What we do
The Riding for the Disabled Barlavento (Associação de Equitação Adaptada do Barlavento) is a voluntary, non-profit making organisation dedicated to making a real and lasting difference to the lives of disabled people, enabling them to ride in order to improve their health, well-being and to achieve new goals.
There are three sessions per week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Each session can accommodate a maximum of 4 riders per session, and a session may last up to one and a half hours. The age range of the riders is from 6 years to 50+ years. The helpers (volunteers) are of all ages but are mainly of retirement age. However, we welcome volunteers of any age and training will be provided. If you are interested in helping please refer to the ‘Volunteer‘ page of our website.
Most riders require three helpers (horse leader and side walkers) which may require between 8 and 12 helpers present at any one session. Each session is conducted by a fully qualified riding instructor, Sue Wilson, who has attended specialist riding for the disabled training at Wrexham in England. Some sessions have in attendance a fully qualified physiotherapist and qualified Hippotherapist, Ângela Mesquita, whom we sent to the UK on three occasions for specialist RDA Hippotherapy training at the Riding for Disabled Diamond Centre. The cost of the courses and air fares etc. were funded out of the money we raised.
Horse riding is particularly beneficial for pupils who have profound and multiple learning difficulties, as it provides a multi-sensory experience which is hard to replicate in any other environment. Apart from the physical benefits, parents, teachers and health professionals have been amazed by the other skills that a riding session can build on, such as numeracy, spelling and listening as well as problem-solving skills.
Ângela Mesquita, our qualified Physiotherapist and Hippotherapist
The NECI school in Praia da Luz, the Santo Amaro home in Lagos and the Autistic Wing of the Escola E B 2,3 de Algoz are the three establishments from which we currently take students. Ten students come from NECI, six from Santo Amaro and six from Algoz. The riding school and facilities used is Quinta do Paraíso Alto, Bensafrim which is a registered riding establishment.
We undertake pre-assessments on all students to ensure that riding is appropriate, and their parent or guardian must give their consent. We also require a signed authority from their medical doctor stating that they are safe to mount and ride a horse.
If you feel you would like to volunteer (no experience is necessary) please apply here.
Algumas fotografias tiradas nas aulas da RDB
