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)

Katy Train

Coaches

Tina Freedman

Caroline Wedmore

Katy Train

Rebecca Richardson (Coach in Training)

Safeguarding

Claire Wheatstone

Operations

Sue Climpson

NEWS & UPDATES

We had a great end to the summer term with the success of the Ironmasters Charity Ride held at Brightling Park which raised £2535.08, we are very grateful to the owners of Brightling Park for allowing us to host the ride this year, they have confirmed that we will be able to host the ride again next year.

We also held our Annual Show, our horses and riders were absolutely fantastic and demonstrated to family and friends their riding skills. We were lucky to secure the services of Val Holt and Sue Levick to judge the handy pony class and our very own Rozz Scott to judge the dressage. Rosettes were presented by Victoria Whiteman or South East Rural Charitable Trust who very kindly donated the funds for our new pony Lucy. We raised £720.21 on the day.

We are currently closed for the summer and will be reopening on Monday 2nd September.

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 also looking for a Treasurer and a Book Keeper – if these voluntary positions might be of interest to you or someone you know please get in touch. We are also looking for a part time groom to complement our existing team.

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 contact us.

Taking part

We continue to see increased demand for our services, we currently have a waiting list for many of our rides.

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

Monday 2nd September

Term Starts

Friday 25th October

Closed for half term

Monday 4th November

Reopen

Thursday 14th November

Charity Quiz at Battle Memorial Hall

Friday 20th December

End of term

Bursaries
For the first time the trustees are able to offer our riders bursaries. If you require financial support, please contact Sarah, skowitz@fairlighthall.co.uk or Mel, m.willisfleming@gmail.com
Inspection
In December 2021 we passed our full Riding Establishment inspection with five stars.

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.