Home - FAIRLIGHT RIDING FOR THE DISABLED

Welcome to Fairlight Hall Riding For The Disabled

Fairlight Hall RDA was established in 2015. We are a registered charity and are proud that we are able to offer riders of all ages the ability to enjoy the hugely therapeutic benefits of being on and around horses. The demand for our services is ever increasing and we do have a waiting list currently. Our lessons run for 30 minutes and include time in our beautiful outdoor arena or hacking out in our grounds and around the sensory trail we are developing and fund raising for. We are also able to offer Tea with a Pony sessions for those with dementia or other life long conditions. Please get in touch whether as a rider or as a volunteer. Many thanks and we very much look forward to hearing from you.

OUR MISSION

ACHIEVING INDIVIDUAL GOALS

GAINING CONFIDENCE AND BUILDING SELF ESTEEM

FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT

MEET THE TEAM

Arthur

Arthur is a 15-year-old, grey, 16.2hh Irish Draught. He is an ex-hunter. He is a gentle giant and is always attentive to the needs of his riders. Arthur is sponsored by the Sir Peter O’Sullevan Charitable Trust.

Henna

Henna has been with us since we opened nine years ago. She is now 21 and loves working with riders of all ages. She is a roan, 15.2hh Belgian draft. She loves her food and spending time out in the field.

Mull

Mull is a bay, 21-year-old, 13hh Exmoor gelding who is on loan to us. He is a cheeky chap who loves to eat and chew anything in sight. He is very happy in his work and takes everything in his stride. Mull is sponsored by the Sir Peter O’Sullevan Charitable Trust.

Bonnie

Bonnie is a black, 11-year-old, 12.2hh Welsh cob. We were able to buy Bonnie thanks to a generous donation from the Wellesley Charitable Foundation. She is a complete sweetheart and she adores children. Bonnie is sponsored by Spurdown Partners

Who will be our fifth pony ?

We are currently looking for a 14.2hh/15 hh pony for our young riders. Do you know of a pony who might be suitable, if so please contact us at rda@fairlighthall.co.uk.

Trustees

Sarah Kowitz DL (Chair)

Melanie Willis Fleming (Vice Chair)

Roz Scott

Juliet Burford

Tina Freedman (Secretary)

Sue Climpson (Acting Treasurer)

Coaches

Tina Freedman

Caroline Wedmore

Katy Train

Fran Tyman

Rebecca Richardson (Coach in Training)

Safeguarding

Claire Wheatstone

Operations

Sue Climpson

NEWS & UPDATES

We held our 2nd Annual Sponsored Walk on Sunday, 14th April. It was a great opportunity for our riders to show their families where they ride and for everyone to walk around the beautiful grounds of Fairlight Hall. So far we have raised just over £1400 with some more sponsorship money to come. Thank you to everyone who took part and the volunteers and helpers who made the event possible. It was a lovely morning.

The Hastings Half Marathon took place on the 24th March, it was a bright and breezy day with some 3000 runners and 300 mini runners taking part. We are very grateful to Jack Harris, the son of one of our volunteers, who ran the half on our behalf in a very creditable 1.37.47 – it was his first ever race and he raised an amazing £730 for us.

A great time was had at our first ever Charity Lunch on the 12th March, we raised a magnificent £7000 – thank you to everyone who attended and to those that organised the event.

We are also very fortunate to have received a donation from South East Rural Charitable Trust of £5000. These funds will be used towards a new pony to replace the lovely Amelia who is returning home at Easter.

We are holding a fun Ride on the 7th July at Brightling Park, we are very grateful to the owners for giving us the opportunity to host a ride at such a fantastic venue, you can enter here Ironmaster’s Pleasure Ride (horse-events.co.uk). We will hold a second charity ride at Bilsington Priory Estate on the 6th October – more details to follow.

We are looking for more volunteers so if you are competent around horses and able to groom, tack up and lead and can make a regular weekly commitment during term time please get in touch via our email – rda@fairlighthall.co.uk.

We are still running our Sponsor a horse or pony programme. This has been designed to help us cover the cost of caring for our horses, if you would like to know more please visit the link below.

2024 Final Fairlight Hall RDA Sponsor a Horse or Pony

Taking part

We continue to see increased demand for our services, we are hoping to re-open our waiting list soon.

Tea with a pony

We are excited to be able to offer Tea with a Pony sessions to those with dementia or other life long conditions. The sessions last about an hour and offer the chance to interact with the ponies, watch a lesson and have some tea and cake with us. Bonnie loves being fussed over as you can see from the picture!

If you would like to take part please contact us at rda@fairlighthall.co.uk

Diary

Wednesday 27th March

End of term

Sunday 14th April

CONTACT US

The RDA office will be manned on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and we will answer emails then. To contact us please email rda@fairlighthall.co.uk or use the form below. You can also call us on 07931 617613. We always check the email and the phone for 24-hour cancellation notification.