Laris Farm gain Accessibility Mark accreditation
Laris Farm in Surrey have been awarded the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) Accessibility Mark accreditation. This new accolade means that the riding school and it’s experienced instructors can now open their doors to more of the local community by offering riding sessions to disabled people.
The Accessibility Mark programme has been developed by RDA in partnership with Hoof, the British Equestrian Federation’s participation brand. The Accessibility Mark project aims to provide an increased number of opportunities to access riding for disabled people. Drawing on the expertise of RDA, the scheme is furnishing riding schools with the appropriate skills to deliver sessions to this market.
Centre Proprietor Nina Collins, who has been running the riding school for over 12 years, is excited to be able to offer more people the opportunity to ride at her centre:
“the training has given me and my staff the confidence to offer riding lessons to people with disabilities as well as giving us more insight into how different disabilities may affect people.”
Quest RDA Group, that operate from Laris Farm, are already noticing the benefits of the accreditation:
“we currently have a long waiting list of people who would like to join our group – Laris Farm’s training means that we are now able to direct people to the centre’s new sessions with the confidence that the instructors have been trained effectively,” explains Quest RDA’s Group Instructor Julie Jones. We have worked very closely with Laris Farm since we moved here two years ago and love to bounce ideas off each other. There is such an overlap between teaching able bodied and disabled riders, this training means that this integrated environment is becoming more apparent in our sport”
Laris Farm offers initial riding sessions on their riding simulator (Sidney) to help riders boost their confidence and find their balance in the saddle. Once a participant feels ready one of the eight Accessibility Mark trained instructors at the centre will be ready to make the first steps into the saddle even easier.
