Cotswold RDA

📣 VOLUNTEER CALL-OUT FOR THIS SUNDAY!

We’re looking for some extra helping hands to support our riding sessions this Sunday morning.

We urgently need leaders and side walkers to help our lessons go ahead safely and smoothly.

This call-out is for our current registered Cotswold RDA volunteers, if you’re free to lend a hand, even for just an hour, we would be incredibly grateful! Every extra pair of hands really does make a difference and helps us keep our riders in the saddle.

👉 If you’re available this Sunday morning, please add yourself to the ThreeRings system or contact the office to let us know.

A huge thank you, as always, to our wonderful volunteer team. We simply couldn’t run our sessions without you!

Oreo’s Summer Adventures: The Final Chapter…

Well, we knew this post would eventually have to come… but we’re not sure any of us were quite ready for it. 🥹

It’s time for one last Oreo’s Summer Adventures update, and what an adventure this summer has been!

Since we last checked in, Oreo has certainly not been taking things easy. He headed out on a brilliant, fun ride at Cotswold Farm Park with his friends Morph, Freddie and new pal W***y. They had an awesome time, and Oreo took (most!) of it in his stride.

He’s also discovered the world of cross-country, and it turns out he absolutely LOVES it! Cantering, jumping, exploring… we think he may have found his thing.

But this summer was always about much more than having fun.
When Oreo left Cotswold RDA at the beginning of the summer, the aim was to give one of our youngest herd members the opportunity to continue his education, experience more of the world outside our arena and, most importantly, build his confidence.

And goodness, has he done that.

If you’ve followed his adventures over the past few months, you’ll have watched Oreo grow up before our eyes. From hacking and arena hires to long reining, jumping, shows, cross-country, new friends, new places and plenty of moments that required him to be brave.

And, because this is Oreo we’re talking about, there have also been a few ‘Oreo moments’ along the way!

He’s a young pony with a big personality, plenty of opinions and a few quirks that can sometimes make life interesting! While many of those characteristics make him the brilliant, cheeky little character we all adore, they also mean that the structured environment and responsibilities of an RDA pony aren’t necessarily the best fit for him.

That’s something we take incredibly seriously. Our horses and ponies have a very special job, and they need to be happy, confident and comfortable doing it, while also being suitable for the wide range of participants we support.

This summer has given Oreo the opportunity to show us what he really enjoys and where he thrives.

And beside him through it all has been Lucy. ❤️

The partnership these two have developed has become something incredibly special. They understand each other’s quirks (and Lucy certainly knows all of his! 😂), trust one another and look after one another. Quite frankly, they’ve become a pretty unstoppable little team.

Which brings us to the bit that’s going to make us all a little emotional…

After lots of thought and many long conversations, we have made a decision about Oreo’s future. And although we love him with all our hearts, it is because we love him that we know it’s the right one.

Oreo will not be returning to his duties at Cotswold RDA. Instead, he will be staying with Lucy full-time.

It isn’t that Oreo has failed at being an RDA pony, far from it. He’s simply shown us that his talents, personality and happiness are better suited to a different life.

Part of responsible horsemanship is recognising when the job isn’t quite right for the pony in front of you and giving them the opportunity to flourish somewhere else.

And we think Oreo has made it pretty clear where that somewhere else is, and that's with Lucy. ❤️

We know she will be the most wonderful pony-mum to him, and together they’ll continue learning, growing and having plenty more adventures.

Will we miss having his gorgeous, cheeky face at Cotswold RDA? Absolutely. 🥹 But Oreo isn’t disappearing from our family.
He’ll continue living alongside his old field buddy Morph, and Lucy has promised to keep us updated on what they get up to, so this definitely isn’t goodbye.

We also want to say an enormous thank you to everyone who has followed Oreo’s adventures this summer, cheered him on and celebrated every little milestone with us.

What started as an educational summer holiday became something none of us quite expected: Oreo finding his person and his next chapter.

And really, we can’t think of a happier ending than that.
So, for the very last time…

Oreo’s Summer Adventures, to be continued… just somewhere new.

Entries and schedule are officially live!

Join us for the Cotswold RDA Open Mini Dressage & Ridden Showing Show on Sunday 8 November 2026. All ridden classes are open to everyone, whether led or unled, held in our indoor arena, with warm-up in the outdoor arena.

A massive thank you to Colne Saddlery, who have generously donated fabulous prizes in kind across our classes!

Here is what we have planned for the day:

Dressage Classes (Starts 9:00 AM – Pre-entry ONLY)
• Class 1: RDA Introduction to Dressage Championship (2022) Walk Only
• Class 2: BD Introductory Walk & Trot Test 3 (2024)
Entry fee: £12 per test. Limited spaces available! Rosettes 1st–6th place, plus a special prize for the highest-scoring rider under 16 years. To enter and receive your test sheet, please email us at [email protected].

