NAME THAT HORSE!

Get your thinking caps on everyone – we need you to think of a special name for a very special horse!

The Centre will be 21 this year, so we’re embarking on a very special project to commemorate this amazing milestone.  We are raising funds to buy a black horse with a big difference: he (or she) will be a computer-aided Dressage Simulator mechanical horse.

Every horse has to have a name, whether it’s run on hay or electricity so can you come up with a suitable name for it?  The winner will be invited to the official unveiling, and could have a trial ride on the Simulator.

The Racewood Dressage Simulator will be a fantastic new tool for our participants, as it will enable them to develop and enhance their riding skills in a focussed, one-to-one environment as an alternative to using a real live horse.  We’ll use it to assess potential new participants on our waiting list and existing riders with particular physical or weight problems could continue their riding lessons on it. 

And it means that our ponies can still provide riding lessons in the arena at the same time, so we can offer riding to more people every day.

And there will be opportunities too for non-disabled riders to hire the simulator to improve their riding and dressage skills and for the Centre to use it for fundraising activities.

The Simulator will be located in a new therapy room close to the mounting area, so that our existing mounting hoist can be extended to be used for wheelchair users. Participants will be able to assess their balance and position using computer programmes, sensors on the horse and a TV screen to experience real-time riding in a variety of environments.  The therapy room will be named The Paul Conway Room in memory of RDA participant Paul Conway who rode for many years at the Centre.

There’s only one huge drawback: we need to raise around £60,000 to buy the Simulator and construct the therapy room. We’ve already raised £40,000, and we’re hoping that the rest will be found soon so that we can move forward.

Send in your name suggestion with your name and telephone number to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  and we’ll put your entry into the hat!