Riding for the Disabled Association – Dunfermline Group

Meet the Ponies

Our Ponies

 

 

Some of our ponies are now available for adoption. At a cost of only £15 per pony, you can adopt one or more. Adoption lasts for 1 year. Visit our Projects & Sponsorship/Donations Page for details.

 

	Gypsy Gypsy is our “big friendly giant” – 15.1 hands!  She is a piebald Clydesdale cross mare who has been with our Group for a few years now and loves her work. She is the leader of our herd and a mother to all the other ponies. She is a very placid, friendly pony who loves people of all sizes – and loves to be petted. All our riders enjoy their rides on Gypsy, especially knowing that they are on our biggest pony.
	Rio Rio is our handsome Halflinger pony and stands 14 hands high. He has a great relationship with many of our riders – he always knows how they are feeling. He really enjoys riding to music.
	Itch Itch is a Shetland pony. He’s our oldest pony and is a granddad to the other ponies. He’s retired now so isn’t ridden anymore but he’s still a firm favourite with our riders who love to groom and cuddle him when they visit.
	Peat Peat is also a Shetland pony, and stands 34” high. He’s very hairy, has little legs but can gallop very fast. He is being trained to take over from Itch. When he finishes his training, he’ll be used for young riders.
	Ace Ace is a 15hh Piebald cob who likes the ladies!  He's been an RDA pony for about 7 years - he prefers it when rides are outside as he's an 'off-roader' but is mostly well behaved in rides. He loves grass and bananas. He's very sleek and shiny in summer and gets very hairy like a big bear in winter.
	Dughall Dughall is 14 hands high and is a Highland pony. When he’s clean, he’s beautiful and white, unfortunately, his favourite pastime is to roll in the mud! Perhaps he’s always wanted to be a brown pony? He’s very nosey and is always watching the volunteers and other ponies in the arena to see what they’re doing.
	Jura Jura is a Highland pony 13.2 and is the colour of a teddy bear though he rather objects to the name 'mouse dun'.  He has a long association with RDA and is trained to help both in therapeutic riding and hippotherapy.  He really doesn't mind which way the rider sits or lies on him or how ridiculous humans make him look at Halloween, Christmas etc. He used to be the boss guy until he met up with Gypsy!
	Honey Honey is an elegant bay mare, stands 13.2 hands high and is middle-aged, but doesn’t look it. She loves trotting and is a great mounted games pony. She loves outside in the sun and lots of grass.
	Mickey Mickey is a chestnut gelding pony - 13 hands.  He knows his job well as he has been helping children and young adults for many years both in riding and hippotherapy,  He used to do well at pony club events in previous years and still knows how to be first to arrive when the feed buckets appear! He is a really sweet guy till you get between him and his feed!!.
	Sammy Girl Known affectionately as Sammy, Samster, Samma or Sambo, Sammy's Girl was in her previous home for 4 years where she participated in all pony club activities. Strings to her bow include mounted games, show-jumping, dressage, polo, cross country, working hunter classes and hacking. She likes to have a siesta most lunchtimes particularly in the sun and is very happy for anyone to cuddle up to her and share her lunchbreak. She is not averse to helping herself to snacks hidden in coat pockets, zips being no problem.

A Message from all the ponies!

 

We are the horses who live at the Shiresmill Centre. We've been trained specially so that children and people with physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning difficulties and youngsters on the autistic spectrum can ride us – but we don’t have enough adult volunteer helpers. These are the people who come to the stables to get us ready for our riders coming in. They also help the riders get on our backs and walk alongside us to make sure the riders are safe and know what to do.

We also have to be groomed and our saddles and bridles have to be cleaned regularly. It's very important for our fields to be kept clean and safe – we can get hurt if fences are broken or brambles grow into our fields and catch our legs or tails or manes. Sometimes weeds grow that aren't good for us so these have to be pulled out. These are just some of the jobs that have to be done.

We are ready and willing to get moving and let our riders enjoy themselves BUT WE NEED LOTS MORE HELPERS! Can you help us – even for just one morning each week? As you can see there’s a variety of jobs to be done and the good news is that you don't have to have experience as you will be trained.

If you are 14 or over and think you can help us, please call our Group Secretary 0845 241 4369 or the Centre on 01383 882700 for more information.

PLEASE don't say neigh ..... oops, we mean "no" !

Hope to see you soon !