What are the opening hours?

Monday 10am - 3pm Tuesday 9am - 3pm Wednesday 9am - 3pm Thursday 9am - 3pm Friday 9am - 12pm

Marlborough Riding for the Disabled

Home
New Zealand
Blenheim
Marlborough Riding for the Disabled

Marlborough Riding for the Disabled is a non- profit organisation that uses horses for therapeutic development Our focus is to make a positive difference.
(3)

Marlborough RDA Group is a non profitable organisation. RDA is all about providing goal-based riding activities that increase the ability, strength and confidence of people with physical, intellectual, emotional and social challenges. Our vision is to reach more riders and change more lives

25/06/2024

Our volunteers are a group of amazing people, who give up their time to help us to be able to run our programmes. We average 60 riders, aged from 2-62, per school term - we would not be able to help so many without our volunteers. They do many different roles including horse care, leading and sidewalking, manure collection, gardening and other property maintenance, early intervention group and nearly anything that we require help with.
Last week was Volunteers Week and we put together a 'lucky dip' with small gifts to show our appreciation. A special thanks goes to those that donated gifts.
Caythorpe - sponsors of Jive
Marlborough Grape Growers Coop - sponsors of Goldie
Haven Cafe
CPR Coffee Company

To all of our volunteers - THANK YOU

20/06/2024

School holidays are nearly here! 🎉
This winter break we are giving our horses a much needed rest so we are only offering one day of holiday programme activities and lessons so don't delay- book now to avoid missing out! 🐴

18/06/2024

When it rains...look for rainbows! 🌈
Sundance was spotted hanging out under today's colourful display 😍

05/06/2024

Are you preparing your garden beds for spring?
We can fill your trailer with nutrients- ie: Horse 💩
$20 per trailer - we load with a tractor,so easy work (until you get home)
100% proceeds go back to Marlborough Riding for the Disabled
to help us with our programme costs.
PM us to arrange a time to collect

22/05/2024

And the community came through! We reached out to get an annual horse sponsorship for Casper through a Give a A Little page and raised $3,210. This will contribute to his costs, including feed, farrier, dentist, vet bills, and training.

Many thanks to all who donated. Casper is definitely a worldwide known horse, we had donations from Marlborough, New York, Washington DC and Singapore!

13/05/2024

A fabulous weekend of being out in the community fundraising for Marlborough Riding for the Disabled
Thank you to Saint Clair Vineyard Half Marathon for asking us to help on the water stations and marshalling on the course and to OsFeed who had their super Saturday sale and let us man the sausage sizzle.
We really rely on our community to enable us to run our programmes and help people in our community - thank you!

09/05/2024

📆 Super Saturday is Saturday 11th May, mark it on your calendars.

😺 We've decided to let the cat out of bag on next weekends Super Saturday Specials....👇👇

🌿Dunstan Cool Feed $42
🌿Dunstan Extruded Barley $45
🌿Dunstan Extruded Rice $67
🌿Dunstan Recovery Mash $51.50
🌿Dunstan Sugarbeet $58
🌿Dunstan Stagger Nuts $60

🌱Benchmark Perfect Mash $46.20

🍃NRM Equine balancer $43

🌾Harvest Grains Vitalize. $55
🌾Harvest Grains Tuti Fruti $43
🌾Harvest Grains Smart Chaff $40
🌾Harvest Grains DIY $40
🌾Harvest Grains Harmonize $50

☘️Fiber Fresh Travel Pro $20.70
☘️Fiber Lifestyle $30

🐶Great Barko Working Dog $70.60
🐶Coprice Family Dog $85
🐶Coprice Puppy $74

💎OsFeed Multi Minerals 1kg $7

🐚Shell Grit 10kg $10

👉All prices are for Saturday only and only while stock lasts. No rainchecks

🌭See you Saturday, don't forget RDA Marlborough will be running a sausage sizzle fundraiser too

08/05/2024

River rides are a favourite on these beautiful Autumn days!
Riley on Mary down the river enjoying a play in the water.

