it.
All of RDA is fun – the talking, helping out people, riding the horse, going to competitions, looking after someone if they need any help. It is a family away from my family. We love having a joke, especially me, Ro and David, who are the people that normally run my lesson. One of the jokes I like is:
What do you call a single kitchen utensil?
An eligible spatula.
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Nuclear exercises with NATO and a brave bucket list
Meet SarahMeet Sarah …
I was in The Royal Observer Corps. They did these exercises with NATO where somebody had dropped a nuclear bomb. We had to get flight experience, so one minute you’d be in an Andover of the Queen’s flight, all very slick and beautiful. The next would be a Hercules with no seats just a big metal thing to sit on and nothing to hold onto.
It was during a charity walk – mile 12 of 15. It came on suddenly – like being hit by a brick. I couldn’t move my neck at all. The arthritis, peripheral neuropathy and the Multiple Sclerosis arrived at the same time, which was really piling it on with a spoon.
We were renting this house and I couldn’t get down the step in my wheelchair. And then there were the horrible comments about being disabled. I basically spent two years inside. I was on the way to putting my head under my wing – thinking I had had it for the rest of my life.
I started doing a bucket list. I remembered horse riding. And I thought ohh maybe just one last ride…..
Being pretty much in solitary confinement for two years has taught me to express goodness when I come across it. I remember going to RDA for the first time. Diane came over with her lovely big smile and introduced herself and honestly that was it. This social phobia I had developed it disappeared. Like a bubble bursting.
Recently went to The Fureys & Davey Arthur at The Assembly Rooms – all by myself, in the middle of all those people. It has really made such a difference. I’ve done so many things I thought were lost to me, and in every case, if you scratch the surface, RDA is there underneath.
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Parents campaign for ‘Smile with Shiv’
Meet ShivMeet Shiv …
We have an 8-year-old boy called Shiv. He received a diagnosis of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy just after his 3rd birthday in April 2014. We had never heard of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy before the diagnosis.
Duchenne is a progressive muscle weakening condition with no treatment. The prognosis is that he will lose ambulation by 12 years of age. In his teens they say he will lose the ability to use his upper body. His heart and lungs are a muscle also, so he will need assistance to breathe. Life expectancy at the moment is mid-20s.
At the time of diagnosis, we were told there was no treatment and we were told ‘to go home and be happy with your child’. Soon after we threw ourselves into the world of Duchenne and we realised that there was a lot of good work going on to help find a potential treatment and cure, this gave us a lot of hope. That was the main reason we set up ‘Smile with Shiv’ and have had amazing support since launch in January 2015.
When we saw Shiv on a horse for the first time it was amazing. We had never been horse riding so it’s been a new experience for us all – and it’s been beautiful. To have these gorgeous animals and see how they connect with the riders.
It’s really hard for those with Duchenne to be active as much as they need to be, and with the horse riding we’ve noticed a big difference particularly to his core muscles and his confidence. The coaches here are well trained and know exactly how to ensure Shiv is getting the right exercises and physio whilst also making it fun for him.
We just try to do as much as we can. It can be tough balancing work, charity, doctors and appointments – you have to make time for living.
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Teaching you can do everything with only one hand
Meet BoMeet Bo …
I have worked with the Limbless Association, Douglas Bader and also Queen Mary’s hospital in Roehampton. I’m their contact to talk to disabled people about how they grow their confidence or even how they can do things with one hand, because simple things like tying your shoelace or doing your zip up can really hold people back.
I try to take everything as a positive challenge because of RDA. Literally everything I have learnt here has made me an independent person. RDA has taught me that you can do anything – you just have to take your time doing it, then the speed will grow.
At school people thought I was a mute. There is nothing wrong with me apart from my missing hand, but I was so in my shell. It’s party a cultural thing. Good Chinese girls are quiet, and because I was disabled maybe I should be a little quieter and behind the scenes.
My family are not from an animal background so they are always frowning at me because I have a cat, dog and I had a horse. But they have actually been really amazing helping me look after my pets when I have had no hands spare – literally!!
When I got a call asking me to ride for Hong Kong I realised that anything was possible.
Sam was the best horse ever. We travelled around Europe to 8 Olympic qualifiers, meeting the most inspirational riders of our time and when we came back from our adventures, we partnered up together to teach RDA riders. Horses like him don’t come around very often, and when they do they are unforgettable and live on in our minds. I believe RDA horses are like this, they have a special gift and that’s why not every horse or pony can be at RDA.
Right now I’m an RDA coach and trustee, and I’m also a senior designer for a company in Guilford. Being able to grow in my profession and progress all comes down to being here – all because someone said I can.
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