大象传媒

To find out more about聽Riding For The Disabled聽please go to

Or write to:

Norfolk House,
1a Tournament Court,
Edgehill Drive,
Warwick
CV34 6LG

Or call: 01926 492915

I first became aware of RDA when I helped to build an indoor riding school for one of the charity鈥檚 groups in London 21 years ago as part of the programme Challenge Anneka. I was privileged to meet some of the amazing riders, volunteers and horses, and to understand the lasting difference riding can make.

I have supported RDA ever since, and this year was delighted to return to Wormwood Scrubs 鈥� the centre I first visited - to see how they were getting on. The group is thriving, and some of the riders who I met as children are still enjoying their time with RDA 鈥� now as adults, helping out in the yard and progressing with their riding.

I don鈥檛 have a horsey background and nor do most of the riders at RDA. But when you visit an RDA group it doesn鈥檛 take long to see what a difference it makes just being close to a horse or a pony. For the children and adults I have spoken to, RDA is an incredibly special place, where friendships are made, where no one is treated differently and where disability fades into the background.

That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 proud to support this Lifeline Appeal, and why I hope you will feel able to donate what you can to help many more disabled people find out what they can achieve.

Follow Anneka on .

Last year, Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) helped over 25,000 disabled children and adults to enjoy the life-changing benefits of horse riding, carriage driving and hippotherapy. RDA has around 500 volunteer groups all over the UK delivering therapy, achievement and fun through horses 鈥� and with your help they can do even more.

Many of the disabled children and adults who are lucky enough to have a place at a local RDA group have been referred there by a doctor or physiotherapist. The three-dimensional movement of horses delivers a powerful physiotherapy to relax and strengthen muscles 鈥� especially the core muscles used for balance, coordination, posture and walking.

Being part of an RDA group brings other benefits too, offering a chance to make friends, access the countryside, learn a skill, have fun and gain the confidence to try new things.

Since riding with RDA, children like Amy (who is featured in the 大象传媒 Lifeline Appeal) can now do things their parents never thought possible 鈥� things like standing and walking unaided. At RDA achievement comes in many forms, and for riders like Sophie Christiansen (also featured) that means going all the way to the Paralympics.

Despite the support of over 19,000 volunteers, many RDA groups have a waiting list, so that some disabled people are waiting years for a place 鈥� and many will never have a chance to benefit from that unique partnership between horse and rider.

With your help, RDA can open up more opportunities for disabled people to access riding and carriage driving in their local area; so that more children and adults can benefit from the powerful physiotherapy of riding and the life-changing bond between humans and horses.

Thank you for your donation.

For more information, go to their website聽, like on聽, follow on聽.

Amy鈥檚 mum Sarah was looking forward to becoming a parent with her husband Nick.

Sarah said, 鈥淚 had a pretty normal pregnancy, relatively comfortable with a nice little neat bump, that everyone was busy admiring. And then suddenly I started getting these pains and everything speeded up terribly fast and within three hours of arriving at hospital, she was born.鈥�

Amy had arrived nearly three months early, and her life was hanging in the balance.

Sarah said, 鈥淚t was quite shocking to see her in the incubator. She was absolutely tiny, and very red, and breathing really fast.鈥�

Amy survived, but the premature birth left her with a variety of difficulties.

Sarah said, 鈥淎my was incredibly unstable. She had absolutely no core strength, so she would fall out of chairs all the time, she was like spaghetti, she would just wobble and then tumble down.鈥�

Amy鈥檚 problems made it hard for her when she started at nursery.

Sarah said, 鈥淪he didn鈥檛 start to walk, she didn鈥檛 start to talk. There were so many things that she wasn鈥檛 doing normally. She was falling further and further behind her peers at nursery. We were really worried about how much that would limit her enjoyment of life.鈥�

The RDA have centres all over the country. Amy鈥檚 school suggested she might benefit from riding classes.聽

Sarah said, 鈥淚鈥檇 expected it to be a problem, physically getting her onto the horse and how on earth she鈥檇 balance on it. But as soon as she got on the horse, she sat up straighter and she just beamed, and something was working brilliantly for her. It was like magic.鈥�

The trained Coaches at the RDA have worked with Amy for a year now.

Sarah said, 鈥淭he change in her has been so astonishingly dramatic in so many ways. Her strength and her posture have hugely improved. She was so unstable and she fell all the time. And now, she鈥檚 much more stable. She can run, and she鈥檚 starting to learn how to jump. But also academically. It鈥檚 made her more able to focus in class, to listen to instructions, to sit still at the table and work. I think also for her it鈥檚 wonderful to have something that she鈥檚 just so good at and that she can really enjoy and feel herself when she鈥檚 on a horse. The amount of progress she鈥檚 made though horse riding has really made us think that, you know, she can be like all the other kids and she can have, you know, any future that she wants. And it鈥檚 really, really wonderful.

Horse riding can also become a lifelong passion. Sophie Christiansen was born with cerebral palsy, a condition that means she only has limited control of her limbs. But after a childhood of riding with the RDA, she went on to represent the UK at three Paralympic Games 鈥� including London 2012.

Sophie said, 鈥淚 remember going into my first test and seeing the backdrop of Greenwich Park and I was I鈥檓 actually here, oh no, I鈥檝e got a job to do here, get a grip. And it was just amazing.鈥�

Sophie went on to win 3 gold medals. But it鈥檚 been a long road to Paralympic victory. As a child, Sophie had difficulty with movement, relying on walking aids and a punishing routine of physiotherapy. Life was tough at school too.

She said, 鈥淲hen I was little I used to be really shy of my disability, especially my speech.聽 You know, at school it was quite difficult, um talking to other kids, I worried that they wouldn鈥檛 understand me that well.鈥�

Sophie鈥檚 school suggested she visit a local RDA centre.

She said, 鈥淚 just fell in love with riding and horses. I remember having a sense of being free when I was on the horse and could almost forget about the difficulties that I faced in life. So it gave me the skill to really believe in myself. Without the RDA I would not be a gold medallist and being an elite athlete has given me so much in my life.鈥�

Every single member of equestrian Team GB at the London Paralympics started out riding with RDA. But the aim of the RDA isn鈥檛 just to create Paralympian鈥檚. This charity gives disabled people the chance to find a better quality of life in so many ways.