01/05/2024

We have been kindly asked to help out at the St Clair Vineyard Half Marathon.
Is there any chance you would have a spare few hours on morning of 11th May? You do not need to be a regular volunteer.
Do need to be over 16 years.
Please PM us if you can help, or need more info.
Great fundraiser for us, to keep doing what we do.
Thanks

Saint Clair Vineyard Half Marathon - Challenge yourself with the most unique, social and picturesque half marathon in New Zealand.

30/04/2024

Asking for help

We pride ourselves on how we care for our horses, including our pasture management. To keep our paddocks clean we rely on some amazing people to help us with the manure collection. But we really need more people who would be willing to go on a roster and help us OCCASIONALLY .
Old saying. Many hands make light work.
Work in pairs, so if you are not ‘horsey’ we will have an experienced person with you. We do have a kubota, not required to use a wheel barrow.

Understand this does not sound glamorous , but if you enjoy the outdoors, keeping fit, giving back to the community maybe it’s worth giving us a call to find out more.
Call us on 578 3051 or pm
Or pass onto a friend who may be interested

24/04/2024

Lest we forget
Brave horses

24/04/2024

We've had a fantastic 2 days hosting our 'Pony Experience' Holiday Programme.
☀️🐴 The morning sessions have included grooming, riding lessons, river trek, scavenger hunts, learning about horse nutrition and some unmounted games. Here are a few action shots!

19/04/2024

Our latest fund raising initiative - "Walnuts for Sale"

Freshly collected, spray free walnuts that have been drying in a greenhouse.

$5.00 per kg - unshelled
$5.00 per 200gms - shelled

There are alot of walnuts for sale around Marlborough at the moment, but know that if you buy from us 100% of the proceeds are going back to Marlborough Riding for the Disabled to help with our horse care costs and programme costs - so you will be giving to people who benefit from what we do.

Pick up at RDA office on Taylor Pass Road on weekdays 9am to 1pm or on weekends or after hours from Grovetown.

PM us to place your order.

Thanks for supporting

17/04/2024

Fun day at Marlborough Riding for the Disabled
We had several of our volunteers in to have a ride, these are our volunteers who don't usually ride, so it was a great experience for them.

15/04/2024

Congratulations to Marlborough Lines Ltd what a wonderful event over the weekend celebrating your 100th anniversary.
So many of our community were there enjoying "Energising Marlborough"
thank you for what you do for the Marlborough community including sponsoring Rusty - who continues to help our riders at Marlborough Riding for the Disabled
Also noticed that another of our horse sponsors (Sonny) were sponsors of the event thanks Brianfm - another fantastic community focused business.

11/04/2024

Huge thank you to Caythorpe Family Estate who have very kindly agreed to sponsor our pony Jive.
The family came for a visit on the weekend and Jive seemed a perfect fit for this family. Jive is a 13hh, 8 year old welsh pony with a cheeky, kind manner. He is well loved by all, coaches, volunteers and of course his riders.
Our sponsors contribute to the horse care costs, including feed, farrier, dentist, chiropractor, worming, supplements, etc.
Thank you so much Caythorpe

08/04/2024

A weekend of brillance - MRDA hosted a two day Special Olympics New Zealand event.
Nine equestrian athletes met at the Marlborough Riding for the Disabled indoor arena for a two day competition. Five local athletes and four from Wellington competed in three classes; dressage judged by Sue Lucas, equitation judged by Angela ferguson and working trail judged by Barbara Grinter - thank you to these ladies for giving up there time and being so wonderful mentors to our riders.
Huge thank you to our RDA team both our staff and our regular volunteers who gave up their time on the weekend to make this event happen. Samara Lloyd who coaches the team has been working very hard leading up to this event to ensure it was held in a professional and fun way - and her hard work paid off, it was a fantastic event.
Our horses also deserve a mention - they were superstars on the day. Jinxy and her rider Tom from Hutt Valley RDA won all three of their events.
And of course the athletes - well done all of you, your hard work in training paid. Hannah Dickens, Jarrod Te Maro, Isaiah Hei Hei, Emma McQuinn and Zoe Tate.

