gold and Milton. Both

were unable to travel to

the Championships due to

illness. It was also pleas-

ing to see Wing Bo Chan

and Sam competing suc-

cessfully again at the Na-

tionals.

Our ponies also did well:

Charlie unexpectedly

found himself competing

again on the National

stage and stepped up

without so much of a

twitch of the ears. Archie

who did so well at the

Regional Championships

and in the first test at

Hartpury showed what

great potential he has but

needs more time to con-

tinue his education. The

Schooling team will give

him more exposure to

outside competitions so

he can produce his best

when competing away

from home with his disa-

bled riders.

Results below:

A big thumbs up with a

beaming smile from

Dermot Farrell as he

and Archie came to a

halt after their un-

scripted canter exit

from the dressage are-

na was a memorable

moment for Team Ep-

som RDA at the RDA

National Champion-

ships at Hartpury Col-

lege in July.

Our riders rose to the

challenges of the

weekend representing

Epsom RDA with great

credit all receiving

positive comments on

the quality of their

riding . The new part-

nership of Matthew

Sullivan and Archie

opened the Epsom

RDA entries achieving

an excellent 6th place.

Grace Herman showed

tremendous grit and

determination in con-

tinuing in the competi-

tion despite a last mi-

nute switch in mount

onto travelling reserve

pony Charlie. Leonora

Hussey and Tyrig

Dolphy also competed

on an unfamiliar pony

riding Alfie Diamond

Centre. Alfie was gen-

erously offered to us

by Diamond RDA as a

substitute for Mari-

National Cham-

pionships facts

Bigger than the

Paralympics &

Para World

Championships

combined

Classes for Arts

& Crafts, Best

Turned Out,

Carriage Driv-

ing, Combined

Training, Coun-

tryside Chal-

lenge, Dressage,

Showjumping,

and Vaulting

Hartpury Col-

lege held the

Festival of

Dressage one

week before

the Nationals.

Competitors

included all

members of the

Olympic Dres-

sage and Para-

lympic Dressage

teams

Thumbs Up All Round

EPSOM RDA NEWSLETTER

Autumn 2016

Class 43 I/D Walk & Trot Class 73 Grade IV Class 74 Grade IV Walk & Trot

6th Matthew Sullivan & Choc Bloc

(Archie) 70.25%

13th Grace Herman & Charlie Chaz

59.5%

Rtd Dermot Farrell & Choc Bloc

(Archie)

2nd Wing Bo Chan & Fahrenheit II (Sam)71.81%

3rd Leonora Hussey & Alfie Dia-mond Centre 69.44% (S) 4th Tyrig Dolphy & Alfie Dia-mond Centre 69.72% (J)

The Team Epsom RDA annual trip

down the M23 to the famous Hick-

stead Showground for the Regional

RDA Dressage Championships took

place in May. We joined a total of 80

riders from all over the South East

Region competing in 16 classes.

As you can see from the results below

our riders and ponies all did extremely

well. It was especially pleasing to see

some new riders taking on the chal-

lenge of competing. Six of our riders

achieved National Championships

qualifying scores which meant they

Regional Dressage Championships

Page 2

Rider Pony % Place

Class 13 – Grade IV Championship 206

Wing Bo Chan Fahrenheit II 68.64 2

Class 21 – ID Walk & Trot Championship 2016

Dermot Farrell Choc Bloc (Archie) 70.25 1

Matthew Sullivan Choc Bloc (Archie) 70.00 2

Grace Herman Mini Milton 63.75 4

Class 6 – Test 4 Escorted

David Leach Monreith Marigold 71.39 1

Class 2 Test 3 Led

Felicity Julian Mini Milton 67.5 3

Aaron Walker Charlie Chaz 66.37 4

Class 18 – Grade V Walk & Trot 2016

Leonora Hussey* Monreith Marigold 76.67 1

Tyrig Dolphy Strathmore Moss 70.23 4

Tayler Collins Strathmore Moss 64.44 -

travelled to Gloucestershire in July for

the RDA National Championships.

Amongst those was Leonora Hussey

who received the trophy for the high-

est qualifier score. Leo also got a

mention in the Riding Club section of

the August issue of Horse and Rider

Magazine for this achievement.

what is already an extremely suc-

cessful and fantastic organisation

with a multitude of generous volun-

teers. “

Chris will be at the Trustee meet-

ing in September and the Manage-

ment meeting in October. In the

meantime if you see her at the yard

please do say hello.

