Meet “D”

“D” has cerebral palsy and has been riding at Cotswold RDA for many years. This is his story. “The arrival of “Sedbury Shadow” has been fantastic for me because it enables me to canter which I have never been able to do on an ordinary horse during over 20 years of riding. This is great. Besides being great fun- which it is, the cantering and the all-round movement of the horse helps with my core stability strength. This, in turn, helps me to walk around and move in a much easier and safer way. The mechanical horse also releases tension in my lumbar region, which can get incredibly stiff. This then relaxes my legs much more than when I am riding an ordinary horse. The relaxation of my lumbar region is a direct result of the cantering and it would be very difficult to achieve this in any other way. I do physiotherapy every day but it would be impossible to replicate this movement through ordinary physio. So I am eternally grateful to the Sedbury Trust for funding Cotswold RDA’s wonderful mechanical horse.