It’s a record-breaking year for us with 10 of our participants qualifying for the event. We’re so proud of Philippa, Michael, John, Izzy, Luke, Daniel W, Daniel Mc, Louis, Yasmina and Annalise all of whom will be heading back to Hartpury in Gloucestershire for the Championships on 14-16 July.

Most of the team will be competing in the Countryside Challenge, a brilliant event in which riders with disabilities can showcase their skills at tackling obstacles and tasks in the arena. Could you post a letter in a letterbox while on horseback, or pick an apple and place it in a basket? The judges will be watching their riding skills keenly, for balance, control, and clear aids. Riders can be led (on a lead rein) on unled, the emphasis here is on core skills and sound horsemanship.

Annalise also qualified in the dressage and Louis in carriage driving and showjumping. Yasmina will be competing in the dressage. Reggie (sporting his signature fetching moustache) was unbeatable, winning every class he entered with four different riders.

The achievement of every single one of them can’t be over-estimated. Each has their own challenges to overcome, each has succeeded through determination and with a lot of encouragement from everyone around them, and each has qualified on merit in unfamiliar surroundings. It’s pretty amazing to watch them in an arena when we don’t even have one of our own in which to train!

The RDA’s motto is ‘It’s what you can do that counts’, and it’s never truer than it is here as our 10-strong team prepare to take on the nation’s best RDA riders in July. Win or lose, we’re going to have a ball!

The RDA National Championships will be streamed live on Horse & Country TV, and we now have 10 extra reasons to be glued to our screens for three days.

Nothing gives us more pleasure than seeing achievements like this and knowing we’ve played a part in them. If reading this story has given you pleasure, why not send us a donation to help support our work with the RDA? Every pound really does help.