Hoof strives to 'out' sofa dwellers with new campaign

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

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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