Thanks to a new covered arena, children at Bermuda Riding for the Disabled in Warwick will never have to miss a lesson again due to rain.

For an able-bodied child, missing a riding lesson here and there means a few extra hours watching television or reading. For a disabled child it can heartbreaking. Getting up on a horse gives them a sense of freedom, accomplishment and a distraction from worries and health problems.

?The building of the new arena has been a long time in the works,? said Moira Benbow, manager of the facility. ?Now it is finally ready and is already in use. Before, when we were just using an open paddock, our equestrians couldn?t ride when it was hot or when it was raining. I did a survey of some of the kids who take lessons. Out of 30 lessons that they could have had, one of them had missed 11, another had missed eight, one was six and another five lessons. That is a lot. The only time they can?t use the new arena is when it is really blowing hard and raining because it is not completely closed in.?

And Mrs. Benbow said the arena had even been guaranteed against hurricanes.

?It is very secure,? she said.

The arena is 20 metres by 20 metres. The floor looks like it is covered by grey laundry fluff, but it is actually a special and expensive mixture of sand, rubber, carpet fibres and oil.

?It is the only covered arena like this in Bermuda,? she said. ?It doesn?t shift, but it is springy for the horses to walk on. It was very expensive so we have a lot of donors to thank.?

The covered arena may also be available for rental by non-disabled riders, but the policy about this has not been worked out yet.

?We wanted to see what it is like, but it will probably be open to rental,? she said. ?We have had the horse whisperer, Chris Irwin, who was here a few weeks, using it. It was raining, so they brought the horse over here. Here they can let the horse loose because it is all enclosed. The sides are very strong.?

All the bills for the new arena are not yet in, but Mrs. Benbow thought the cost would be in the region of $400,000.

?We have had a major donor, Orbis Investment Management Ltd., they were the ones who wanted to give us something spectacular,? she said. ?As the costs grew others came in.?

The project is not completely over. Bermuda Riding for the Disabled would like to add wheelchair friendly bleachers around the arena.

The new arena was opened on January 23 by Lee Pearson, gold medal Paralympian.

Mr. Pearson was born in Staffordshire, England in 1974 suffering from arthrogryposis multiplex congenita. The muscles in Mr. Pearson?s arms and legs grew as scar tissue in his mother?s womb leaving his matchstick limbs bent and warped. When he was born, nurses were so horrified by his twisted little body that they shoved him a cold broom closet and threw a cloth over him, presumably to hasten his death. He was rescued by his mother who lovingly encouraged him and urged him on his whole life.

Mr. Pearson grew up to become one of Britain?s most successful sportsmen, and recently received the BBC Midlands Sports Personality of the Year award.

Wearing plastic splints running from the top of his thighs to his heels, Mr. Pearson has won six Paralympic Games dressage gold medals three apiece from Athens and Sydney, five World Championship and three European titles, plus won championship able-bodied riding events.

?I feel lucky that I found my talent, not unlucky that I was born with a disability,? said Mr. Pearson.

?When I?m on a horse I?m more worried about what the riding hat is doing to my hair than what my bent legs and arms are doing. What riding has given me is respect.?

Mrs. Benbow said Mr. Pearson had an amazing life story that was a great inspiration.

?When you see him on the horse you don?t think there is anything wrong with him,? she said. ?It is when you see him off the horse that you realise he is disabled. He was a great inspiration to the children. He came to some of their classes during the week.

?He talked to them. I think they were surprised that a disabled person had gone so far in life. He is now competing against able bodied people at high levels. He is a bit of a horse whisperer himself, I think.?

She said it meant a great deal to the children who use Bermuda Riding for the Disabled, because many of them had never met a disabled rider who had gone so far in the sport.

Many of them have cerebral palsy, spina bifida, are mentally, or physically challenged.

?And he is just a great character and fun,? said Mrs. Benbow. ?He relates well to everyone.?