Chris is currently a risk and govern-

ance manager for the Financial Re-

porting and Operations area within

Legal & General in Kingswood. Chris

has over 30 years’ experience work-

ing with IT – support, management,

training, websites and databases/

spreadsheets to mention a few

areas. Chris said “ I have decid-

ed to volunteer my services and

expertise to Epsom RDA as I

have always taken the lead in

charity and CSR (Corporate

Social Responsibility) initiatives

at Legal & General. Now that

the company is relocating the

appetite for charity and CSR has

reduced. So I have decided to

carry on my voluntary commit-

ment outside of work. As well

as a full time job, I have two

daughters (one is 21 and the

other is 17) so plenty to keep

me on my toes and young (at

heart), I live in Stoneleigh and

two of my many passions have

to be history and the royal fami-

lies! I am really looking forward

to working hard with Epsom

RDA and to adding value to

Gifts galore

Is it too early to start thinking

about the Christmas season?

Well if too early for Christmas

how about a thank you, a well

done, a birthday gift or simply

a treat for your self?

Whatever the reason Epsom

RDA have a range of exclusive

gifts that are not available on

the High Street!

There are key rings and fridge

magnets featuring your favour-

ite Epsom RDA pony. There

are also “supporting Epsom

RDA” car stickers available

Prices:

Key Ring £2

Fridge Magnet £2.50

Car sticker £2

Meet Chris Tudor—New Trustee

Page 3

Order forms are available on

the Fundraising/Events notice-

board

The ever popular Adopt a Po-

ny scheme has been given a

refresh with new photos of the

ponies in a presentation

mount . Three new ponies ,

Archie, Sinatra and Shona have

also been added to the selec-

tion of ponies: Each adoption

package is £14 and includes a

birthday card, photo, pony

profile, annual newsletter and a

visit to the yard to meet the

adopted pony. Look out for

the Adopt a Pony forms in the

Coffee Room.

Every gift you buy gives a disa-

bled person the opportunity to

ride.

area for the less supple mem-

bers of our herd.

The key aim of the proposed

development is to enable rid-

ers of all levels to have the

chance to ride safely and en-

joyably throughout the year.

There is widespread agree-

ment that, whilst suitable and

safe for some riders, our cur-

rent indoor mounting facilities

are inadequate for our more

disabled riders preventing

them from participating in

classes during poor weather.

Trustees are confident that

the proposed approach would

tackle this and enable a range

of wider benefits to be gained

for all our riders. This would

make appropriate and effec-

tive use of our legacy funds in

line with our charitable objec-

tive.

There are many stages to go

through before we progress

eg., planning permission,

draining considerations and

input from session leaders

Our new format AGM in July

gave the opportunity to present

our strategic plans and the po-

tential development of our facili-

ties.

Attendees viewed the displays

and heard a presentation on two

key initiatives resulting from the

Trustee strategy meeting in Jan-

uary - communications and the

indoor school development ,

The potential investment in a

new indoor school to replace

the current school generated

much discussion. Alongside con-

tributions on facilities to be in-

cluded in the design some con-

cerns were raised about wheth-

er or not to invest in a larger 60

x 20 arena size, and was too

much emphasis being placed on

competition riding and dressage.

It was explained that increasing

the usable riding area (currently

38 X 18) would enable us to

increase the opportunities for

more riders and provide better

facilities for mixed ability rides,

alongside an improved working

about operational considera-

tions. Each stage will be con-

sidered by a Working Group

before a proposal is in place

and a decision made to pro-

ceed or not.

The two displays shown at

the AGM have been on view

in the Coffee Room. The

Trustees feel it is essential to

consult as widely as possible

at this early stage on the ex-

citing plans to move Epsom

RDA forward Do please give

your feedback to any member

of the Working Group, any

Trustee or your Session

Leader.

Epsom Riding for the Disabled Association

St Ebba’s Farm

Hook Road

Epsom

Surrey

KT19 8QW

Phone: 01372 743690

E-mail: epsomrdawebsite@hotmail.com

www.epsomrda.btck.co.uk

Epsom RDA

@epsomrda

Epsom RDA

Epsom RDA

Charitable Objective

To provide disabled people in Epsom and

the surrounding areas, with the opportunity

to ride at the level of their ability, choice

and ambition to benefit their health and

well being

MOVING EPSOM RDA FORWARD

Working Group

Ray Lee [ex officio]

Gill McPherson

Stella Milne

Gordon Thompson