Carriage driving, the next best thing to riding?

RDA stands for Riding for the Disabled. Stables are always associated with riding. And yet for us, and for many stables, carriage driving is important in its own right. It’s exciting and very skilful. In this month’s article, we explain its significance for Park Lane Stables.

If you ever see the Park Lane Stables carriage it will probably be drawn by our gorgeous specially trained horse Sam. Our expert driver David may be at the reins, or perhaps trainee drivers Mahmoud or Peter, or one of our regulars honing their skills.

Dominic is partially sighted and his disabilities are too pronounced to ride even at RDA centres

But in a carriage specially adapted for his wheelchair he can sit alongside the driver. Up there he experiences the ringing of hooves on gravel, the motion and smell of the horses, the breeze and the smells of Royal Bushy Park, with its oak trees, parakeets and wild deer. It’s the next best thing to the riding he’s unable to do, and he’s completely secure. Imagine the feeling of freedom and you’ll appreciate just how significant this is to Dominic and others like him.

We wouldn’t have been able to offer this without local company H&L Motors, who commissioned this carriage to meet the needs of our most severely disabled patrons and gave it to us as a gift. Thank you Peter Laney and the H&L team for everything you do to support us.

Sam, Dominic and David out on a drive

In March 2022 we won the 2021 Carriage Driving Awards in the Driving for the Disabled Group of the Year category. Thank you to everyone who nominated and has supported us!

As a charity we depend on the generosity of individuals and companies who are able to support us. As you can see from this example, it often makes a big difference to our regulars with additional needs and/or disabilities. If you feel able to help us, do head on over to our Donate page.

You can read more about carriage driving on our RDA page.