Resilience, courage, teamwork and heart.

Those were just some of  the words used by Lisa Davies ahead of this year’s Riding for the Disabled Association National Championships which get under way at Hartpury College tomorrow.

Davies is head of communications for the RDA UK and she is looking forward to seeing more than 400 athletes competing over the next three days.

“It’s a really big event taking place at a world class competition venue,” she told The Local Answer. “We’ve got disabled athletes coming from all over the UK, coming together as part of the RDA community.”

Davies said 412 athletes were due to take part from 105 RDA groups and she continued: “We’ve got 772 entries in 155 classes involving 177 horses."

They’ve also got some 180 volunteers making sure that everything works smoothly over the three days.

“It’s a really big achievement for the disabled athletes,” added Davies. “They’ve come through the regional qualifiers and trained for this event. They will now showcase their talents by putting their skills to the test.

“These are professional championships but they are not just a competition, they are a celebration of resilience, courage, teamwork and heart.”

The championships have been taking place at Hartpury since 1994 and spectators will see the athletes competing in a whole range of disciplines including dressage, carriage driving, vaulting, showjumping and endurance.

This year marks the 50^th anniversary since the introduction of carriage driving to the RDA.

As part of this celebration, ex-police sergeant turned world champion Deborah Daniel will be at this year’s championships for a demonstration.

Her life was completely changed by the sport and the RDA after an accident in St Lucia two days before her wedding left her paralysed.

Daniel was introduced to carriage driving through the RDA and is now a member of the British Para-Driving Squad, having represented her country in six world championships.

Entry over the next three days is free – Saturday is fun day – and Davies hopes as many people as possible will go along and support the athletes.

“It’s a very inclusive welcoming atmosphere,” she said.