Luke West, 11, riding Chloe, being led by Levin RDA volunteer Joan Sim.
Luke West, 11, riding Chloe, being led by Levin RDA volunteer Joan Sim.
A smile. A feeling of accomplishment. A story to tell. An experience never to be forgotten.
That’s what Levin Riding For the Disabled has been enriching its members and volunteers with for more than 40 years.
There are currently 25 members riding horses each week, on Wednesdays and Thursdays. But there is a waiting list and more people could access the benefits with more volunteer help.
The organisation is calling for more volunteers, not just to help with the horses but in a variety of positions of governance so it can continue making memories.
Levin Riding for the Disabled president Stephen Oatley. Photo / Paul Williams
Levin RDA president Stephen Oatley said the group had been blessed with volunteers who had “rendered fantastic service” over many years, but more were needed.
There was a misconception that helpers needed to be “horsey”, he said. Levin RDA needed people with a variety of skills to join the organisation.
“We would invite folk to come along with the view of attracting men and women with governance experience to provide leadership direction and support,” he said.
The organisation had a proud history and reputation, forged over almost half a century of involvement and support for people with intellectual disabilities in the region, and the benefits were tangible in the difference it made to lives.
A few years ago Luke West, 11, was scared of most animals and could hardly go near a horse.
But through continued and patient engagement with horses at Levin RDA, he had slowly grown in confidence and was spending more and more time in the saddle.
Luke’s mother Pamela said the experience and time spent with horses was making a huge difference to the well-being of her son, who has autism.
“He’s gone ahead in leaps and bounds,” she said.
“This horse was the first animal he has been near and it’s opened him up so much, to accept other animals too. He’s got a kitten at home now [called] Jet.
“There is no forcing or expectations. It’s all at his own speed, week after week.”
Luke West riding Chloe at the Levin RDA complex at the end of Mako Mako Rd.
The Levin RDA experience could be just as enriching for volunteers, too. Carolyn Cordery has been volunteering at Levin RDA for 10 years and said she had loved every minute.
The simple pleasure of seeing children and adults achieving different milestones and goals, no matter how small, was reward enough.
“Seeing those achievements and changes make it all worthwhile.”
Her husband Richard, who had a stroke in 2011, began riding in 2016. She said adults could gain as much as children from time spent at Levin RDA.
“There can be an invisibility to disability sometimes,” she said.
It took all types of skills to make up the RDA team. Some were happy to pick up the manure from the paddock each day, or clean troughs, or clean gear, while others had skills that were better suited to administration.
Anyone was welcome to attend the group’s 42nd annual meeting at Speldhurst Country Estate on May 13 to find out more.
Meanwhile, Levin RDA’s temporary home at the end of Mako Mako Rd has just been given a degree of certainty.
It had been based at the old Kimberley State Hospital at Kimberly Rd since the 1980s, relocating to land at the end of Mako Mako Rd last year.
The land was initially bought by the government to create a wetland to help improve the water quality of Lake Horowhenua. Regional council Horizons was required to put the lease of the land out to tender, raising concerns about RDA’s occupation of the site. Now an alternative wetland is planned for the southern side of the lake instead.
Levin RDA patron Geoff Kane, who was the initial owner of the 450 acres before its government purchase, said he had an assurance from the new lessee that there were no plans to have RDA moved from its current base.
The period of the new lease is two years. The land occupied is only a small portion of the total farm area, which will now be cropped.
Kane said the deal was done on a farmers’ handshake. In the meantime, RDA would be working with Horizons and the Government on a more permanent resolution for Levin RDA.
