Information on Wrexham
RDA Vaulting Group:
History of the group:
The group is based at the Clwyd Special Riding Centre
which provides opportunities for people with special needs to ride, carriage
drive, equestrian vault, come on a holiday and gain a vocational qualification.
Diane Williams is the Yard Manager at the Centre and
in the summer of 2004 she decided to set up a vaulting group for some of the
riders already riding with the Wrexham group. After a trial period the group
became “permanent” in October 2004 starting a regular session on a Monday
evening. The group received advice and support from Jenny Leggate who then put them in touch with Andrew
Williams of the Cader Vaulters. Andrew has been a
wonderful mentor for the group, coming along to training weekends to work with
both the coaches and the vaulters, allowing the vaulters to use his two horses and helping the group at
competitions. He is amazing to watch work with the young vaulters
as he believes in them totally and this makes them beliveve
that they can do anything. They achieve so much with him.
Andrew working with a Wrexham RDA group vaulter at the British National Championships
Since those early beginnings the group has gone from
strength to strength. By Spring 2005 there were at
least twenty vaulters in the group. Most had special
needs, but gradually able bodied siblings and friends joined to provide help.
This is what provides the magic for this group. They do not seem to notice each
others disability, they simply see another team member
to work with and support.
All the parents provided an enormous amount of help
at this stage, both in the coaching sessions and also with the inevitable
fundraising that was needed to buy the equipment the group wanted. By the end
of Spring 2005 the group had a vaulting barrel, a
roller, an established vaulting horse in Brython and
were starting to train Charlie.
In April the group went to a BEV Talent Spotting
competition in
All the training was worthwhile when the group
attended the RDA National Championships and the two teams came first and third.
They had an amazing experience and were privileged to use Guinness at this
competition.
In October the group took Charlie down to the British
National Championships to enter a walk novice class where the team came fourth.
Their coach, Diane, was particularly impressed by how well the group looked
after Charlie.
The group continues to grow with nearly thirty
members now. It goes from strength to
strength with plans afoot to host competitions, organise more training, support
new groups in the area and to attend competitions all around the country. Watch
this space!
Thomas is 13,
he’s been riding with the Wrexham Group for about 4 years and enjoys every
minute of it. Last year when Di asked some other
parents and myself what we thought about starting a vaulting group on a Monday
night, I thought, oh no, something else to keep us out of the house. Now I
think, what did we do before vaulting.
When Di
told me what vaulting was, I laughed at her and said I wouldn’t hold my breath.
To see how Tom has ‘come on’ makes me feel very proud.
Vaulting has improved Tom’s
social skills, being part of a group, not only with standing in line, trying to
follow everyone else, but having ‘time out’ with other members. Friendships
have grown. His concentration has
lengthened from 5 minutes to six (ha ha!), he’s more
focused, that is he’s only got one horse to look at instead of four or five. No
seriously, his speech has improved, we’re working on him saying ‘Monday’ at the
moment, and he tries to say the moves that he is learning too. His listening
skills have improved, we just make sure we put ‘horse’ (or words associated
with riding or vaulting) somewhere in the sentence and we’ve got him. His
motivation is fabulous nowadays, we know if we want Tom to do something, just
ask him if he wants to go vaulting.
One of the other benefits of
vaulting is that his big sister can join in too, for Tom that means he gets to
go more, but also he works so well with Ceri. She
sits on Brython or Charlie with Tom and he mirrors
her moves, eye contact is very important to him and this way there’s no way
out. The bit Tom enjoys most of all is the sensation he feels when the horse
trots or canters, he giggles so much and of course that makes us smile too.
We can’t say fairer than
that, Tom is so happy when he’s around the horses, and having vaulting has not
only enhanced Tom’s social life, we’ve all benefited as a family. We can’t wait
for next year when we go away again for another vaulting weekend.
Viv Willkinson
Vaulting Horses at CSRC:
Brython:
15hh Liver
Chestnut Welsh Cob, 14 years old. Owner- CSRT
Brython has excelled with the vaulting this year.
He is calm, relaxed and reliable in all the sessions and a firm favourite of
all the vaulters. He doesn’t even mind the vaulting
music, but play him the same piece when he is being ridden and it is all too
much!
Tom and Katie working with Brython
Big Charlie:
16.2hh
Chestnut, Draught X, 7 years old. Owner- CSRT
Charlie has also
been trained as a vaulting horse. He has taken a little time to understand it
all, but thoroughly enjoys all the fuss he receives from the team. At the
British National Championships he was practically force fed apples by the
children.
Charlie at the British National Championships