We are now well into the first term of the year and a big welcome to all our riders, the new ones and the more experienced ones. We hope that you are enjoying the rallies.
We are very pleased to announce that we have 27 riders benefiting from our riding programmes this term.
A quick reminder to parents, caregivers and teachers. Please ensure that children are wearing appropriate clothing for riding. This is important for safety and comfort. All children should ride in long pants and sturdy covered shoes, boots or trainers. Shorts are not appropriate as skin can be pinched in stirrup leathers or rubbed excessively.
We carefully fit every child with the right helmet. Please do not change helmets. If you have any queries about clothing or helmets please ask one of our volunteers.
Sad News
Sadly we lost a much loved pony Domo in February. He developed colic overnight and didn’t respond to veterinary treatment.
The vet thought due to his old age he might have a tumour or more permanent blockage in his bowel. Sue and Sandra had to make the difficult decision for him to be put down.
Dominic was a very special, patient and kind pony who was much loved by all of us. He had been an RDA and Pony Club pony for many, many years.
Happy News
We have bought a wonderful new pony called Milo who has come from Kaitaia RDA. She is a 13.3hh dark bay mare. She is proving to be very popular with our riders.
Hayley Bolam is looking after Milo at the moment and taking her to Pony Club events and rallies. She won Champion over Hurdles at a recent Ribbon Day. This was a big achievement as Milo had never jumped before!
More Sad News
We are losing our President and Therapist Chris Futter in April. Chris is moving down to Wellington for at least three years with her husband Malcolm. Chris has been with Henderson RDA for 18 years and has been our very hardworking president for the last five years. Chris was also on the RDA National Training Team for fifteen years and the Association’s therapist for two years.
Lately, Chris has become increasingly involved in undergraduate occupational therapy training, seeing it as a vehicle to encourage more therapy input to RDA. Chris says “I am totally passionate about hippotherapy because it does work. I shall miss everyone, this kids, the horses and of course the volunteers!â€
Since being our President Chris has organised three Garden Art & Sculpture exhibitions for our group raising thousands of dollars for our arena project.
Chris will be greatly missed by our group and we wish her and Malcolm the best of luck in Wellington. However she promises to keep in touch and even come to the odd rally whilst she is visiting Auckland.
TV Show
We were recently asked if we could provide riders and ponies for TV3’s show, Bryan and Bobby. The production team arrived and filmed some of our riders enjoying a pleasant ride on a late Monday afternoon.
Many thanks to all the riders who waited patiently for the filming to start. A big thank you also to the volunteers who turned out to get the horses looking so smart for the occasion.
Also a big thank you to Dream’s owner Polly who turned up to ride Dream with her friends, only to find we were using Dream for the filming! Polly very kindly let us continue to use Dream and so missed most of her own ride. Well done Polly, we really needed Dream and you helped us out heaps.
Volunteer Profile
Bonnie Griffiths became interested when she saw the RDA recruitment stand at West City. Bonnie has always loved horses and owned one when she was younger so she thought it would be good to give RDA a go.
Bonnie has now been volunteering for ten years. She keeps coming back because she enjoys the social side of RDA, getting to know the children and the interaction with all the horses.
Bonnie is the proud and happy owner of two miniature horses called Shylo and Lance. She says she likes to take them walking and they keep her fit. Bonnie lives in Waimauku with husband Terry.
Mirror
We now have a great mirror on the side of the garage in the main paddock. It is shuttered for protection when we are not using it. The purpose of the mirror is to allow our riders to see themselves in the saddle! Yes quite simple really… but important for letting the children see their position on the horse. Position on the horse is very important whether it be sitting up straight, having heels down or hands in the right place. It can often be more effective to get this message across if the rider can see themselves.
Well done and a big thank to Graham for organising this project. More thanks go to Paton Roofing of Amoku Street, Henderson for providing the shuttering and to Phil Weight of Forest Hill Road for installing the mirror.
Horse Manager
Did you know we have a Horse Manager? When we all go home after the rallies on a Monday and Tuesday our horses still need looking after and yes…. horses take a lot of looking after.
Here are some of the jobs that Sue Bolam does when the rest of us have gone home.
- Organises grazing
- Picks up poo and stray rubbish
- Checks water and electric fences
- Organises shoeing
- Catches runaway horses (even on Christmas Day!)
- Puts out feed
- Changes horse covers
- Cares for tack and equipment
- Schools horses
- Applies fly repellant and sunscreen Cares for sick horses
All of this happens all year round so we are very grateful to Sue. Sue is regularly supported in these duties by 14 year old daughter Hayley and Sandra Lilo.
Kakagowa Students
At the beginning of term we ran a special rally for the Kakagowa students from Japan.
Kakagowa is Waitakere’s sister city in Japan. The objective of the Kakogawa Students with Disabilities annual visit is to give the students confidence and self assurance to assist them when they leave the sanctuary of compulsory education at the age of 15 years and go out into the world.
This visit is unique, as it is to our knowledge the only visit by students with disabilities from Japan to New Zealand.
The seven students and their caregivers come to New Zealand every February for six to seven days when the weather is more clement. Accommodation, activities, and transport are all arranged by the Sister City Officers at Waitakere City Council. There are a variety of activities in Waitakere City’s repertoire and what is chosen depends on the degree of disability that the students on the particular visit have.
Every year since the exchange started the students have been coming to ride with us. It was a lovely sunny morning and everyone seemed to enjoy the experience. Most of them had never been on a horse before but they all gave it a go, and there was much smiling and laughter as they walked round the paddock.
We look forward to seeing them again next year.
University of Auckland – Nursing Students
We have been joined this term for three weeks by Allie, Gemma and Mele. They are nursing students from the University of Auckland’s Undergraduate programme. They are in their final year and have been undertaking their community project with us.
They have been learning all about RDA and are re-designing our display material for volunteer recruitment. They also have to write up a 60 page report on the project.
They will present their project to their lecturer and other students on 7th March and Chris Futter and Norma Hayward hope to attend.
Allie says, “we have all really enjoyed our time at RDA. There is a lot more to it than I thought, especially in terms of therapy. It has put all of us outside our comfort zone, as we are not used to being around horses – they are not as scary as I thought!â€
We have really enjoyed having Gemma, Mele and Allie with us. They have shown a real interest in what we are doing, worked hard and just generally mucked in.
Volunteer Refresher Course
This ran on 26 February. Many thanks to Pia and Lynn who ran the course and everyone who attended.
We kicked off with a theory session covering topics such as purpose of RDA, medical conditions, equine terminology and horse psychology. This was followed by a practical session in the paddock where we practiced horse handling, holding techniques and emergency dismounts.
It was great to see our newer volunteers Jenny and Glynis taking such a keen interest. It was also good to see our three nursing students, Gemma, Allie and Mele making such useful contributions. We all enjoyed the day.