{"id":621798,"date":"2026-10-06T01:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T01:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/621798\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T01:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T01:08:10","slug":"blind-at-91-why-lady-june-carter-has-returned-to-riding-for-the-disabled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/621798\/","title":{"rendered":"Blind at 91, why Lady June Carter has returned to Riding for the Disabled"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JuneJune still rides Pou every week. Photo \/ accentphotography.co.nz<\/p>\n

She admits that when she started riding with RDA in 2024, there were a few skills she needed to brush up on. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut for the most part, it just came back to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, even though she lost her sight three-and-a-half years ago, riding is so instinctual that June is totally at ease communicating with Pou as they navigate the Drury property.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what I\u2019m supposed to do, and the horse knows his job and we get along just fine,\u201d she smiles. <\/p>\n

Every year, more than 3000 people with disabilities, hidden or otherwise, benefit from the therapeutic horse programmes nationwide. <\/p>\n

June\u2019s first involvement began almost 50 years ago when it was suggested that she, fellow founder Diana Arlington and a group of others, could run sessions at the local Whitford Pony Club, where June\u2019s daughter Shirley-Ann was a member. <\/p>\n

\u201cMothers were saying, \u2018You can use my daughter\u2019s pony,\u2019 and next thing, we were leading children around every Monday morning,\u201d recalls June. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t know what we were doing in the very beginning, but we learned by popping children on ponies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharing one of her favourite RDA memories from years past, June lights up. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere was one girl of about 18 who was always thumping on her chest, but then she would sit on the horse and hold the reins perfectly still.\u201d <\/p>\n

The devoted horsewoman has many stories of remarkable experiences when people are given the time and space to connect with horses. It\u2019s why she\u2019s remained so passionate about the charity and its volunteers. <\/p>\n

\"BeingBeing around horses is a source of friendship, purpose and a way to give back for Lady June. Photo \/ accentphotography.co.nz<\/p>\n

For June, being around horses<\/a> is about far more than riding. Over the years, it has been a source of friendship, purpose and a way to give back to her community. <\/p>\n

Even now, she says, \u201cIf I hear a child crying, I think, \u2018Oh, I wish I could do something for him and put him on a horse or something.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She jokes that horses partly influenced her decision to immigrate from her native UK to New Zealand in her twenties. <\/p>\n

\u201cI met my husband [the late Kiwi timber magnate Sir Richard Carter] in a pub in England and came out here to New Zealand, mainly because he had some horses that I could ride on the family farm at the time,\u201d she laughs. <\/p>\n

They went on to purchase a property in Whitford and later developed a significant farm and homestead in Ararimu. <\/p>\n

Her approach to horses has also shaped the way she approaches life. They have taught her to be patient, gentle and calm rather than trying to force things.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t roar around them, yelling and screaming,\u201d she says. \u201cYou just quietly walk up to them, give them a rub on their neck and tell them everything\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked her secret to staying active in her later years, June reveals, \u201cI\u2019ve never really thought about my age. I don\u2019t worry about it and it seems to work itself out.\u201d <\/p>\n

She has no plans to stop riding any time soon. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want to keep doing what I am doing until I literally can\u2019t,\u201d June says. \u201cLife is for living and trying to help other people. What you give out, you get back.\u201d<\/p>\n

To find out more about South Auckland RDA or donate, see southaucklandrda.org<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"June still rides Pou every week. Photo \/ accentphotography.co.nz She admits that when she started riding with RDA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[92737,1975,306078,1558,23541,8794,2220,17878,93307,9522,2082,1874,71,6871,305,30538,41557,13419,9207,11285,424,3180,111,139,69,306079,12971,21529,31124,213,223,61,231209,4276],"class_list":["post-621798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-92737","tag-at","tag-bareback","tag-been","tag-blind","tag-branch","tag-carter","tag-carters","tag-constant","tag-disabled","tag-for","tag-found","tag-from","tag-has","tag-have","tag-helping","tag-horses","tag-june","tag-lady","tag-learning","tag-life","tag-near","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rda","tag-returned","tag-ride","tag-riding","tag-sports","tag-the","tag-to","tag-whitford","tag-why"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}