Chigwell Riding Trust For Special Needs

03/12/2023

There are too many people to thank individually for today’s lovely Nativity. So I just want to thank you to you all. The children were phenomenal as always and we had a great turnout of visitors. It was lovely seeing so many people who seemed to genuinely enjoy the whole occasion. It really seems to put everyone in the right frame of mind for Christmas. There will be more photos over the next couple of days.

02/12/2023

Just letting these two see tomorrow’s props 🥰

02/12/2023

Sadly we are down a Wise Man for our Nativity tomorrow. I was just wondering if there were a young sibling who would like to step in and help us out? Our fingers are crossed 😉

02/12/2023

30/11/2023

Good morning folks. My goodness me it’s brass monkeys today! Is there any chance of two leaders this morning and one this afternoon? We are a tad short and your help would make all the difference. Thank you in advance, if you can 😉

29/11/2023

Hi folks. Just for fun we have this rather large dog looking for a forever home. If you would like to win him, just enter our FREE draw. All you have to do is guess his name. The only draw back is the entry box is in the centre, so I’m afraid online is not an option. The one good thing though, is we get to see you. Good luck to those who enter 🤞

27/11/2023

Just a reminder for this Sunday, please wrap up warm. Parking for the majority will be in the Pelican Car Park. Those less able can drive all the way down. There will be car park attendants. We look forward to seeing you 🎄

26/11/2023

The riders did so well today. Well done equines too. Many thanks to all the volunteers this weekend. 👏👏👏

26/11/2023

I just had to post this. Emma just wanted to take Tansy for a quiet walk. Tansy had other ideas and jogged the whole way. Who would think she’s 28yrs ❤️

25/11/2023

A lovely, bright day with some super riding to go with it. Well done riders.
I apologise for some of the photos not being as sharp as they should. That will teach me to use my camera and not my mobile!

24/11/2023

I think today has been the coldest this autumn. Leaves were coming down heavily in the biting wind. But, saying all that, the sun shone and there was no rain. As a consequence we had happy riders, volunteers and of course our special ponies/horses. A good time was had by all. Below are just a few pics from two of our lessons of today.
Many thanks to all the volunteers who came in today, you are so much appreciated 👏👏

24/11/2023

Good morning folks, I hope you're well on this rather blustery day. We are rather short of volunteers for our pm lessons today. We need one extra person for 3pm and a further three people for the 3.45. If anyone can help we would be extremly grateful.

22/11/2023

For the first time ever, we have a calendar of CRT, showing the wonderful work we do and more. This was kindly produced by one of our lovely volunteers Poppy Grant. They cost £10 each and would make a super Christmas present.

17/11/2023

It is with great sadness that I tell you Gayle Lovelock has decided to leave CRT. She wants to go back up north, for personal reasons. She will be leaving us in December. Gayle brought a lot to CRT with her knowledge, kindness and of course her two lovely ponies Maple and Sunny. I have found her support invaluable. I know she has been very happy during the past 18 months and she will be very much missed. I know she will always feel connected here, especially as she wishes Maple and Sunny to remain with us. Sad as it is, of course family has to come first. I know I speak on behalf of everyone here by truly wishing Gayle all the best for the future.

16/11/2023

I was wondering if there are any volunteers that could help us out tomorrow morning. We have two lessons, the first one commencing at 10.15. If you could, we and of course the children will be eternally grateful. As always our fingers are crossed 🤞🤞

16/11/2023

So, our good deed for the day was to help this little Blue Tit. It unfortunately flew into one of the mirrors in the outdoor school. Gaynor, carefully picked it up and brought it too me. I decided to put it in a box and take it in the house. Keeping it in the dark and quiet seemed to make all the difference. After a while I released it in the back garden where it sat for around thirty seconds then flew off. One happy bird and happy staff 😃

14/11/2023

Due to the weather and unforseen circumstances there is now no 1.45 lesson.

14/11/2023

Good morning folks, I hope you are well. This afternoon we are going to be very short of volunteers. If any of you could spare some time from 1.45 onwards that would be great. We will keep our fingers crossed.

13/11/2023

Gaynor and I have just returned from the RDA National Training Centre which is based at Solihull. Two interesting and informative days and it was also great catching with so many colleagues. Well done to all the presenters and participants and thank you RDA.

On a completely different subject, I would just like to thank the Hindu Temple, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir who are based very close to us in Chigwell. They celebrated Dawali last night and they put on a large display of beautiful fireworks. They celebrate light, which does not include loud bangs. They even had the decency and consideration to let us know several days ago. It just goes to prove a large display can happen without frightening the wildlife, our ponies and many pets. Thank you once again ☺️

12/11/2023

So, today and tomorrow Gaynor and I are in Solihull, attending the RDA Coaching Conference. It’s been an interesting afternoon and we are just about to go for dinner. Very much looking forward to tomorrow. Which is being held at the RDA National Training Centre.

