Testimonials

The Toowoomba Riding for the Disabled Association is an outstanding voluntarily organisation enhancing the lives of so many people with disabilities. As a special education teacher from Clifford Park Special School I have witnessed first-hand, the enormous benefits this activity affords my students. On a weekly basis during each school term, I take a group of six students from Clifford Park Special School to Toowoomba Riding for the Disabled, situated on Old Goombungee Road. All my students have significant intellectual disabilities, some students have added physical disabilities. Having severe Autism these students are very often withdrawn into their own sensory worlds. Horse riding is a special activity that highly motivates my students to move from their inner world and connect with the beauty and enjoyment of the outer world, we all share. Being very sensory driven, these students make unique connections with the sight, sound, smell and touch of their own horse, which they ride each week. As students have regularly participated in Toowoomba RDA riding sessions, I have witnessed a decrease in many students' general anxiety and associated obsessive behaviours. Students with limited or repetitive speech have also become more expressive and communicative, which has simply 'bubbled-up-through-them' from the joy this unique and exciting activity brings. I have also observed students with very limited self-esteem growing in confidence dramatically.

Special Education Teacher
Clifford Park Special School (2017)