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Dressage Anywhere was lucky enough to visit Avon Riding Centre in Bristol, the hosts of British Dressage and Riding for the Disabled's Para Day: The Way Forward on 9 January.
Organised by BD RDO, Amanda Heath and Olympic gold medalist, Simon Laurens, the event was aimed at RDA riders wanting to find out more about Para dressage riding and the opportunities available.
The day was full of demonstrations, from rider classification and preparing a horse for the rider to judging RDA and Para dressage tests and a grand finale of freestyle tests ridden by Edward Channin and Deb Criddle.
We talked exclusively to Simon about the event and how Dressage Anywhere can help riders:
"The aim was to help pull the RDA and BD together a little more. As with most things there are always some issues that can make people feel that obtaining their goals are not possible. It seems the jump from RDA is a fairly large one. With this in mind I got to thinking and I am sure I am not the only one, that Dressage Anywhere could help in several ways, not only for the RDA but Para riders as well. This is such a great idea that without leaving home you can ride a test of your choice, therefore cost effective for the RDA as it is an expense to get both horse and rider to a competition. You are judged by one of our leading Para judges, you get great feedback and it is straight forward. It can be used as a training aid and the extra plus for me is that you can have a go at a higher level, so the RDA riders can have a go at the Para tests without any pressure whatsoever, other than that we all put on ourselves. So I really hope that RDA and Para riders make use of this very useful tool."
Look out for similar events in your region by keeping an eye on RDA's news and events page.
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