Wyfold Riding for the Disabled

19/07/2024

It was so lovely to be able to go and see Lucky a few weeks ago. We are so grateful for the work that The Horse Trust do in providing a wonderful relaxing home for our very special horses when they have finished their working lives.

Reunion with Lucky! 🐴🍀

Wyfold Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) recently visited our Home of Rest for Horses to catch up with their beloved friend, Lucky!

Lucky has been with us for two years now, enjoying his well-deserved retirement after a stellar nine-year career. As the main carriage driving pony, Lucky drove 12 riders a week and quickly became a trusted, reliable companion for many.

We're thrilled to see Lucky reunited with his old friends and enjoying his retirement. Thank you, Wyfold RDA, for the visit! We hope to see you again soon!

15/07/2024

Wow what a weekend we had! Our first National Championships for 6 years and the first for our riders and they smashed it!! There were 37 in their class and both girls rode absolutely super tests. Emily came 6th on the wonderful Millie from whom she had only ridden twice the last week and Nikki came 10th with the fabulous Summer who was so well behaved the entire weekend. We are so proud of how the girls coped with a busy atmosphere and of course as always thank you to the team behind the scenes who without none of this would be possible.

13/07/2024

Today is the day we finally leave for the national championships however we are very sad to say that unfortunately Poppy has sustained an injury to her foot and is unable to come with us. We are eternally grateful to at for lending us their wonderful pony Millie for Emily to ride. We are super excited for the next few days

03/07/2024

Our third and final rider that went to the regionals and qualified for the Nationals is Poppy. Unfortunately Poppy is unable to go the National Championships however we are so pleased that she made it to the regionals. Poppy joined us back in 2021 and is now not only a rider with the Wednesday team but also a very valuable volunteer. When Poppy joined us she was so shy she would barely say a word and to watch her grow in confidence to now be able to help some of our other riders us why she was nominated for and won the Rachel Plumbe award for Achievement for South Region.

26/06/2024

Our 2nd rider heading to the Nationals is Emily. Emily has been riding with us since 2022 and it has be a pleasure to watch her confidence grow over the years. This was Emily’s first RDA competition and on a relatively new ride Poppy and together they won their class. Poppy only joined us back in February and it has been lovely to watch her and Emily’s relationship blossom and we can’t wait to see how they get on at the nationals.

19/06/2024

We would like to introduce you to the first of our riders heading to the National Championships Nikki. Nikki joined us back in 2021 as part of our Wednesday team and started off riding Sweet Pea. As she progressed in her riding skill and height she out grew Sweet Pea and last year moved onto Summer. They are a great team together with both of them understanding each other as Summer is not always the easiest. Nikki’s first foray into competing was last year at the Wellington and Dummer fun show where she did a super job to win her class and gain her competitive streak. We are looking forward to seeing how they progress and watching them have fun at the Nationals in July.

19/05/2024

We have had the most fantastic day at the regional qualifiers. All 3 riders smashed it out the park to win and come joint 2nd in their class!!! We are off to the Nationals 🎉🎉 Many more photos to come over the next few days but we are so proud of our riders and of course our super ponies

08/05/2024

Thank you so much to everyone who came and visited us on Saturday for our fun fair. The weather was beautiful and we were so pleased to see so many of you there and help us fundraise our biggest amount yet!! We are so grateful to our wonderful teams that run these events without whom we wouldn’t be able to run these events.

07/05/2024

Our very special boy Lucky enjoying his retirement 😍

Have you been introduced to Lucky? 🍀

Lucky spent a dedicated nine years with the wonderful Wyfold Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) and was a much loved favourite. His primary role was as the main carriage driving pony, driving 12 riders a week, and he was described as extremely steady and reliable.

Lucky is 19 years old now and enjoys putting his hooves up at our sanctuary, amongst fellow retirees here in Buckinghamshire.

Photo credits: Senior Groom, Lottie. HTx

03/05/2024

Not long to go now until our Fun day tomorrow! Hopefully the rain will stay away and the sunshine will come out! Looking forward to seeing everyone

26/04/2024

Not long to go until our Family Fun Day come and join us for some fun hopefully in the sun!

09/04/2024

It was a big day for Joe last week as we celebrated his 10 years of service to Wyfold and he was very pleased with his medal that he received. He is one of our hardest working and most versatile ponies who can teach a child to trot off the lead rein but also then be as quiet as he possibly can for our very young riders to get started on. He is a firm favourite among the teams for sure!

04/04/2024

We are super proud of one of our riders Emily and new horse Poppy who popped along to Checkendon Equestrian Centre yesterday to have a pre regional outing. This combination haven’t been together very long at all but they did a beautiful test to win on their first outing! Looking forward to seeing this partnership develop and watching them compete at the regionals in May

13/03/2024

Finally the last and newest member of our team is the lovely Poppy who joined us just last month. She’s a 14.2hh 14 year old Mare who has done a bit of everything with her last owner who owned her for 9 years. We are super excited to have her on board and look forward to getting to know her more as the months go.

06/03/2024

The second to last member of our wonderful team is our smallest pony Sweet Pea. Standing at 13hh she’s not much smaller than Joe but as she is a Welsh pony she is much daintier than our lovely other cob members of the team! At 17 years old this year we have had Pea, as she is known, since 2019. She came from a riding school that was closing down in the area. Small in stature she maybe she has a big personality and can be very stubborn when she wants to be! Her favourite game is to lie down in the stable when she comes in and the refuse to get up until the last possible moment that she has too! 2 years ago Pea was diagnosed with a condition called EMS, which is basically horsey diabetes. This means we have to manage what she eats very carefully and be very strict with her grass intake. This doesn’t bother Pea as she can be often found out hacking diving into the hedges to eat the leaves off the trees! She loves a cuddle even if like Bob she puts on a face that says she doesn’t and if you see her lying down listen out carefully for the snoring that goes on!

