Oaklands Pupils Expand Their Equestrian Experience

Our pupils regularly attend horse riding lessons at Lambourn RDA which is located just down the road from our school at Manor Farm Stables, Chilton Foliat.

Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) is a charity that makes a difference; that champions disabled people and excels as a provider of disability sport. Nationally around 28,000 people with physical and learning difficulties are helped to achieve personal goals, through riding, vaulting and carriage driving each year.

Horse riding offers our students a sense of achievement, as well as an opportunity for enjoyment and to grow independence and confidence. Horse riding/interaction is widely recognised as not just a form of enrichment, but for its marked contribution to emotional and behavioural awareness and development, and also for support with physical and sensory awareness and skills.

Medical professionals recognise that there are also significant therapeutic benefits for the rider. The warmth and three dimensional movement of the horse is transmitted through the rider’s body, gradually making it more relaxed and supple, reducing spasms and improving balance, posture and co-ordination.

Above all it's an opportunity for fun, challenge, friendship and laughter.