One of the highlights of a packed few weeks was a visit by a group of blind and partially sighted children from the RSBC (Royal Society for Blind Children). It was life-affirming for us as well as for them!

The whole Park Lane Stables team is buzzing after the RDA Championships at Hartpury, but at least all that adrenaline is helping to keep the exhaustion at bay. There have been so many special moments that I challenged Natalie to sum up the weekend in just 10 highlights…

An estimated 1.2 billion viewers watched our own Philippa George toss the coin at the start of the Ladies’ Singles Final at Wimbledon. We invite you to share her experience of a truly extraordinary day.

Find out how our very own Philippa George got the job of tossing the coin at the start of the Ladies’ Final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships 2023.

A spot of gardening? Picnic in your local park? Not Natalie O’Rourke, who was running in the infamous Man v Horse marathon in the mountains of Wales.

It’s a record-breaking year for us with 10 of our participants qualifying for the RDA National Championships. 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.

The planning process continues to grind slowly, frustrating for us as well as for all of you who have supported us. But there is progress.

Choose from one of four very special signed photographic prints by acclaimed photographer Paul Stuart. Read the story behind these photographs and find out how to secure one to take pride of place on your wall.

Online equestrian channel FEI:Ride came over to Petersham recently and filmed a 7 minute feature in which Natalie talks about how she came to find herself in south west London, and some of the volunteers and staff from the team explain how they came to be involved.

Tuesday 21 March was Down Syndrome Awareness Day, and to mark this and Mothering Sunday, the Sunday Times recently visited Park Lane Stables to interview Natalie, Woody and Prodney.

If you can, join us at the stables in Petersham on Saturday 1 April, from 2pm.

If you have eagle eyes you may have spotted the gorgeous pony at the top of our About us page and wondered why he wasn’t included in the team of horses. The answer’s simple.

13 year old Yasmina has a condition called Friedreich’s ataxia, which progressively damages the nervous system. During lockdown she lost the ability to walk unaided when her physiotherapy sessions were interrupted.

Last month we invited you to meet our fabulous horses. Now you can also meet the people. Many will be faces you will see if you visit us, others will be behind the scenes.

Each of our horses has its own unique personality and skills, all of them are calm, happy and dependable, and together they’re a winning team. But who sometimes needs a push start as he’s not a morning pony?

In Sweden, the Dala horse has been a symbol of good luck since the 17th century. These simple wooden horses are traditionally painted in bright colours symbolising the flower patterns of the region around Dalarna in central Sweden.

Natalie was awarded the MBE ‘for services to the disabled and to the community’. HRH the Prince of Wales presented it to her in one of the first investitures that Prince William has conducted since the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

We’ve been so impatient to share our plans, but we needed to know they were achievable and ready to submit to Richmond Council before we did. We love our architect’s vision for the refurb and we hope you’ll share our excitement!

We’re having an open morning on Friday 16 December from 11am till 1pm. A chance to meet the Park Lane team and ponies over a cup of tea at our lovely temporary Petersham home.

The Park Lane Stables story over the last two years has been all about change, as we lost and then secured our Teddington home, and settled into life at our temporary home in Petersham. Volunteers have been our constant.