08/04/2024

Last Friday Witherlea School supported us by having a Western Themed M***i day - lots of checked shirts, scarves, hats and boots. Another example of our great community supporting us to help us deliver our equine therapy programmes.
Thank you to the teachers, parents and the children - you raised over $600 - this will be a great contribution to our horse feed.

04/04/2024

What a lovely surprise when Georgia from
Designer Skincare NZ dropped of a beautiful gift box for us to raffle over the weekend during our Special Olympics New Zealand event. Goldie thought it smelt pretty good 😊
If you wish to drop by to purchase a ticket the event will be on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00am to 2:30pm - we will draw the ticket on Sunday at the prize presentation at 1:30pm.
Or, if you are unable to drop in, text us on 027 578 3051 and I can put a ticket in the box for you and you can pay online
$2 per ticket
$5 for 3 tickets

04/04/2024

We are so pleased to see Jinxy and Emma practising their dressage test this morning for our upcoming Special Olympics Marlborough event.
Approximately two years ago, Jinxy began to lose her hair. It was a very sad process to watch. Our vet did extensive testing and vets from around NZ were consulted, but results were indefinative.We took Jinxy out of our programmes and gave her some rest and relaxation, at one of our kind volunteers properties. Jinxy's demeanour has never been affected, she is well, so earlier this year the vet said for us to treat it as Alopecia, and the advice was to get her back into the riding programme. Following this advice this is what we have done, and although every day, we may believe she may have a little more hair growth, the reality is that Jinxy is just this way, and we love and accept her how she is.
We know that tomorrow she will be a star and she and her rider will participate in the event and have fun.

Our Special Olympics New Zealand event will be this Saturday and Sunday, from 10:00 am to 2:30pm
Dressage and Equitation on Saturday (lunch break 12:30-1:00pm)
Working Trail on Sunday. (finish for lunch at 12:30pm and prize presentation at 1:30pm
There will be l

There will be a sausage sizzle, bake sale and raffle to raise money for our costs of horse care.

Please drop in to support our riders and the visiting team from Hutt Valley

04/04/2024

Do you like to keep physically active? But sometimes want a change from your usual exercise routine?
Mandy Macfarlane took to the paddocks yesterday collecting manure and here are the stats to show that not only are helping out an organisation that is making a difference in our community, but you can get some great exercise in.
Take a look at the picture of her route - do you see what we see - a horses head? Assure you this was not intentional.
Job takes approx 1 - 2 hours - good paced walking and upper body strengthening !
We really need people to go onto a roster system for both week days and weekends.
Benefit - get to say hi to all of our pretty horses

02/04/2024

UPDATE:
We are all booked up for Private Lessons these School Holidays- thank you to all who have booked in! 🤠🥰
We have a waitlist for last minute cancellations so if you missed out, still get in touch 😁

$75 per lesson ✨

28/03/2024

Notice of our upcoming AGM
All welcome, would love to see you there.

28/03/2024

✨UPDATE !
We only have ONE more space available! 🐴

It's that time again!
The school holidays are almost upon us and we are holding our Holiday Programme fundraiser.
We have an awesome solution to beat the holiday boredom for those pony loving children out there, all while supporting a great cause! :)
Book now to avoid any disappointment as spaces fill up fast once the word gets out!
To book, please phone 035783051 or email [email protected]

Please note: unfortunately our holiday programmes are not suitable for our RDA Therapy Programme riders

24/03/2024

Yet again Dean Nicholls recently gave up his time to grade our indoor arena - arena is looking great and ready for our riders and horses.
Thanks Dean!

