Our Stories

In a local pub, a conversation took place between a local standardbred breeder and trainer, and one of our amazing volunteers Frank Shrives. Frank has, for a long time, enthused and shared his passion for the work that everyone including the horses do at Riding for Disabled and this particular evening decided to put forward the case of standardbreds at Christchurch Riding for the Disabled (CRDA). Here the story moves on to a young Standardbred called ‘Rocket’ (Rocket Banner) a gentle natured horse, who was trialled at CRDA, and has become become quite a favourite amongst riders.

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.

What a difference sitting up straight on a horse at RDA makes for Jonty!

"The cross over between riding at Christchurch Riding for the Disabled and how it benefits Jonty in the rest of his world is remarkable" says Jonty’s mum Emma.

Five-year-old Jonty Bailey has Down Syndrome and he also has choking episodes when drinking. Doctors needed to plan for his ongoing care which involved Jonty having an x-ray swallow test in radiology.

At one of our RDA sessions Aiden had been insistent he wanted to bring Tiger a carrot after another boy the previous week had gifted him one to give Tiger.

So, after the ride and his bridle was removed Aiden decided he wanted to eat a carrot with his beloved Tiger.

He wanted Tiger to be proud of him and he wanted to do it together with him.

Hello. I am the mum of a beautiful little girl named Maia.

Maia is medically fragile complex, high dependent, special needs as well as Autism. Maia absolutely loves animals and since she started with riding for the disabled this year, has just fallen in love with Jazz.

Maia gets so excited when we arrive for her session, looking for Jazz as well as calling her, her face lights up with pure love and joy when she sees Jazz coming into the arena as well as jumping up and down with excitement.

We introduced our daughter Caitlin, then aged 6, to horse riding.

Our primary area of concern for Caitlin was her weakness through her core trunk; stomach muscles, hips, thighs and back.

After Caitlin's first year at riding with Tinkerbelle, we found that not only did Caitlin’s strength improve but also her speech and all-round posture.

She began riding a scooter, we noticed an improvement in her gait and she seemed to be managing to ride her bike better...

My 4 year old daughter Tessa was diagnosed with a metabolic disorder called Glutaric Acid-uria Type 1 at 2 years old which has resulted in some damage to her basal ganglia.

This damage has resulted in abdominal weakness and balance and coordination problems affecting her legs.

She has been riding with Christchurch RDA since she was 3 1/2 and I have since noticed a difference in her confidence on her pony in the Riding for the Disabled classes and an improvement ....