RDA National Championships 2023 – who to watch and where, live!
Our Fab Four, Anya, Eilidh, Elliot and Fletcher, are off to Hartpury with their volunteer support teams!
WATCH THE ACTION, live, Fri 14 – Sun 16 July:
THE EVENT
RDA’s National Championships is the world’s largest disability equestrian event! Hartpury University and College, Gloucester is set to welcome over 300 competitors.
Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA)’s National Championships is “..a celebration of all that RDA stands for – demonstrating the positive benefits of the human horse partnership; showcasing the achievements of disabled riders, carriage drivers and vaulters, and reuniting the RDA community over three days of competition!”
SUPPORT
Thank you so much to everyone helping our riders get to Hartpury this year; volunteers, family, friends and generous donors from across the East Lothian community and beyond, who have generously helped our riders raise the funds to get to Hartpury, including major donors Walk With Scott Foundation and the Over 50s Store Club, Musselburgh.
INTRODUCING OUR RIDERS AND THEIR PONIES
Our riders are pairing with ponies kindly loaned from Drum RDA and Saxon Group RDA.
Elliot will be riding Bertie
Anya will be riding Baloo
Eilidh will be riding Caellyn
Fletcher will be riding Ernie
Elliot
Elliot started riding with us in 2021 and has ridden Uist at MRT since day one. Elliot came second in the RDA Championship Walk at the Regional Qualifiers The Scottish National Equestrian Centre in May. He will be riding bay pony Bertie from Saxon Group RDA when he represents MRT at the National Championships!
Anya
Anya started riding with us at MRT when she was four years old! Now a teenager, Anya enjoys riding a variety of horses, her most recent pairing being with Raiden, our lovely Irish Cob. Anya rode Raiden and Charity at the regional qualifiers, getting placed second at the Championship Walk and Trot test. At the National Championships, Anya will be riding Baloo, a 15.2hh Piebald Cob from the Saxon Group RDA.
Eilidh
Eilidh has been riding with us for a number of years! Her favourite MRT pony is Johnny and they have starred in some promotional videos over the years together. At the regional qualifiers, Eilidh rode Uist, Raiden and Charity, qualifying for both the Championship Walk and Trot test and for the Countryside Challenge. At Hartpury, she will be riding Caellyn a black mare who belongs to Saxon Group RDA .
Fletcher
Fletcher started riding with us just before lockdown and rides all the MRT ponies! He likes the variety and the challenge each of them bring. His favourite is Briony who allowed him to come first in both the Independent Countryside Challenge class and the Grade 7 walk only class. Fletcher has been very lucky to borrow Edinburgh-based Highland Pony Ernie from the Drum RDA.
GOOD LUCK from everyone at MRT
