Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) has been assisting people with disabilities by providing therapy and fun with horses for the past forty years. With a large network of volunteers, the RDA assists up to 28,000 people per year. The activities they offer include carriage driving, riding, vaulting, jumping and hippotherapy (equine therapy). This effort has made a huge impact in many people’s lives over the years.
One of these is a man named Max Stainton. Max has Cerebral Palsy and has ridden with the RDA UK since he was five years old. Today he is a finance professional who lives and works in London. Throughout his life, Max received a variety of therapies but found none more beneficial than horseback riding and the positive impact it has on his mobility.
Max thought it would be great to help more people get access to the benefits of horseback riding, so in 2018 Max and a team of volunteers will attempt to reach the Everest Base Camp on horseback. Max relies on an electric wheelchair to get around. He will have to leave behind in Katmandu and complete the journey with a Nepalese horse and his team walking alongside.
Eighteen months of training has already started for Max, who will have to be in the saddle for up to eight hours at a time to complete the grueling 8,000 ft ascent to the Everest Base Camp over sixteen days. There is a lot of logistics that need to be carefully planned for a journey of this kind and Max, and his team will need all the help they can get.
You can find out more about the mission by visiting ridingeverest.com. You can also offer your support, make a donation or even join the team if you want to be part of something amazing!
