Kaitāia Riding for the Disabled celebrating 25 years at Church Rd site

The Kaitāia Riding for the Disabled crew and one of its recent graduates. The organisation is celebrating its 25th anniversary at its Church Rd site.

Kaitāia Riding for the Disabled is celebrating its 25th year at its Church Rd complex and is looking forward to many more years providing the service for the district’s youth, but it needs help.

It is now 25 years since Kaitāia Riding for the Disabled opened its complex at Church Rd. Established in Kaitāia in 1979 as a result of a meeting convened by Phoebe Kirby, its first rallies were held in the A&P Showgrounds until Neil Matthews offered a paddock adjacent to South Rd.

Riding for the Disabled continued holding sessions there until the need for a secure base and a permanent home for the horses became an increasingly significant issue.

Thanks to the wonderful organisational skills of Diana Smithyman, the tradition of fundraising Garden Safaris was established. This became a successful way of raising the funds necessary to purchase the property at Church Rd in 1998. Gordon Johns, Marie Matthews and Irene Knowler continued as amazing subsequent organisers, and once the property was bought, it has helped with ongoing projects.

Present Riding for the Disabled (RDA) organiser Jackie Simkins retires from that position this year so the organisation is looking forward to hearing from someone to take on the Safari next year.

The Church Rd property was officially opened in May 2000 after a lot of hard work by volunteers and members of the community, with clubrooms, an outdoor arena, stalls and a tack room for preparation of the horses, several paddocks fenced, water, power and lighting installed, and a special mounting ramp for its riders built.

The Kaitāia Riding for the Disabled horses in their stable, getting ready for action.

In 2007, a covered arena was built to protect its riders and volunteers from the elements, which has been a wonderful addition.

Hundreds of children from local schools have been able to make use of this facility ever since and RDA regularly has three sessions on a Tuesday and a Wednesday during the first, second and fourth terms, enabling an average of 24 children to benefit each week.

The children are assessed and have goals to achieve during their time at RDA; some attend for a short period of time and others for longer, depending on their need.

It is wonderful to see the benefits of spending time with a pony doing exercises, playing games, gaining confidence and improving posture and attitude, and receiving positive feedback from schools and caregivers. But nothing would happen if it wasn’t for the wonderful volunteers and ponies who contribute to make each session so special.

At present there is only one trained coach at RDA and there is opportunity for someone who loves kids and ponies to do the training necessary – so if that person is you, please contact kaitaiarda@yahoo.co.nz for more information.

This year RDA has two big projects to do – the first will be the removal of the Leyland cypress trees on its boundaries, which are dying or have already died, and replacing them. The other is to extend the clubrooms as more space is needed.