NEWS

2020

17th March- Unfortunately, due to further restrictions put in place regarding Covid-19, the difficult decision has been made to suspend all RDA activities until further notice. For more information, visit https://www.myrda.org.uk/

2nd March- To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the South Wales region we were lucky enough to have a Royal visit from the president of riding for the disabled, HRH Princess Anne!! The day included both mounted and unmounted games, dressage, a carriage driving display, a drill ride and a parade. All riders and volunteers thoroughly enjoyed the day and we were lucky to have sun all day. Thanks must go to all those who organised the event and worked to make it the success that it was.

2019

14th December- Our Christmas ride was in Pencoed college. There were plenty of Christmas themed games and music. Of course the ponies and volunteers were dressed in their best tinsel and festive jumpers ready to spread the Christmas cheer. Congratulations to Dan for winning the most improved rider award. there were also plenty of other awards such as the group's dressage diva and the best rising trot.

30th November- Was this year's Christmas coffee morning. There were lots of cakes and lots of people. the event also included a raffle, guess the sweets in the jar and guess the weight of the Christmas pudding competitions. Thanks to everyone who made cakes, bought a raffle prize, attended or helped the event become the success that it was.

5th October- We held our open morning to celebrate the tenth anniversary of our group and 50 years of RDA. the event was a huge success and everyone enjoyed.

12th & 13th July - Congratulations to Tyler, Charlotte, Maddi and Paolo who attended the RDA national championships at Hartpury College this weekend. Paolo came sixth in his countryside challenge class, Charlotte third, and Tyler second.

29th May - Great big well done to everyone at the regional qualifiers today. With Charlotte, Maddi, Paolo and Tyler all qualifying for the national championships. Reallygood work from everyone.

2017

5th November - Thanks to one of our youngest volunteers Joss for hosting a afternoon tea in aid of our group. Joss made some splendid cakes and raised £200 for the group!

4th August - The Big Ride

Thanks to Tyler and Maddi for raising over £200 of sponsorship and taking part in RDA Nationals Big Ride in Aberdare.

14th July - Well done to Amelia on her second place at the National Championships riding our very own Bow!

19th June - Well done to all our riders who competed at the South Wales Regional Fun Day in Pontcanna. Fun was had by all and lots of rosettes came home to Mount Pleasant group

2015

Some Scary Goings on at Mount Pleasant RDA this morning!

Spooky October 31st, 2015

Ponies, volunteers, riders and the Coach got into the Halloween spirit! Lots of spooky games of musical cones, the Witches challenge and the search was on for the black cats!

L - R: Giorgio & Bow, Diana as a ;witch' for the day!, Ghostbusting Coach Anneli!

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Update from Coach, Anneli - October 17th, 2015

As Edward would say we had an 'Awesome' morning and I even managed to get some pictures for you all! Riders worked on riding independently and although we've still got a long way to go huge progress has been made. Cerys is gaining in strength each week, she rode for 25 minutes today which was fabulous. Charlotte and Morgana did brilliant rising trot work with little to no assistance. First ride for Daniel and he was super duper, surprising everyone, including his mum with his confidence. Tia's brief was to get Toffee moving forward enough to catch Amelia & Bow and she did, great team work. And finally well done to new riders Tia and Jade. Tia battled a few nerves but got on with things and did a fab job of riding George. I'm hoping you keep up the good work during our week off and looking forward to seeing you all in your spooktacular outfits on the 31st!

L- R: Cerys & Toffee with their helpers Libby, Alys and Alex, Morganna & George with their leader Joss, Charlotte & Patches and independent ladies Tia and Amelia!

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BT Volunteers at Mount Pleasant RDA Group! - 8th October, 2015

BT volunteers from Swansea & Cardiff are working extremely hard for us this morning. Stables are having a new coat of varnish, Pixie and George are going to have a new stable as volunteers are converting our hay barn for them, the school is being weeded and the stables are having a complete clean out from top to bottom!

George and Pixie are making themselves comfortable in their new residence. Patches has a new feeder and Patches and George enjoyed a pamper session all courtesy of the BT volunteers!

George & Pixie with their BT Volunteer!

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UPDATE: August 23rd, 2015

Another busy day for us, all the normal fun plus a spot of cantering at the end of group 3's lesson. Ellie had a nice surprise as we'd received an award for her from RDA national. Ellie was class champion for the independently ridden countryside challenge course at the national championships. The ponies were pretty tired after all that cantering so couldn't wait to be turned out for a quick roll and a graze. Thanks to our youngest volunteer Joss for making sure Bow was well plastered in his suncream, it's a very sticky job!

RDA National Championships 2015 - Hartpury College, Gloucestershire

July 19th, 2015

An exhausting weekend but a good one, fantastic work from all our riders and huge congratulations to Ellie for wining the independent class! Thanks to all the team who made our trip away a success! Hope you all enjoy the photos, Lucie and Alex are trying to convince me we need to become a vaulting group!

L-R - Peter & Patches with their leader, Lucie, during their Countryside Challenge - Ellie with the award and Alex trying her hand at vaulting!

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Endurance Riding!

Endurance riding for us this morning. The girls rode along the common and then came back to the ménage for the timed section, wash down and vet check. At the end of the lesson everyone had the chance to check the pony's heart rates.

Bow & Amelia following their endurance ride!

More fantastic support from NFU Bridgend & The Vale

May 30th, 2015

Another "Thank you" to NFU Bridgend & The Vale for their continued support. This morning Pam Harris presented us with yet another huge cheque to enable us to continue our work! Next stop a roof on the ménage!

