THE RDA UK championships took place over the weekend of July 12-14 when local girl Kora Blair took part in two competitions, Countryside Challenge and Dressage.

The RDA National Championships is held at Hartpury College in Gloucester.

Riders who compete at the Championships will have first qualified at a Regional Qualifying Competition in one of 18 Regions around the UK.

Competitors come from as far as Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands to compete.

The Championships has grown year on year and is now bigger than the Paralympics and Para World Championships combined. In previous years it has proved a springboard for the Paralympics, with many of the current Team GB having competed at The Championships.

The championships were the showcase of Countryfile on BBC one on 28th July.

Kora qualified in May at Bridgend College, where she has also studied Horse Care, for the Vale of Glamorgan RDA Group. She then went on to compete in the UK championships in Hartpury on 13th July, on her birthday, where she placed first in both competitions.

She was also champion in her class for the Dressage competition.

She was trained by Clare Roberts, from The Grange, St Brides- Super- Ely on Claire’s horse Rhianydd (Rio). Kora was presented with her winning trophy by Esme Higgs.

Esme is well-known as “This Esme”, an 18-year-old horse enthusiast and YouTube vlogger, who shares her horsey life on social media and is much loved in the horse world.

Kora has been riding since she was eight, starting at Downside Riding Centre in Penarth, before moving to Cardiff Riding School in 2018.

This is her first major competition with the RDA, and is training with Clare and Rio for next year’s round of competitions.