Our Horses

The care and wellbeing of participants and horses is of utmost importance to RDA Carine.

The horses of Carine RDA are specifically selected for the program and factors such as temperament and conformation are taken into consideration when choosing new additions to our herd.

Each horse undergoes extensive training before being included in to the program, with ongoing accreditation of the horses' well-being at regular intervals to ensure their suitability. This is required as a member of RDA Australia. The training of our horses has been developed not only to enhance their physical fitness, but to also keep their mental well-being in peak condition. Additionally, each horse has been accustomed to working with a wide range of volunteers and clients as part of their training.

As well as being ridden in saddles, our horses are also able to be ridden with adaptive equipment. They are also flexible enough to have riders mount from the ground, a ramp or a hoist. This gives the opportunity for riders to mount and ride in a variety of ways, using equipment designed to enhance balance, core strength and coordination.

Most sessions involve basic instruction in horse management, this encourages participants to respect and be considerate of other beings and motivates them to participate.

It is also possible that a participant may be offered a program that concentrates solely on unmounted activities with our horses.

We strive to provide the best care we can for our horses by working closely with our vets, dentists and farriers. One aspect of this is the consideration we give to the amount of weight we ask our horses to carry.

It is not just the weight of an individual participant that we take into account, but other factors such as the age, fitness, and conformation of the horse. Factors including whether a rider has unsteady balance, sits crookedly, or has low muscle tone must be taken into account, as all these things can cause a rider to be harder for the horse to carry.

RDA Carine coaches continually monitor the suitability of a horse and participant combination, and there may come a time when a participant must cease riding a particular horse.

We will endeavour to find a suitable replacement but, unfortunately we can’t guarantee it as there are many issues involved with selecting a suitable horse for individual participants.

Where a suitable horse cannot be found, a participant may be required to exit our riding program.