Strawberry Cream Teas by the WI

July 2026

The Woman’s Institute of Stetchworth, a village near Newmarket, chose Cambs College RDA to be the charity to benefit from their annual Strawberry cream tea this year.  

Held at the end of July, not only were the scones, cream and strawberries delicious, but it was a packed and cheerful village event, and they kindly donated a much needed £375 to our funds.  

Many thanks to the members of Stetchworth WI for choosing us, for making such a delicious tea, and for their donation which will help with running costs such as farriers and  vets costs, feed supplements and a host of other things.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS, BIG AND SMALL

July 2026

At Cambs College RDA we have to raise all our funds ourselves, so we are extremely grateful to all our donors and supporters for making it possible for us to continue to give riding lessons to young adults.  Horses are expensive to buy and to keep (it is often said that they eat £50 notes!) so we want to send a huge THANK YOU to all our donors over the last year; we really could not do it without you.

Two of our Trustees recently attended a presentation evening to accept a very generous cheque towards the cost of a new horse from The City and University Masonic Lodge.  it was a very enjoyable evening where we were able to talk to representatives from other groups that the Lodge support, and we were honoured to have our picture taken with the Grand Master.

Kynaston Masonic Lodge made a substantial gift again, as did The Provincial Grand Lodge of Cambridgeshire Charity for Care and Relief.  Both Kynaston and The City and University Lodges have supported us over several years. 

Newmarket Equine Hospital are also regular supporters, and our horses benefit from their services as well. 

We also have a small number of individuals who make regular donations, so A MASSIVE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR GENEROSITY.  

If you would like to help us there are many ways you can do so - we always need volunteers who are comfortable around horses and/or disabled people or who would like to help with admin or fundraising.  We have a Licensed 200 Club Lottery - tickets cost £12 a year for entry into 6 draws per year.  Prizes depend on the number of members but are currently £50 for 1st prize and £30 for 2nd.  We also have an annual raffle and sell crafts and cards to raise funds.  If you would like to help us in any way, the home page of the website has the necessary links. 

SUCCESS AT THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 2026

Four of our riders completed at the National RDA Championships which are held each July at Hartpury University near Gloucester.  We were delighted by the results.  On Saturday, Sophia came 3rd and Lucy 4th respectively in their Countryside Challenge class.  Many congratulations to them both. 

On Sunday, Harvey came 2nd in his Dressage Class, with Chrissie placed 10th.  These were exceptional results as there were 19 people competing in the same category, so to achieve 10 place was a real achievement and Harvey's 2nd far exceeded our hopes - especially as he had to get up at 4 am that morning to be ready for an 8.30 start! Later in the morning, Harvey again came 2nd in the Countryside Challenge, with Chrissie placed 5th.  

           

            

Sunday was also a successful day for our independent rider, Chris Bradley as well.  Competing on his horse Harley Rebel, he came first in the Grade 7 canter Dressage, and first in the grade 7 Freestyle Dressage.

Many congratulations to them all, we are very proud of each of you.

We are also very proud of our wonderful skewbald cob, Drunkeen Boy who despite being listed as Drunken Boy showed his star quality throughout the weekend.  We just call him Boysie, and he is a real professional!

To qualify for the Championships, riders must come 1st or 2nd in their class and achieve a minimum score in the Regional Qualifying competition. The East Regional qualifying event was held at The College of West Anglia near Cambridge in May.  9 of our riders qualified but unfortunately only 4 could attend for various reasons.  In RDA competitions, riders compete against other disabled riders of a similar riding ability.  So in this case Lucy and Sophia were up against others who needed to have their horse led and have someone walking beside them while Harvey and Chrissie were completely in charge of their horse.  The Countryside Challenge is best described as an obstacle course where riders have to tackle such problems as stopping at an imaginary road junction, crossing a bridge, posting a letter and opening a gate, all in a safe environment. An additional problem for our riders was to stop Boysie trying to eat the plastic flowers!

At the National Championships, Riders may come from anywhere in the UK, including Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland.  Our group is small, and meets once a week during term time, while some others come from RDA centres that provide opportunities to interact with horses 6 days a week.