21/03/2024

Are you able to help us? As a community together you could help to sponsor our pony Casper for a year...
Annual Horse Sponsorship enables us to feel secure that we have funds to cover the care of their horses for the upcoming year, and helps us to keep our fees as affordable as possible.
Annual sponsorship helps to contribute to costs for horse feed, supplements, vet, dental, farrier, and training.
We currently have 8 of our 13 horses sponsored, and decided that we would create an opportunity for those that cannot sponsor a horse alone to be part of of a community group to sponsor one horse - by setting up a Give a Little Page. Any small amount would be appreciated and small amounts will add up..

Read more in the latest edition of The Blenheim Sun to learn more - page 10
https://issuu.com/blenheimsun/docs/blenheim_sun_240320_2
Thank you to our current sponsors
Marlborough Lines Ltd - Rusty
Marlborough Grape Growers Coop - Goldie
Virginia Williams - Bloom
Tilly MacFarlane - Shyanne
Nomolos Architecture - Jinxy
Brianfm - Sonny
The Saints Investment Group - Sundance
The Blenheim Trust - Levi

https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/sponsor-casper-the-friendly-horse

16/03/2024

Do you support us by buying our horse manure at the gate?
Thank you! Every cent we make from these sales goes straight back to helping to cover costs to feed and care for our horses.

Have you noticed the bags we use? The team from DNA Brewery & Taproom drop these off to us each week and we would like to express our huge gratitude to them for doing this.
Head out to Rapaura Road (Fancy Cow) and support these guys - Cheers!

14/03/2024

Just a couple of action shots from this weeks early intervention sessions 🥰

Address

Churchwood Park Taylor Pass Road
Blenheim
7201

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 3pm
Tuesday	9am - 3pm
Wednesday	9am - 3pm
Thursday	9am - 3pm
Friday	9am - 12pm

Telephone

+6435783051

Website

https://marlboroughrda.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Marlborough Riding for the Disabled posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Marlborough Riding for the Disabled:

Videos

Huge shout out to some local lads! Duke MacDonald who owns Mac Ag and manages Seven Vines LTD. Israel Hebberd who owns Tahi Contracting and his work mate Cedric! These guys donated their afternoon, skills and machinery to Marlborough RDA on Friday to put in some posts for our new Weigh Scales and some of our broken posts on the property. Nothing quite like supporting local and that’s something these guys do well! Head on over to their pages and support them like they supported us 🤍

What do you buy your mother for her 90th birthday? A horse ride of course! Today we had the extreme pleasure of meeting Ruth and putting her back in the saddle after approximately 40years. It was a very special experience for all. Bloom, the superstar, seemed to know how special Ruth was and calmly and gently looked after her throughout the ride. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Bloom's sponsor, Virginia Williams, who annually helps to cover the costs to care for Bloom.

Celebrating the success of our riding programmes with our riders and their whanau at our annual Prize Giving party - alot of fun. Congratulations to all our riders and to those that received recognition awards.

Huge Thanks to one of our amazing sponsors Balcairn Stockfoods! They have been kindly donating us our Mineral Mix for our hard working Equine Team since 2020! We have seen a huge improvement in our horses health since swapping over to their product and are so incredibly lucky to have their ongoing support! Once again, thank you so much to Kevin and his hard working team! They even leave it out for us if we can’t get there in their working hours! 🤩

These are the items that will be auctioned live at our dinner on Saturday evening. Thank you to Tanya Smith from Harcourts Marlborough who has kindly agreed to be our auctioneer for the evening. Remember - if you are unable to join us for the evening, but would like to bid on an item or learn more about the item - contact Jo ([email protected]) We can organise silent bidding Again thank to all those who contributed to this great list of items/services. #HarcourtsM #harcourts

Silent Auction Items

Our 50th Anniversary Fundraising dinner will be held this weekend. We will be raising money to contribute to the care of our horse team. Appreciation and thanks to all contributors to our auction items. If you are unable to join us, but see an item you would be interested in, we would be happy to have silent bidders on the evening.please contact Jo ([email protected]) We have some unique products, maybe some that people would not be considering buying at a dinner - for example, Aquanort has kindly donated a spa pool to us at a very reasonable price, so if you or any of your friends/family were thinking about purchasing a spa this summer, our dinner may be the place to get a great deal (there will be a reserve set). If you wish to find out more about this particular item please contact Nicola from Aquanort: [email protected] Scroll through the list of our silent auction items. Our live auctions will be on a seperate post.

