This website is moving. Our new address is theavoncentre.org.uk please book mark and make sure you visit that from now on.
Updates:
Please only call us in urgent situations. We do not have the staff to answer the volume of phone calls we used to and we need to use our time to administrate lessons for everyone. Please be patient and we will reply to your email as soon as we can.
RDA Update
While we have been able to invite some RDA riders back to riding from Term 6, opportunities to ride continue to be restricted by our reduced horse and staff numbers and Covid restrictions. It is not yet possible to confirm what we will be able to offer from September; Kim is working on a plan that should allow us to increase our rider numbers within the current horse and staff restrictions, but it may be necessary to change days, times and frequency of lessons of Pre-Covid riders. Returning riders may be required to come in for an assessment before being offered a lesson. Participants will be required to register on EC Pro (our new online booking system) and provide an updated application form. Once registered on EC Pro, all Pre-Covid RDA participants may book unmounted activities (Walk and Talk with the Shetlands and mechanical horse sessions).
If you are on the RDA waiting list, we will contact you when it is possible to invite you in for an assessment – unfortunately the Covid shutdown has caused an additional delay. Thank you for your patience.
Bristol Horse Riding Update
We will be offering more riding from mid May. If you have not already make sure you have created an account on EC Pro and added riders to it (if you are the rider you need to add yourself as a rider as well as a user) If we have already seen you ride we will grade you appropriately and you will then be able to book lessons through the app. If we have not seen you ride we will grade you as ‘pre-assessed’ and you will be able to book simulator and unmounted sessions, and we will contact you when we are in a position to offer assessments.
Volunteering Update
We are currently working at a lower level and utilising our pre-Covid volunteers to support our work. At present we do not have the staff to administrate the processing and training of new volunteers. Please do not submit new volunteer forms, or call or email. We will update this page when the situation changes, and you can sign up for our weekly update to be kept up to date.
Current volunteers, Kim will be in touch to invite you back. If you receive an email requesting you update your DBS please make sure you do so as soon as possible.
Make sure you are signed up to our weekly update (on the bottom of this page) to keep you up to date.
Enter our Winter Dressage or Clear Round Show Jumping!
Activities for the summer are advertised in the calendar below. Please have a look and register your interest on the Google Form.
Please note that hacks, private and group lessons will be run in addition to these activities.
RDA Riders FAQ
When can I come back to riding?
Unfortunately, we will not be able to offer a ridden lesson to anyone until Government guidelines and RDA National Office advice allows. We do not have a timeframe for this.
Why is it taking so long to restart?
The requirements for social distancing mean that we cannot reintroduce RDA lessons as we ran them before. The majority of our riders need some close contact during mounting and dismounting as well as during lessons. We also have a high number of volunteers over the age of 60 and they are potentially at higher risk from the virus as well.
Are there any alternatives to riding that I can consider?
We will be looking to provide some opportunities for individual unmounted sessions in the fairly near future.
For a comprehensive list of Frequently Asked Questions Click Here.