28/02/2024

Our friendliest cheekiest chap is up next Joe or Big Joe as he is sometimes known. Standing at the small height of 13.1 hh Joe had a rough start to life as a travellers pony but was rescued and eventually ended up with us. He was a bit of a live wire to start with but in the 10 years we have had him he has grown into the absolute stalwart of our team. Dealing with riders from the young ages of 2 up to the more competent riders learning to trot off the lead rein Joe does everything with a big smile on his face and always a kiss for his riders. Joes favourite thing apart from his work is to misbehave out hacking with his able bodied riders and can quite often be seen cantering and squealing when he should be trotting. I don’t think there is anything this pony doesn’t like or enjoy doing except for seeing the vet or having his teeth done!

21/02/2024

Heading into our lovely ponies now we introduce Summer who we are very grateful to have on loan from her family. She is a 13.2hh New Forest Mare who is 17 years old this year. We have had Summer for a year now and she is settling down to her job nicely. She loves hacking out and eating her food and isn’t so keen on company in the stable next door especially if it’s a nosey boy bothering her! We are hoping to take her to some dressage this year so keep an eye out for that.

14/02/2024

One of our cheeky chappies is next to be introduced. Pluto is 14.1hh and is 20 years old this year our second oldest members of the team. Don’t let his age fool you though as he still has plenty of sparkle left in him! Pluto joined us on 2019 from a riding school in the area. After a bumpy start he has settled in to be one of our most super ponies. He loves teaching the children to ride and has been great at teaching a few to reach the speedy speeds of cantering over the years! He loves playing silly games with his best mate Joe in the field and trotting as fast as his little legs can go out hacking. He is starting to slow down a bit now as his body is getting older but that cheeky look in his eye is never far away! I don’t think he has a least favourite thing except for maybe being wormed. He such a happy little pony to have around.

09/02/2024

Introducing the latest member of our team Poppy who arrived yesterday after a long morning of travelling down from Chester. She has settled in beautifully and we are looking forward to her becoming a valuable member of the team.

07/02/2024

Next on the list to introduce is Darcy. You may have seen lots of Darcy last year as she spent some time elsewhere rehabbing from surgery on an injury. She is a 14.2hh and is 10 years old and we have owned her since 2021. As mentioned Darcy has had some injury issues to overcome in the last year but is going from strength to strength in her rehab and we hope to take her out to some dressage this year! A multi talented girl she is used for all types of clients from those that just want to hack to those that want to do a bit more and improve their rider. She suffers from a condition called Sweet itch which means that in the summer she gets very itchy which is why we have to clip her legs and her mane to keep control of itching. She is a lovely girl to have around and she loves to work and please her clients. Her least favourite thing is having her legs clipped however we are working slowly on this and we are starting to get her to stand quietly while it is done. She loves a good scratch of her neck so when you next see her she would love a good scratch!

31/01/2024

Over the next few weeks we are going to be so a little piece on each of the horses and ponies that are vital members of our team.

To start with we will go with our biggest and oldest member Big Bob. He was named Big Bob because out of the 2 Bobs we had at the time we brought him he was the biggest and despite Little Bob passing on he has remained known as Big Bob! He stands at 15.2hh and is a grand old age of 21 this year! He is not known around the yard for his happy faces he is more likely seen with his ears back looking unfriendly but beneath that he absolutely loves having cuddles he just doesn’t like anyone to know it! We have had Bob since 2016 and he quickly settled into a firm favourite with the riders and the volunteers. His favourite thing in life is eating, especially naughty snacking out hacking and his least favourite thing is working in the arena. So next time you see Bob don’t forget to give him a hug and remind him he really is just a big teddy bear underneath it all!

18/01/2024

The freezing weather may have stopped work however Joe and Pluto are enjoying the sunshine today and catching up on some precious sleeping

17/01/2024

Wyfold Riding for the Disabled are looking for some new horses to join our amazing team. We are looking for a 14-14.2hh, a 15.1-15.2hh weight carrying cob and a 14.2-14.3 driving pony. Either a mare or gelding but must be easy to handle on the ground with good manners. Safe and steady but able to step it up a gear if needed. We would prefer a more experienced horse/pony so over 10 years old but would consider a younger one for the perfect temperament. A loving, experienced home with excellent facilities at our purpose built yard. References available.

02/01/2024

Happy new year, unhappy more rain 😫 it has been relentless these last few days and we are overrun with mud and puddles however we are starting to get back to work after a few weeks down time. A week of lunging and hacking whilst dodging the rain and the wind this week for the ponies and then we are back open next week to see what the new year brings our riders.

22/12/2023

We would like to wish all our wonderful clients and supporters at Wyfold a very Happy Christmas. Thank you to all our amazing volunteers who without we could not make this amazing place run. The ponies will be having some well deserved downtime in the field the next 2 weeks concentrating on munching their way through lots of haylage and grass and enjoying doing nothing. We will see you all in 2024 and can’t wait to see what the new year brings.

14/12/2023

When your friends are all out in the rain your smug having a sleep on the dry stable

10/12/2023

Thank you to everyone who braved the weather yesterday and came and saw us at our Christmas Fayre. It was lovely to see so many faces and Santa to make a very special visit!

07/12/2023

Not long to go until our Christmas Fayre. Come and join us on Saturday hopefully in the dry for some Christmas shopping and some yummy food. 🎄

22/11/2023

Christmas is coming!!! 🎄🎄 come and join us on the 9th December at our Christmas fair. There’ll be lots to do and eat and even an appearance by Santa 🎅

03/11/2023

We survived the storm yesterday but it’s still raining today. At least the rainbow is pretty 😍