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An excellent term for all our riders, volunteers and coaches. Liz Hodge our volunteer extraordinaire designed another exciting, sponsored ride week for all the riders. Coaches, volunteers and riders all took part in the activity course that was designed with fun and a sense of achievement in mind. A very big thank you to all the parents, care givers and riders for helping to raise, through sponsorship, enough money to secure the purchase of a new pony called Teddy. He is a wonderful addition to the equine team. Well done everyone.
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Some very exciting news. It is a great privilege to welcome Gary Endacott as our own patron at CRDA. Gary Endacott has very generously agreed to become our patron and support us. Garys’ distinguished career is outlined in a sperate article in this newsletter. Thankyou Gary and welcome.
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I would also like to welcome a good number of new enthusiastic volunteers and as we see the number of supporters grow, we would like to say thank you to every volunteer for giving up their time to come and work with us each week, each term, and each year. You help our riders achieve their goals and feel valued. We celebrated all our volunteers during national volunteer week this term.
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Keep warm, and happy riding everyone.
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A New Patron for Christchurch Riding for the Disabled
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The Christchurch Riding for the Disabled is delighted to welcome Mr. Gary Endacott MNZM, to the position of Patron for our organisation. Gary has very kindly accepted this position and comes to us with a wealth of experience in the disability sector where he is employed by the Ministry of Education as their Disability Facilitator. The position that he holds is a unique one, where he can advocate for the specific needs of disabled people, while incorporating his special personal insight and experience.
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Gary's personal achievements are long and comprehensive and are readily available to view online. However, to mention but a few; he has successfully competed in the New York Marathon, four times, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, been extremely active and successful in several competitive sports including his much-loved Rugby League, and not least has been voted by the people of New Zealand to win the "People's Choice Attitude Award" at the NZ Attitude Awards. Gary is also involved in a large amount of motivational public speaking, that raises the awareness of living with a disability, and inspiring people to achieve their full potential.
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Gary is a very proactive man, who we have no doubt will represent the Christchurch RDA and its interests to the fullness of his abilities, while also becoming active in assisting our staff and volunteers in gaining new insights and perspectives into the needs of disabled people.
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We look forward to working with Gary and seeing him about the CRDA premises as time progresses.
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Gary is married to his lovely wife Shelley, and has two grown up sons, Jesse and Josh.
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Introducing the Warmup Area
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Many of you attending, visiting or bringing riders to CRDA will have noticed our selection of on the ground activities on concert causeway. This has been carefully designed and put together for the sole purpose of supporting our riders before they start their riding session. Warm up exercises are crucial for preparing our body for physical activity. They increase blood flow, raise body temperature and improve flexibility. Some of our exercises set out to also mentally prepare for riding and improve focus, concentration and motivation. Warm up exercises can also improve reaction time and effective muscular movement. The coach or volunteers will encourage a rider to participate in some of the warmup exercises each week before they ride. We have noticed our riders enjoying these carefully thought-out activities and benefitting during the session.
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My Horse Riding Journey with RDA
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I started RDA in 2007 when I was 7 years old and I have loved it ever since. Mum used to pick me up from school and bring me to RDA, and sometimes my Nana picked me up. When I was little, I remember going outside for walks around the paddocks and doing games inside like throwing balls, charging using sticks, and putting rings into cones using a stick. This helped me improve my balance and co-ordination. Riding a horse stretches my adductors and I have to use my core muscles to sit straight. At first I could only last fifteen minutes but now I can last the session.
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I did horse riding through the earthquakes in 2011. Mum was scared there would be an aftershock and the horses would bolt! There also used to be birds that lived on the roof that were very noisy and used to scare the horses.
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One horse I rode was called Connie, she was 27 years old and looked like she was asleep when she was walking! The birds didn’t scare her! Another horse I rode was Rocco who was really skittish. One time he got scared by a bird on the roof and I nearly fell off. My helpers had to pull me off and calm him down. After that Rocco refused to go in the arena for weeks.
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I have cerebral palsy, and I use a wheel chair so when people hear I can ride a horse it surprises them. The people that volunteer at RDA are special. Jane was the president for a long time, and the helpers are so kind and encouraging. I really appreciate the opportunity to ride because it helps my muscles so much.
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We thank all our hard-working volunteers for their dedication and many hours spent supporting our riders, coaches and horses. Our mission is to provide goal-based riding activities to increase the ability, strength and confidence of people with physical, intellectual, emotional and social challenges. Our focus is to make a positive difference enriching the lives of our riders through our horse’s movement and interaction.
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Being a volunteer with CRDA gives you the
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- opportunity to work with horses
- satisfaction from helping our riders
- challenge through learning new skills
- knowledge from our training workshops
- companionship from a great team of volunteers
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Our next New Volunteer Induction Workshop is on Thursday 9th September from 10am to 12 noon.
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See the Volunteer page on www.chchrda.org.nz to enrol and receive more details.
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Gabi and Annie, Volunteer Support
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A huge thanks to our 2025 funders and donors
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In Memory of Kathryn Ward - Odel Morshuis
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Rotary Club of Christchurch
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Canterbury Education Trust - Odd Socks Day
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G and B Davies Charitable Trust
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Rubicon Valley Horse Treks
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Physiotherapist Jax Crutchley
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Lions Club of Christchurch South
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Plus a big thanks to all our participants in fundraising events including the sponsored ride, the Winterslow Station horse trek, t-towel sales and book donations, entertainment book donations, gear donations, volunteer expertise and services.
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Office
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022 1761632 or president@chchrda.org.nz
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Elizabeth Smith - Riders' Rep
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027 2376974 or eliric@xtra.co.nz
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Physical Address
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Northcote Drive, inside Canterbury Agricultural Park, Wigram
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Arena Booking Enquiries
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