Associação de Equitação Adaptada Barlavento

The Associação de Equitação Adaptada Barlavento / Riding for the Disabled Barlavento (RDB) is situated in the West of the Algarve, Portugal and was created at the beginning of 2007 to promote the aims of the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA). We operate in the beautiful Barlavento region of the Algarve and are based at the O Centro Hípico at Quinta do Paraiso Alto, Bensafrim. This location is in a central catchment location for the West Algarve, close to the Monchique Hills and just 5kms from the old fishing Port of Lagos.

About us
The Riding for Disabled Barlavento  is a voluntary, non-profit making organisation dedicated to making a real and lasting difference to the lives of disabled people, enabling them to ride in order to improve their health and well-being and to achieve new goals.

There are two sessions per week on Thursday and Friday mornings. There is normally a maximum of 4 riders per session which can last up to one hour. This includes the fitting of correct hats, mounting etc. The age range of the riders at the moment is from 4 years to 50+ years.

The helpers are mainly retired volunteers for whom we have held regular training sessions. The age range of the helpers varies from 43 years to 81 years, the 81 year old being the doctor. However, we would welcome volunteers of any age, if you are interested please refer to the “Contact” page of our website.

So no need to have any experience with disabled students or horses  – all we ask for is a little bit of your time

Each horse and rider requires three helpers which means we have between 12 and 16 helpers present at any one session. Each session is conducted by a fully qualified riding instructor who has attended specialist Riding for the disabled training at Wrexham in England. At the Thursday sessions we normally have a retired Doctor and nurse who help.

The Friday sessions have in attendance a fully qualified physiotherapist and qualified Hippotherapst whom we sent to the UK on three occasions for specialist RDA hippotherapy training at the Riding for Disabled Diamond Center. The cost of the courses and air fares etc we had to fund out of the money we raise.

STUDENTS
The NECI school in Luz and the Santo Amaro home in Lagos are the two establishments from which we currently take students. We have 16 people who come from NECI and 6 from Santo Amaro.

Horse riding is particularly beneficial for pupils who have profound and multiple learning difficulties, as it provides a multi sensory experience which is hard to replicate in any other environment. Apart from the physical benefits, parents, teachers and health professionals have been amazed by the other skills that a riding session can build on, such as numeracy, spelling and listening as well as problem-solving skills.

We do pre-assessments on all students to ensure that riding is appropriate for them, and their parent or guardian must give their consent. We also need signed authority from their medical person that they are OK to ride.

RIDING SCHOOL
The riding school we use is Quinta do Paraiso Alto in Bensafrim which is a registered riding establishment. We just use the facilities and pay for the hire of the horses we use.

To find out more about Hippotherapy (HT) and Therapeutic Riding (ThR) and Riding for the Disabled (RDA) please go to our website

Medical indications and contraindications may differ for referral to either Hippotherapy, Therapeutic riding or Riding for the Disabled!

From the A22
Turn right at the end of the A22 into Bensafrim and go through the village heading towards Lagos. Pass the right turn to the Zoo and Barao de S. Joao and continue towards Lagos. Take the next left turn signposted Fronteira. *After a short distance the road forks and you turn to the right. The next left turn is the road up to the stables – a narrow unmade track. (signposted Quinto do Paraiso Alto)

From Lagos
From Lagos take the N120 (Bensafrim /Aljezur road)keep straight on through Portelas and eventually you go under the motorway. You will pass a right hand turn to the Barragem – you need to take the next right hand turn signposted Fronteira.

From Barao de S. Joao
From the village take the Bensafrim road past the Zoo. You go under the motorway and at the T junction turn right towards Lagos.

Contacts
Centro Hipico, Quinta do Paraiso Alto, Fronteira, Bensafrim, Lagos 8600-089

Frank Bulmer (English)
Tel: 282 688 330

Sue Wilson (English and Portuguese)
Tel: 912 351 114
Email: rdb-algarve@hotmail.com
GPS: 37° 9’45.45″N | 8°43’3.39″
Website: http://www.riding4disabled.com