Health and safety officer Ruth Diviney said the core purpose of the not-for-profit was to enable people who were experiencing disability to improve their confidence, independence and wellbeing.
"We require about six volunteers per day, per session."
They had about 70 riders who came for lessons, and all volunteers were fully trained and guided through the process.
As well as working with the horses and riders there were other roles including cleaning, mucking out, gardening and general maintenance of the site, she said.
Rider Laura Heaven (9) had been coming for lessons for almost two years and was now able to take the reins and practise trotting and jumping.
Her mother Andrea Heaven said Laura had less than 5% eyesight.
"So she is legally blind."
Laura also had juvenile arthritis and a form of eye inflammation called uveitis, which meant she needed to wear tinted glasses to reduce the amount of glare.
Brightly coloured poles helped Laura navigate her way around the pen.
"It has been great for her confidence."
Laura said the favourite parts of coming to Riding for the Disabled was "getting to cuddle them and ride them".
Head coach Nic Hayes said it was business as usual for the group in Covid-19 Red traffic light restrictions.
However it had shortened the lessons to allow for about 15 minutes between riders to sanitise and disinfect all equipment and touch surfaces.
Covid-19 vaccine passes and masks were required on site.
Since the pandemic the group had seen a huge shift in what it was catering for, with many more cases of anxiety, but the good news about the Red traffic light setting was the higher-needs clients could be accommodated, she said.
"This year under the traffic light system we do have protocols in place to manage them which is absolutely fantastic because for [some of] those guys this is the only thing they do."
- Email info@rdadunedin.org to volunteer or for more information.