Obviously my thoughts are still with the horses and ponies at home, as I know Dawali is being celebrated today with more fireworks tonight. At least we have been warned and the animals are in good hands.

11/11/2023

As a tradition here, on Remembrance Day, I always like to remember not only the brave soldiers and civilians that lost their lives in the two World Wars but the gallant horses too.
The ponies and horses are in alphabetical order.

May I also take the opportunity of wishing world peace in these very troubled times.

09/11/2023

This is not my usual sort of posting. This young man who is called Rafa, always waits patiently while his older brother Lennox rides. Well he’s a busy lad and I thought he would like to have a go at hoovering. Well he loved and he did a really good job especially when he’s only just turned four. Start them young that’s what I say😉 Well done Rafa 👏👏

07/11/2023

I thought this might make you smile. I continue to take Swaran on Trigger each week. He really has learnt so much while riding our canter horse and Swaran is such a pleasure to teach.
So today I decided to show him forward position. He initially found it difficult to understand so I decided to climb on board and show him. For all you critics out there, yes I know I didn’t have a hat on but I was quite happy giving Swaran a short, safe demo.
I think he was very surprised to see me on board but the demo definitely helped him 😉

01/11/2023

Today we had the wonderful osteopath, Annabel Jenks. For more years than I wish to remember, Annabel has come annually to look at our horses and ponies. With all her experience, she puts her hands on and she just makes such a difference. I am pleased to say she was very happy with our horses. Thank you Annabel 👏👏

31/10/2023

 It was great catching up with these guys at the Grt London committee meeting today. We met at Vauxhall City Farm where they have some lovely animals. A positive meeting, exchanging ideas and news within the RDA.

29/10/2023

Well done riders , horses and of course our volunteers. Another lovely day and here are some of today’s photos.

29/10/2023

Hi folks, I appreciate this is short notice but if anyone could spare an hour or two from 1.45 this afternoon that would be great. Our fingers are on 🤞

28/10/2023

As always I enjoyed my teaching today. My theme was breathing and relaxation. When I was on the plane returning from Japan (which took over 15 hours) I obviously had time to kill. So I watched the little screen in front of me and ended up looking at a meditation course that should have been taken over 6 weeks. Instead I crammed it all in to 3 hours and yes I could really feel the benefits. Breathing is something we do not do properly and we don’t think enough about it. Obviously I made some adaptations but the results, I thought we’re phenomenal. At some point everyone rode without their stirrups, while they were still thinking about their breathing and any tension they may have had in their bodies. The end result was soft riders and soft horses well done everyone.

😃 May I also remind you that the clocks go back an hour tonight 😃

25/10/2023

I know one shouldn’t laugh but you do have to have a sense of humour with horses 😉

22/10/2023

What a fabulous day today. The sun makes all the difference. We have had some lovely riding today. I would just like to say many thanks to all our volunteers who have helped this weekend 👏👏

21/10/2023

So today I would say, was a tad stressful. I gave my first TEDx presentation. Yes, I have given countless presentations over the years but never with cameras pointing at me. Anyway, I am delighted to say it went well. I was first on at 10.30 am then nine inspirational speakers followed me. The last speaker was Dwain Chambers who spoke about his life and how he turned things around. For you young things out there l suggest you Google him and then you will find out more.

The film has to be approved by TEDx before it can be posted. All things considered, a good time was had by all 😉

20/10/2023

Some great riding over the past two days. The weather hasn’t been brilliant but everyone’s enthusiasm is evident. Well done riders and many thanks to all the volunteers 👏👏

17/10/2023

Hi folks, I apologise for the lack of postings over the past two weeks but I think most of you know I was away on holiday.

Anyway, we had some lovely riding today and here are just a few photos for you to enjoy.

03/10/2023

Our 60th is not too far away. It would be great if you could come and celebrate the occasion. Please try and make a table up or just come on your own, whatever? it would be lovely to see you. All the details are on the flier.

29/09/2023

I felt honoured and privileged to meet Kenneth Batt today. Kenneth is 102yrs young and used to be in the The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (RWY) Household Cavalry. During the Second World War he fought in Syria. Operation Exporter June 1941.
Such a lovely man to engage with with many stories to be heard. He had great delight in meeting up with some of our ponies. He is pictured here with Chester.

26/09/2023

It’s not everyday that I skip to take a lesson. On Tuesdays Swaran has a session on Trigger. We seem to have developed the habit of skipping to Trigger each week. This young man used to be half my size and totally non verbal. The way he has come on is really quite phenomenal 👏👏

26/09/2023

The weather has been great today. As a consequence we have had some lovely rides outdoors, even making it over to the nature reserve. Many thanks to all the volunteers 👏👏

25/09/2023

Very clever art work but I don’t think we’d have enough time 😉 I love the horse though. He could come to Chigwell any day ♥️

24/09/2023

Well done to all the riders today, lots of happy people indeed. The horses and ponies did everyone proud. Many thanks as always to all the volunteers 👏👏👏