Who are we?
RDA are dedicated to improving the lives of 20,000 children & adults with disabilities by spending time with horses, at over 400 groups all over the UK. Our beneficiaries experience significant improvements in physical & mental wellbeing, communication skills, relationship building & confidence.
Why are we crowdfunding?
Lowlands Equestrian Centre is home to 3 RDA groups and 15 horses & ponies, including the superstars that are Aimee (14hh, piebald mare) and Ocean (15hh, black mare).
Both horses had a rocky start in life before being rescued by the RSPCA and finding a loving home with wonderful new riders. Those riders have now grown and for the past 4 years Aimee and Ocean have been on loan to RDA - providing therapy for riders at Lowlands with a gentleness and generosity of spirit. Between them they have had over 80 riders, and have taught volunteers and coaches from across the UK.
You can imagine how much they are loved by all!
Aimee and Ocean's generous owner has made the hard decision to sell both horses and kindly given us the chance to buy them before putting them to public sale.
How we’ll spend the money raised
We need to raise £10,000 to buy these wonderful horses, to keep them in a workplace where they are loved, and where they make such a difference to their riders and riders around the country.
Without these two equine superstars, our RDA groups will not be able to provide lessons for their riders. This loss will mean that participants will lose their weekly sessions unless other ponies are found at other groups - the impact on their physical and mental wellbeing, and the strain that it could place on their caregivers, would be severe!
Community impact
RDA is a charity which creates opportunities for people living with seen and unseen disabilities and long term health conditions to receive therapeutic contact with horses.
The demand for our services has never been higher, and that demand is growing daily.
The horses needed for this type of work are exceptional. The temperament and physical fitness that the role required means that finding suitable horses is always a challenge. Aimee and Ocean have proven themselves ideally suited to this role. They love what they do, the care of their riders and proven over the 4 years that they have been with us, to relish their lives at Lowlands.
How you can play your part
There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.
1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!
2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.
3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!
4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!