Blog: Disabled riders can do anything in equestrianism | News
The English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) website features a blog post every Friday through the year.
In 2016 we’ll be taking a look at an A-Z of accessible sporting and fitness opportunities available to disabled people. This week it’s E for Equestrianism, as Julie Ashby discusses rediscovering riding.
Julie’s blog:
A chance conversation that transformed my life put me in touch with my local Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) group.
Already, life as I knew it had changed forever, when I was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Post-surgery, this left me with multiple disabilities affecting my hearing, sight, balance and co-ordination.
I had always been a fit, active person and horse-riding had always featured a great deal in my life. I had been helping out in my local stables in return for rising lessons from the age of 11.
I had not ridden for 18 months post-surgery and it was clear that a regular riding school could not accommodate my impairments.
I was devastated, thinking that I may never ride again. Having been a rider before made little difference.
But with an outstanding blend of professionalism, knowledge and kindness, the RDA reconnected me to riding with a weekly lesson.
Initially it took a very patient horse and several even more patient volunteer helpers to get me into the saddle. Nonetheless, to achieve this left me feeling elated and filled with renewed hope in myself and the future.
For many, riding conjures images of hacking out in open countryside, showjumping, carriage driving or elegant dressage.
Disabled riders can do any of these things – what may have seemed, to themselves, near-impossible at one time. The health benefits for body, mind and general well-being for all ages and disability cannot be over-emphasised.
'Horses are a great leveller'
In most sport it is all down to you – with riding, you have a very special four-legged partner with a mind of its own.
Communication involving the spoken word is not essential and, as horse and rider take stock of each other, the partnership can begin to develop. And who knows where it will lead?
For many people, learning to ride gives them unexpected freedom and fitness. It works a great deal of your body in a very unique way.
It is the ongoing strength, balance and co-ordination this sport gives to me that no amount of physio could ever replace. Personal pain, challenges and worries simply evaporate.
The local RDA group that first helped me was just one of many dedicated groups from all over the UK, supporting and encouraging everyone who attends.
It is said that horses are a great leveller, and I believe this to be true. I no longer think of what I cannot do but what I can.
The combination of sporting challenge and riding is very potent. Riding has given me focus and commitment, to be the best that I can.
At the Riding for the Disabled Association, horses and ponies provide therapy, achievement and enjoyment to disabled people all over the UK. Their network of 500 volunteer groups organise activities such as riding, carriage driving, vaulting, showjumping and Hippotherapy to up to 28,000 people each year. For more information visit the Blogs section of the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) website. Keep visiting the site every Friday for new blogs in our A-Z 2016 series.
