Hoof, the British Equestrian Federation's legacy to the London 2012 Olympic Games today launches a new campaign - Hoof it to Health - to get people off the sofa and onto horse back as one of London's healthiest outdoors sports for any age or fitness level.
The new online video for the campaign explains the benefits.
"Horse riding can burn as many calories as jogging, tones and strengthens your core muscle groups, is a great way to get fit and at the same time, enjoy the psychological benefits of being outdoors in partnership with a horse," says Lynne Munro, Chair of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Therapeutic Riding.
"Riding is proven to help everyone but also benefits people with physical and mental challenges. Every step a horse takes, the rider must rebalance their body resulting in continual muscle, posture and balance adjustments even in walk. Once a rider is able to move up a pace, they not only continue to tone muscles in this way, the whole cardiovascular system gets working. We have many examples of people whose fitness, strength and mental abilities have been vastly improved through horse riding." Concludes Lynne Munro.
Andrew Finding, Chief Executive of the British Equestrian Federation says;" We are building a lasting legacy to the London 2012 Olympic Games for the equestrian industry by investing in expanding riding facilities in selected London riding centres and through this campaign, to get more people off the sofa and into horse riding as a great way to get and keep fit."
Hoof has teamed up with the Riding for the Disabled Association and Vauxhall City Farm to launch this campaign in the heart of London. Vauxhall City Farm runs a Riding Therapy Centre working with RDA to enable people with disabilities to ride and also offering riding to disadvantaged children in the local community. It is also a British Horse Society approved centre and a Pony Club centre. Hoof is also a partner of Go London - the Change 4 Life campaign.
In addition to this campaign, Hoof is working to make riding in London more accessible through financial investments to help riding schools develop their facilities and offer more riding opportunities to Londoners.
For more information on Hoof, visit www.hoof-in-town.co.uk
Ends
Editor's notes:
RDA is proud to be celebrating 40 years of delivering opportunities for therapy, achievement and enjoyment to people with disabilities. Founded as a National organisation in 1969, RDA now has 500 Member Groups across the UK - together, these Groups help 23,000 people to take part in riding, carriage driving and vaulting activities.
Although RDA was set up to work mainly with people with physical disabilities, RDA Groups now work across the spectrum of disabilities, age range, social status and urban and rural environments. The focus of our work is to ensure that each individual has the chance to derive a direct therapeutic benefit and the opportunity to achieve their personal goal (whether that be learning a very simple skill or winning a major competition).
Hoof
Hoof is led by the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) and supported by the major equestrian bodies in the UK. It aims to increase participation in, and awareness of, equestrian activities and horse sports across London, as a Legacy of the London 2012 Olympics.
Media enquiries and online video and photography:
For more information contact: Caroline Corfield-Rose 07979 706 553 or Denise Pritchard: 07802 582842. Website address: www.hoof-in-town.co.uk
Tuesday 24 August 2010
Tuesday 10 August 2010
Greenwich Park ground preparation work begins for 2012
Work will begin this week at Greenwich Park to prepare it to be the Olympic Equestrian venue. The work will be carried out by sub-contractors working on behalf of the London 2012 Olympic Organising Committee (LOCOG) in association with The Royal Parks.
The works have been approved by the local planning authority, Greenwich Council, who granted planning permission in March 2010 for both the test event in 2011 and events in 2012, subject to a number of planning conditions. LOCOG is now discharging a number of these planning conditions which have been agreed with the four statutory consultees - The Royal Parks, English Heritage, Natural England, and Sport England.
The route of the Cross Country course will be marked out in August to clearly identify the course for ground preparation work. The work itself will improve the condition of the grass in the Park for the route of the Cross Country course which involves reducing the hardness of the ground, and ensuring the grass is sufficiently watered. Temporary artificial grass tuft markers will be used which will remain in place until the course is visible when they will be carefully removed. These markers are used in many sports grounds to mark out playing fields.