Mount Pleasant RDA Group Chairman, Christopher Jeynes accepting a cheque from Pam Harris of NFU Mutual Bridgend & The Vale

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GRAND OPENING OF THE NEW MOUNT PLEASANT RDA GROUP MENAGE!

We've had a super morning with our Grand Opening of the Ménage. Huge thanks to all of our sponsors who have supported us by donating towards this project. Pam and David Harris from NFU Bridgend & The Vale did a fabulous job of cutting the ribbon and special thanks to Lance Hill from Cruz Cafe for keeping all our sponsors supplied with hot drinks.

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NEWS - 2013

PEOPLE'S POSTCODE LOTTERY - August 2013

Many thanks to the People's Postcode Lottery for awarding us £8,500 towards our ménage! Planning permission has been granted and building is due to start before the end of this month!

Back at home - 27th April, 2013

It was a lovely morning to be back at Mount Pleasant Stables, the riders did well as did the ponies. We worked on dressage, grade 2 proficiency tests and off the lead rein work so it was a busy few hours. Ellie had a very comfortable ride on Pixie as he was sporting his new saddle to which we are very grateful to Huw Thomas Saddlery for helping us find the perfect one at the perfect price!

14th April 2013

6th December 2011

We would like to thank the 3rd Cowbridge Brownies (Ystradowen) who have raised £116 for Mount Pleasant RDA as part of their Pet Challenge Badge. The Brownies raised the money by holding a cuddly pet show and a bake sale for their friends and family. Many thanks girls!25th

November 2011

We held a Christmas Coffe Morning today and raised £220 for our group. Thank you to eveyone who came along and supported us.

10th November 2011

Many thanks to Mrs Hilda Preece for holding a Coffee Morning in aid of Mount Pleasant RDA. A grand total of £104 has been raised and sponsor the hire of Pencoed College for 5 more sessions.

5th November 2011

We have had our first ride at Pencoed College. The ponies quite enjoyed their ride in the horse box, even if it was only for a 5 minute trip down the road. Morganna and Tia worked very hard and rode really well. Many thanks to Mr and Mrs Wills for sponsoring the hire of the school for our first session.

18th October 2011

Countrywide Stores had an equestrian event last week and we are grateful to them for inviting us along and having a display area. We also sold home made cakes and had a guess the pony name competition. I'm pleased to announce that Oliver Raynor guessed correctly the pony is called Puzzle and he won a mini hamper. Thank you to everyone who took part and helped man the store throught the day.

17th September 2011

Toffee's first RDA session. Toffee has done extremely well and has proved that she can pretty much turn her hoof to anything. We have big plans for her and hope to compete her and Bow in the Regional competition next May.

11th September 2011

Toffee has arrived! Toffee or Larkland Lucy Locket is our newest pony, she is a 13HH, 17 year old, Chestnut, Welsh Section B mare. Toffee has been very kindly donated to us by Gareth, Lowri, Bethany and Eleri Davies. Eleri had grown out of Toffee and the family wanted her to have a bit of a quieter life so she is trying out being an RDA pony. We'll keep you posted on her progress!

15th August 2011

Many thanks to Steve Chapman who adopted one of our ponies Bow for a year for his daughter Tia.

Many thanks to Alan Chapman who also adopted Bow for his daughter Hollie.

The following Horses and Ponies are available for adoption at £10 a year

Officer Dibble, Cordelia, Bow, Gus, Toffee, Sparkle, Seren and Pixie

Once you have adopted your horse or pony you will receive an adoption certificate, photos of your Pony, a christmas card, birthday card and our annual newsletter.

6th August 2011

Congratulations to Peter Ryan and Tia Chapman for passing their RDA Grade 1 Tests. The tests are split into two parts, Riding and Horse Care. In the Riding section Peter and Tia had to demonstrate how to steer and stop their Pony and how to thank the pony by giving him a pat. For the Horse Care section they had to have a good knowledge of the parts of the Pony and the Saddle and Bridle. Both riders passed with flying colours and have already started revising for their Grade 2!

10th June 2011

We are all very excited about the arrival of a new pony. Cefn Gelli Rainbow, Bow for short, has been loaned to our group by the Bridgend County RDA group. Bow was a little too small to stay with the Bridgend Group when they moved to Pencoed College. Bridgend Group wanted him to continue doing RDA work so asked us if we could use him which has been a great sucess. Many thanks Bridgend County!

23rd May 2011

Congratulations to Peter Ryan on gaining 2nd place in the Introduction to Dressage Test A at the South Wales Regional Fun Day. Peter also competed in the Clear Round Handy Pony Competition , where he had a clear round and the Stable Management Quiz for which he gained a Special Award.

11th April 2011

We are currently looking for another pony must be 12hh to 13.2hh, over 5 years old, be of a good nature and sound, if you can help please do not hesitate to contact us.

3rd April 2011

Thank you to Byron Davies, BD Consulting UK Ltd, for their very generous donation to help towards our running costs. You'll notice we added BD Consulting UK Ltd logo, if you click on the logo it'll take you across to their website.

2nd April 2011

A huge thank you to all those who attended and supported our coffee morning. We were amazed how much was raised, £290. Thank you to those people who made cakes for the occasion, I can say from personal experience, they were delicious.

15th March 2011

Website design taking place, please bear with us while we get it all together.