Life at the Shelley Centre

           Ebony’s Blog

As Christmas approaches life at The Shelley Centre seems to get even busier.  In November we had two successful fundraising events, our very popular ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ Quiz which took over £1500, and our Christmas Bingo.  We are immensely grateful to the team that put on these events and everyone who comes along and supports them.  Our fundraising efforts are essential to help keep the Centre going.  We need to raise about £90k every year to cover all the costs associated with keeping horses (food, vets, farrier, etc), maintenance of the paddocks and stables and our Stable Manager’s salary, to name a few – with only a very small contribution coming from riders’ fees.

The winter months also bring extra work for the team looking after the horses – extra food to provide for the horses, rugs to change and shorter days to work in, and often muddy conditions underfoot!  Our horses live out in the fields all year round but have shelters in their fields and they wear warm, waterproof rugs in the winter.  But they still manage to get pretty muddy and often need lots of grooming by the volunteers before we can use them in the Riding for the Disabled sessions.

Once term time has finished the works goes on as the horses need to be cared every day of the year – so please spare a thought for the volunteers who go up to The Centre over the  Christmas and New Year period, whatever the weather, to keep this wonderful establishment going.

Our latest acquisitions, Sausage, Tiny Tim and Danny (pictured) are all progressing well on their journey to becoming useful RDA horses.  Whilst it may look as if all they do is walk around an arena with a rider on their back, they have to learn to stand very still so we can get our disabled riders mounted and comfortable on their backs; they have put up with various gestures and noises that they would not normally encounter; riders who may not sit still or upright and all the props we use in the arena to make the riders’ session interesting and therapeutic.   In addition to all that they have to work with other horses in the same arena and be happy with people walking alongside as many of our riders need at least one supporter walking with them.   Not all horses who come to us make the grade but those who do are very special and treasured by us all.

 We thank you for your ongoing interest and support.  If you would like to make a gesture of seasonal goodwill please visit our JustGiving page The Shelley Centre - JustGiving.  As an example, £5 buys a bale of hay, £20 buys a bag of horse food, £30 pays for our Miniature Shetland, Chocolate, to have her hooves trimmed and £90 buys just one set of horseshoes.

Wishing you all Very Happy Christmas and all the very best for 2026, from all the horses and people involved at The Shelley Centre.

Website: www.shelleyrda.com

Facebook:  Shelley RDA Centre                                           Telephone: 01473 824172