History of RDA
The Association was founded in 1965 as the Advisory Council on Riding for the Disabled with 9 Member Groups and became Riding for the Disabled Association in 1969 when membership had grown to 80 member groups. The president at that time was Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk with HRH The Princess Anne as Patron.
The Association used an office in the British Horse Society building and moved to Stoneleigh Park in 1975.
1975 also saw the introduction of Carriage Driving as an activity and RDA drivers took part in the first World Driving Championships in 2002.
In 1986 HRH the Princess Royal took over as President.
The first National RDA Dressage Championships took place in 1981 and were expanded to include all RDA disciplines with the First RDA National Championships.
1981 also saw the launch of the Association's in-house magazine, RDA News, which is circulated three times a year.
The Association became a Federation of Member Groups in 1999 and RDA National became an incorporated body in 2004.
2007 saw the National Office move from Stoneleigh Park to its current location in Warwick.
In 2009/10 the Association marked its 40th anniversary - launched with the "World's Biggest Riding Lesson" and then celebrated through the year with a number of events for volunteers, riders and drivers.
In 2011 Showjumping was added to the portfolio of RDA activities, with the 2011 National Championships hosting the inaugural "invitational competition".
The Association now has over 500 Member groups which cater for more than 30,000 riders and carriage drivers
Our Aim
Our aim in simple terms is to provide the opportunity of riding to people, with a range of physical and learning disabilities, who might benefit in their general health and wellbeing.
Our Objectives
- To provide people with a range of physical and learning disabilities, the means to ride and/or carriage drive at the level of their ability, choice and ambition.
- To acquire, manage and support the resources: people, horses, ponies, donkeys, facilities and finance to achieve the objectives.
- To make available suitable training within the Association.
- To ensure that the structure of the Association is appropriate for its requirements from time to time.
- To encourage disabled people to occupy positions of responsibility within the Association.
- To contribute to the attainment of objectives worldwide.
For more information, please visit www.riding-for-disabled.org.uk