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.
