Imaginative members of the Riding for the Disabled Association impressed members of Windsor Lions with their fancy dress costumes last Thursday - winning £1,000 in prize money.

The Lions sponsored the RDA (Riding for the Disabled Association) regional groups who entered the fancy dress competition at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.

Over £1,000 was distributed to six different groups from all over Berkshire and adjoining counties in both the Riding and Carriage Driving categories.

Each team had to represent a country.

The Park Lane team won first prize in the riding fancy dress competition for representing Wales, while Penniwells Riding for the Disabled and the Horse Rangers Association came second and third representing India.

Wayside and Newbury Riding for the Disabled came fourth and fifth representing Canada and the UK respectively.

The winner of the separate driving competition for teams with a pony and trap was the Stella Hancock Driving Group representing Spain.

Lion Roger Hale, Windsor Lions event manager, enthused: “We love being involved in this event. All the riders and support folk are so enthusiastic and clearly go to so much trouble with their costumes – they are highly innovative. It is with great pleasure that we distribute the funds we do – we know they are well used for the support of these fantastic RDA groups.”

The fancy dress event has been sponsored by Windsor Lions for many years and is just one element of their support of disability sport and specifically riding, the other event from which RDA regularly benefits being the annual Windsor Great Park Cross Country Horseride.

This event takes place this year on the September 7/8 and has raised tens of thousands of pounds for the RDA over its 40 years.