Riding For The Disabled Hervey Bay

🐴 Hands-On Learning at RDA! 🐴

It was wonderful to welcome Sam and her TAFE Animal Care students back to RDA today for another hands-on learning experience with our wonderful horses! 💙

The students had the opportunity to safely handle our horses and conduct thorough health assessments, gaining valuable practical experience while learning about the individual needs of horses in a real-world environment.

It was a really positive day of sharing our passion for horses, demonstrating safe handling techniques and showcasing the importance of operating at best practice in horse welfare. We love being able to share our knowledge and experience with the next generation of animal care professionals!

A huge thank you to Sam and her students for returning to spend the day with us. We hope you learned lots, enjoyed getting hands-on with our horses, and had as much fun as we did! 🐎❤️

And of course, thank you to our wonderful RDA volunteers for helping the day run so smoothly. Your support makes these opportunities possible and is so appreciated. 🌟

🐴 Sovereign is Home! ❤️

You may have noticed a few familiar faces missing from RDA over the past couple of weeks. Last week, our Coach Emma and members of our Horse Welfare Team travelled to Toowoomba to take Sovereign in for surgery. This week they made the journey to bring our special boy safely home, arriving back at rda late this afternoon.

We are so pleased to share that Sovereign’s surgery went very well, and we are hopeful that his recovery will continue just as smoothly now that he’s back where he belongs. 💙

Unfortunately, this does mean Sovereign will be out of action for quite some time while he recovers. We’re sure many of our riders and volunteers will miss having him in lessons, but giving him the time he needs to heal is our top priority.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Dr Steve Rayner and the Darling Downs Equine Unit team for providing Sovereign with exceptional care and for their incredible generosity in helping to minimise our vet bill by donating their time. Your kindness and support mean more than we can say.

Thank you Dr Sally at Black Diamond Park Equine Vet Clinic for facilitating Specialist Vets like Dr Steve for xrays and consultations leading up to surgery.

A thank you also goes to our amazing Sovy Support Team—Coach Emma, Trainee Assistant Coach Angie, Kathy, Sanara and Lyn—for making the trips to and from Toowoomba and ensuring Sovereign was cared for every step of the way. Thanks to Kathy for providing the use of her horse float.

Finally, thank you to all of our incredible Coaches Sue & John and our volunteers who stayed behind to keep the centre & lessons running, care for our horses, and continue our fundraising efforts while the team was away. Your dedication and teamwork make everything we do possible.

Please join us in wishing Sovereign a smooth and speedy recovery. We can’t wait to see him back doing what he loves when the time is right. 💙🐴

Darling Downs Vets

Sausage Sizzle TODAY at Bunnings Warehouse Australia Hervey Bay!!! 🌭
Come say hi to our amazing Volunteers and buy a sausage or a cold drink to help us buy a new horse! 🐎

Today was extra special as we celebrated our horses’ official birthdays! 🎉 Every horse celebrates their birthday on 1st August, regardless of their actual birth date, so of course we couldn’t let the day pass without a party.

Our riders spent the morning working hard on their steering and accuracy, practicing events for our upcoming Western Sporting & Sponsors Day. It was fantastic to see so many moments of progress, growing confidence, and personal milestones being achieved. We are so proud of every rider for giving it their all!

After each lesson, we took off the bridles, gathered around to sing Happy Birthday, and treated our amazing horses to some well-deserved birthday goodies. They certainly enjoyed the extra attention (and the tasty treats!).

A huge thank you to our incredible volunteers who brave these chilly early Saturday mornings to make our lessons possible. Your dedication, generosity, and willingness to give your time means the world to our riders and horses. We truly couldn’t do it without you. ❤️

Thank you to all our riders, families, volunteers, and of course our wonderful equine partners for making it such a fun and memorable morning. Happy Birthday RDA Horses! 🐎🎂

We still have some bags of horse poo available for sale at our front gate $2 a bag. Be quick before they sell out!

Our Coaches & Volunteer Coordinator had an incredible weekend at CanterCon in Melbourne, taking part in an inspiring program of learning, networking and professional development.

From fabulous sessions with some of the best in the business—including Australian Olympic legends Vicky Roycroft, Amanda Ross and Rachael Downs, Paralympian Emma Booth, and their coaches Mary Longden and Julia Battams—to masterclasses with Gary Lung, Manuela McLean, Andrew McLean, Sam York and John Kohnke (to name just a few!), it was an amazing opportunity to learn from some of Australia’s leading equestrian experts.

A huge thank you to the CanterCon organisers, presenters and everyone involved in making the weekend such a valuable experience. We hope this fantastic event continues to grow and becomes a regular fixture on the equestrian calendar for years to come.

We’re excited to bring fresh ideas, knowledge and inspiration back to our coaches, volunteers and riding community!
Riding for the Disabled Association of Australia (RDAA)
Riding for the Disabled Association of Queensland
Canter con
Pony Club Australia
Equestrian Australia
Melbourne Showgrounds

Reminder: Lessons cancelled for this Saturday as our Coaches will be away at CanterCon! 🐎 CanterCon is a National Coaching Conference bringing together coaches from RDA, Pony Club and EA.

CANTER CON is happening this weekend at Melbourne Showgrounds – don’t miss it.

Australia’s leading equestrian experts will deliver two days of education, demonstrations and discussion across riding, coaching, adaptive riding, horse behaviour and emerging equestrian technology. The program is designed for riders, coaches, volunteers and administrators who want to deepen their knowledge and practice.

CANTER CON stands as Australia’s only major multi-disciplinary equestrian showcase this year, bringing diverse industry leaders together in one venue.

🎟 One-day and two-day tickets are still available
👉 Find out more and book for this weekend: www.cantercon.com.au

Today, some of our committee members had the pleasure of visiting the Hervey Bay RSL to present them with a Horse Sponsorship Certificate in recognition of their generous support.

A huge thank you to Hervey Bay RSL and Kerrie for sponsoring Rubble for 12 months. 🐴💙 Horse sponsorships play a vital role in helping us cover the ever increasing costs of caring for our RDA horses, and support like this makes a real difference to our centre.

After the presentation, our committee members enjoyed a lovely lunch and some great company. Thank you for your warm hospitality and ongoing support of Riding for the Disabled Hervey Bay.

As we look to grow our herd to meet the needs of our riders, we’ll soon be searching for additional horse sponsors. If your business, organisation or family would like to make a meaningful difference by sponsoring one of our wonderful horses, we’d love to hear from you.

Thank you again, Hervey Bay RSL and Kerrie, for helping keep Rubble happy, healthy and ready to change lives. 💜🦄

Our little man, Timon is always keeping us entertained 😂

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DatyZrHxewa/?igsh=NnkwbjRuN2IzMWd1

Mission: Clean Pony. Status: Failed 🧼 😂 . . #bath #pony #dirtypony #horses #funny