Ride on: Marlborough Riding for the Disabled coaches, Roslein Wilkes, left, and Amanda Bashford are heading to Athens for the Special Olympics. At rear, volunteer Peter Goodin takes six-year-old Caleb Redshaw for a ride around the paddock on Louie

When equestrian coach Amanda Bashford jets off to the Special Olympics in Athens on Tuesday she will be looking to steer the two New Zealand riders to a medal finish.

If she achieves this, the 21-year-old Riding for the Disabled coach will be following in the footsteps of her RDA colleague Roslein Wilkes who coached riders at the Special Olympics in Beijing and Dublin.

Roslein hasn't ducked out of participating in the Special Olympics though. She flies out to Athens a week later to act as a technical delegate for the equestrian events.

"It's most unusual to have two coaches in a row from Marlborough," said Roslein, who has been working at the Marlborough RDA for 17 years – the last 15 as head coach.

"Marlborough seems to have tied up the equestrian."

Among other duties, Roslein will be responsible for allocating horses to the different riders.

About 8000 athletes from 154 countries will compete in the Special Olympics, with 80,000 watching the opening and closing ceremonies.

The New Zealand team is based on the island of Rhodes – almost the farthest place in Greece from Athens. They will then spend 10 days at the Olympic Village in the Greek capital.

Amanda will serve a dual function – both offering practical advice on tackling the dressage circuits to riders, but also acting as a guardian to make sure the competitors are looked after and know where they have to be at the right time.

"It will also be a question of calming people's nerves; a lot of the competitors haven't been in an environment like that," said Amanda.

She has been riding for more than 10 years and competes in Marlborough and also at the Top of the South Championships.

Coaching has taken her to the National Games in Canterbury in 2005 and Palmerston North in 2009.

With equestrian the fastest growing Special Olympics sport in New Zealand, Roslein and Amanda said they were hoping to get more riders competing nationally, which will mean more being able to go to the Special Olympics.

Next time there could be a rider from Marlborough RDA joining them at the Games.