Ridden Showing Classes (Starts 11:00 AM – Entries on the day)
£6 entry per class:
• Class 3: Best Turned Out
• Class 4: Best Mane & Tail
• Class 5: Pony the Judge Would Like to Take Home

£10 entry per class:
• Class 6: Best Leading Rein Pony
• Class 7: Best First Ridden Pony
• Class 8: Mountain & Moorland
• Class 9: Coloured (piebald, skewbald, spotty, dun, palomino, cremello)
• Class 10: Best Veteran (aged 15 years & over)

Class 11: Championship (Open to 1st place winners from each showing class!) Rosettes 1st–6th place and prizes in kind generously provided by Colne Saddlery.

All-Day Fun & Refreshments:
Handy Pony: Running all day! (£3 entry on the day – 'Well Done' rosette & sweets for every participant).

Full Monty Catering: Serving proper coffee, breakfast rolls, burgers, and hot dogs from 8:30 AM to 1:00 PM.

We need competitors to fill our rings, and we would love to hear from our wonderful volunteers who can lend a hand on the day to help us make the event run smoothly.

Please tag your yard friends, share the schedule, and email [email protected] to secure your dressage spot early!

A huge, heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who supported Cotswold RDA at the Moreton Show!

Thanks to the incredible generosity of visitors and the dedication of our team, we raised a fantastic £1,976.24!

This wonderful total would not have been possible without our amazing team of volunteers who gave up their time to collect donations, as well as those who represented us across the showground, volunteering as runners and stewards. Your hard work, enthusiasm, and friendly smiles made all the difference.

Every single pound raised goes directly towards supporting our riders, horses, and life-changing equine therapy programmes. We are endlessly grateful for our community’s support! 💙

URGENT: Can you lend a hand tomorrow? 🐴💙

We are in desperate need of volunteers for our riding sessions tomorrow, specifically looking for leaders and side walkers.

Our sessions simply cannot go ahead without the vital support of our incredible volunteer community. These sessions mean the world to our riders, but safety always comes first, and we cannot run them without enough pairs of hands.

Even if you can only spare just one hour, it would make a massive difference and help ensure our participants don't miss out on their time in the saddle.

If you can help tomorrow, please drop us a message, add your name to the ThreeRings system or give the office a call.

THANK YOU! 🥰🥰🥰

Golden hour moments with our gorgeous herd

Last week, the talented amateur photographer Sophie P spent a sunny afternoon with us, capturing the sweetest moments of life in the fields. She has such a wonderful eye, and we think you will love these shots just as much as we do!

Thank you so much, Sophie, for visiting us and capturing these memories. We will also be featuring a collection of Sophie’s work on our website soon!

Swipe through to see them all, and tell us: which photo is your absolute favourite? Drop your pick in the comments! 💬👇

Oreo’s Summer Adventures – Moreton Show Edition!

Need a little something to brighten up this dark, wet Tuesday morning? We think an Oreo update might do the trick!

On Saturday, Oreo and Lucy headed off on another BIG adventure, this time to Moreton Show, and what a day they had!

Our gorgeous boy certainly made his presence known:

🏅 Best Turned Out – 5th out of 12
🥉 Handsomest Gelding/Prettiest Mare – 3rd
🏆 1st for the most local pony – all the way from Cheltenham!
🥈 The Pony the Judge Would Most Like to Take Home – 2nd!

That final second place meant Oreo and Lucy qualified for the Championship class at the end of the day!

They didn’t place in the Championship, but quite frankly, that didn’t matter one bit. To see Oreo standing in that ring alongside some of the best horses and ponies from across the South West was a very proud moment.

When we started sharing Oreo’s Summer Adventures, the whole idea was to follow one of our youngest herd members as he experienced life beyond the RDA arena, building his confidence, seeing new places and learning to cope with everything the big wide world might throw at him.

And just look at him now.
From those first arena hires and hacks with Morph, to jumping competitions, solo adventures and now qualifying for a Championship at Moreton Show, what a summer this special boy has had.

Of course, none of it would have been possible without Lucy. The time, patience, care and confidence she has given Oreo throughout this summer have been incredible. What a team these two have become.

And a special shout-out has to go to our Head Groom, Holly, who has been quietly supporting Team Oreo from behind the scenes all summer, offering advice, encouragement and reassurance every step of the way, and seemingly adding ‘competition groom’ to her ever-growing list of roles! 😂💚 Holly was there supporting Oreo and Lucy at Moreton Show too, and we know her experience and encouragement have meant a huge amount throughout their adventures.

It really has been a team effort, and we couldn’t be prouder of Oreo, Lucy and Holly.

And we have to admit… we completely understand why the judge wanted to take Oreo home. Hands off, though he’s ours! 😂

Oreo’s Summer Adventures aren’t quite finished yet… To be continued!