The works will include:
• Irrigation – Water will be applied to the course from time to time to help the grass to grow and to develop stronger root systems. Because of the dry summer, this will happen daily for the first few weeks;
• De-compaction – Over many years of use the ground in the Park has become closely packed together. Works will reduce this compaction, which in turn will improve the quality of the grass by allowing roots to develop and strengthen;
• Mowing – Specialist mowers will encourage a thicker, stronger sward of grass;
• Other works will include the filling of minor and localised hollows in the ground using topsoil and turf, the removal of stones from certain areas of the Cross Country course, fertilisation of the ground and some re-seeding of areas where grass cover is poor.
Enhancement works to increase areas of acid grassland elsewhere in the Park will also commence, as part of the LOCOG-funded restoration programme. This will result in an increase in the quality of acid grassland, once re-instatement works are complete.
Much of the work is similar to that which is carried out by The Royal Parks and their contractors on a regular basis in Greenwich Park throughout the year such as mowing, slitting of the ground to aerate the soil, and selected watering.
Ground improvement work will begin in August 2010 and continue throughout 2011 and up to the Games in July 2012. The regularity will vary depending on weather and ground conditions. Some works funded by LOCOG will continue beyond the Games to ensure the Park is returned to its previous condition as part of LOCOG’s commitment to re-instate the Park.
The works have been approved by the local planning authority, Greenwich Council, who granted planning permission in March 2010 for both the test event in 2011 and events in 2012, subject to a number of planning conditions. LOCOG is now discharging a number of these planning conditions which have been agreed with the four statutory consultees - The Royal Parks, English Heritage, Natural England, and Sport England.
The route of the Cross Country course will be marked out in August to clearly identify the course for ground preparation work. The work itself will improve the condition of the grass in the Park for the route of the Cross Country course which involves reducing the hardness of the ground, and ensuring the grass is sufficiently watered. Temporary artificial grass tuft markers will be used which will remain in place until the course is visible when they will be carefully removed. These markers are used in many sports grounds to mark out playing fields.
The works will include:
• Irrigation – Water will be applied to the course from time to time to help the grass to grow and to develop stronger root systems. Because of the dry summer, this will happen daily for the first few weeks;
• De-compaction – Over many years of use the ground in the Park has become closely packed together. Works will reduce this compaction, which in turn will improve the quality of the grass by allowing roots to develop and strengthen;
• Mowing – Specialist mowers will encourage a thicker, stronger sward of grass;
• Other works will include the filling of minor and localised hollows in the ground using topsoil and turf, the removal of stones from certain areas of the Cross Country course, fertilisation of the ground and some re-seeding of areas where grass cover is poor.
Enhancement works to increase areas of acid grassland elsewhere in the Park will also commence, as part of the LOCOG-funded restoration programme. This will result in an increase in the quality of acid grassland, once re-instatement works are complete.
Much of the work is similar to that which is carried out by The Royal Parks and their contractors on a regular basis in Greenwich Park throughout the year such as mowing, slitting of the ground to aerate the soil, and selected watering.
Ground improvement work will begin in August 2010 and continue throughout 2011 and up to the Games in July 2012. The regularity will vary depending on weather and ground conditions. Some works funded by LOCOG will continue beyond the Games to ensure the Park is returned to its previous condition as part of LOCOG’s commitment to re-instate the Park.
Wednesday 4 August 2010
Children's courses offered by Ridgway Stables
Ridgway Stables will be offering children’s courses in conjunction with Merton Council.
The courses run throughout the summer holidays Tues –Fri 10am until noon or 2pm -4pm and offer riding tuition and basic stable management. There are open to children from any borough from the ages of 8 to 16.
For more information please visit www.merton.gov.uk/activeplus or http://www.ridgwaystables.co.uk/
The courses run throughout the summer holidays Tues –Fri 10am until noon or 2pm -4pm and offer riding tuition and basic stable management. There are open to children from any borough from the ages of 8 to 16.
For more information please visit www.merton.gov.uk/activeplus or http://www.ridgwaystables.co.uk/
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