News

Westmorland Show 2024

This September we again had our stand in the Countryside Arena at the splendid two-day Westmorland Show. It was a joy meeting friends old and new and explaining what we do. It was wonderful to meet Josh, who was a rider with us many years ago. He still talks about his experiences and has fond memories. Children enjoyed handling the ponies’ food and tack as well as having a go at steering ‘Woody.’

As ever, many thanks to our wonderful volunteer helpers who took turns manning the stand.


First Autumn ride

On Tuesday we enjoyed our first ride of the Autumn term. We welcomed back some very familiar faces and also some new ones. Needless to say, they were all smiling ones and we saw some fantastic riding with no sign of nerves, or the effects of such a long holiday.


President’s Award

The President’s Award is the most prestigious volunteer award within RDA and is awarded for service of an exceptional nature over a period of over 30 years by the president of RDA, HRH Princess Anne.

The recipients of the award are chosen by Princess Anne herself using information provided to her. We are delighted to report that, during a ceremony at National Office, our own Jenny Harris was presented with the award. It is so well deserved and we are all delighted. Congratulations Jenny!

Back home at a less formal gathering, Jenny received flowers and cake from her fellow volunteers.


Last ride

Our last Summer ride on 9 July was a very wet affair, but we are tough in Cumbria and smiled through it all. Our young riders mopped their dripping ponies before they were put back into their stables. And then we had cake! There were tiny presents too for our riders to add to the smiles. Now we are looking forward to starting again in early September.


Awards

On 2 July our young riders were presented with awards for their hard work and achievements over the term. Well done all of them and congratulations.


And they’re off!

What a delight to welcome back our riders to Westmorland RDA at our new venue – Larkrigg. Lots of smiles, a few nerves and several inches taller, it was so good to see them again. The ponies behaved impeccably and new friendships were quickly made. Thank you to everyone who was able to come along and help make this such a heartwarming occasion. It was wonderful to restart with such a big turnout.


Introduction to Larkrigg

After an extra long Winter break it was exciting to meet up with our fellow volunteers at Larkrigg Riding School, our new riding venue. We were introduced to our ponies: Mojo, Noddy, Blue (who has blue eyes!) and Spike. Spike is an old friend from our time at Holmescales and he’s looking really well.
Braving the inclement weather we went out into the arena to lead the ponies round and accustom them to side-walkers. Shirley our volunteer ‘child’ bravely mounted one soaking saddle after another dismounting forwards so the ponies became used to some of the strange ways of RDA.
We looked forward to introducing our young riders to their new ponies the following week.


Rotary Club Swimathon

A huge well done to our Seahorses swimming team who swam a total of 94 lengths over 55 minutes at the annual Rotary Club Swimathon event on 6 March 2024.
The team has raised £900 for Westmorland RDA!

From left to right we have swimmers Michael, Annette, Adele and Josie, and taking the photo was Hazel who volunteered to count the lengths for the team. Thank you very much to everyone involved ☺️


Christmas Tree Festival

December saw the return of the Annual Christmas Tree Festival at Kendal Parish church. The theme this year was ‘Under the sea’, so our riders and helpers made beautiful marine decorations – we had fish, jellyfish, and of course, seahorses. Those who have read through the other sections of the review will know ‘The Seahorses’ is our team name when we enter the annual Swimathon (another of the charity events which help us to fund our group) so we made sure to include some pictures of our brilliant swimmers from the last couple years!

Despite some challenging weather, the festival had lots of visitors who showed their appreciation for the decorations by donating to their favourite trees. Our tree raised £170, so thank you very much to everyone involved and those who visited the festival.


Winter Riding Awards

After their fun rides on Monday, 20 November 2023 our young riders were presented with awards and rosettes for their hard work and achievements over the term. Congratulations to all of them, including Esme’s dad who was presented with an Endeavour award for poo picking!



North Region AGM

In September 2023, Westmorland Group was privileged to host the RDA North Region AGM at Willowsway Stud and Rehabilitation Centre where we hold our riding sessions. After a welcome cuppa, especially for those who had travelled a distance, Melanie Garner from Heartfelthorse gave us an interactive introduction to Natural Horsemanship, where were learned to breathe correctly. This was followed by the AGM and the presentation of awards and trophies.

After lunch Melanie gave us an amazing demonstration of Horse Agility using our ponies Bruno and KitKat. Afterwards our human participants were invited to try their hand at leading the ponies, calmly and gently, around the maze, through the waving fronds of a doorway and around the ‘scary corner’, where there were unfamiliar waving, moving and shiny objects.


Trophy for RDA Westmorland Group


At our AGM in November 2021, Westmorland Group was surprised and delighted to be presented (virtually) with the RDA Northern Region Challenge Trophy. Ann Harrison, RDA Northern Region County Chair writes:

“I nominated Westmorland Group for the award in recognition of the extra lengths you all went to during the Covid lockdowns to keep in touch with your volunteers and riders with your competitions, quizzes and zoom meetings. You all went the extra mile to keep your contacts, stop the isolation from RDA and keep the RDA spirit alive and well in the most difficult of circumstances. It has been a difficult time for all of us, personally, professionally and as volunteers, so for your Group to step up and keep your RDA ‘family’ connected throughout was a really special commitment and was truly heartwarming. Regional committee agreed that the award was very well deserved, and congratulate you again for your achievements.”


Royal visitor to the Westmorland Show

Well, what a wonderful two days at the Westmorland County Show this year. The sun shone, friends and well-wishers visited our stand, our own Jenny Harris was interviewed live for BBC Radio Cumbria and we were honoured with a visit by the President of Riding for the Disabled, HRH Princess Anne.


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