This is what it’s all about... Gordy has been a part of Marlborough Rda as just a wee dot who rode as part of the Early Intervention. He now rides in a wee lesson of 3 boys learning how to become more independent and ride independently. The last few weeks he has been desperate to give Levi a go! So we made a deal. If he can ride the last month of term really well and ride independently doing some great steering and following instructions, he got to ride Levi on the last week of Term. Check out what we did today. WE RODE LEVI! Today I am a very proud coach watching my little monkey sitting up tall on one of our biggest Horses. - Samara

RDA is running a raffle, prize being 3 cubic metres of dry Douglas Fir delivered locally. $3 for one ticket $20 for 10 ticket Please contact us to arrange purchase of tickets, or visit our stand at the Home & Garden Show this weekend. Raffle will be drawn at 3pm on Sunday, 10th July Thank you - and good luck.

HERE IS THE POST YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!!! 🎉🎊 Marlborough RDA School Holiday Fundraiser 2022! Wednesday & Thursday 26th/27th January. We are opening up again to the public for Horse/Pony Rides (mini treks around the RDA property). Limited spaces available so book in quick to avoid any disappointment! Ride Options: 15 minute Pony Ride- Best suited for younger children (under 7yrs ) $15 30 minute Horse/Pony Ride- Best suited for ages 8-18yrs $35 Private & Semi Private lessons (45mins) also available on request during this time. Please enquire for options and pricing. Maximum Weight limit: 80kg FOR ALL BOOKINGS AND ENQUIRIES: Ph: 03 5783051 OR Email: [email protected] Please leave name and contact details on answering machine if staff are out of the office and a staff member will return your call as soon as they can 🙂 Happy Holidays!

And just like that the holidays are over! Our horses are well rested and loved having some riders back in week 2 for holiday programmes! We hope you’ve all had a safe holiday and we are super excited to start Term 2 and see everyone again!

Shortcuts

Our Story

Making a positive difference in our community

Welcome to Marlborough Riding for the Disabled Association (MRDA).

We are a one of 54 affiliated Riding for the Disabled (RDA) groups located throughout every region of the country.

RDA is all about providing goal-based riding activities that increase the ability, strength and confidence of people with physical, intellectual, emotional and social challenges.

Our focus is to make a positive difference.

Our vision is to reach more riders and change more lives.

What RDA offers

RDA increases ability through participation in goal-based riding activities. Each year, we provide life-changing opportunities for children and adults in our community.

Each RDA session is supervised by a coach and assisted by therapists, expert volunteers and our specially trained horses.

We have three core riding programmes: Education; Therapy and Rehabilitation; and Sport and Recreation. While a rider's primary purpose or goal initially may be therapy, we incorporate education and recreation elements into our RDA sessions. Each rider has their own goal-based programme, individualised to meet their specific needs.

Who RDA assists

We welcome and assist people of all ages. A person may be referred to us in a number of ways, including word of mouth or referral from a health, recreational or teaching professional.

Riding is of benefit to children and adults with a wide range of special needs, including but not limited to: Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Cerebral Palsy, Cystic Fibrosis, CVA (stroke), Down Syndrome, Intellectual Disability, Learning Disability, Hearing and Visual Impairments, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Spina Bifida and Spinal Cord Injury (Para/Quadriplegia).

How RDA helps

Horse riding is an enjoyable form of healthy, outdoor exercise and an exciting, challenging and motivating activity. There are also significant therapeutic benefits for the rider. For example, the warmth and three-dimensional movement of the horse is transmitted through the rider’s body, gradually making the rider more relaxed and supple, reducing spasms and improving their balance, posture and co-ordination. Our RDA sessions are designed to enhance and improve physical, psychological and social abilities as well as provide recreational and educational opportunities.