Riding for the handicapped began in Scandinavia after Liz Hartel won an Olympic silver medal for dressage, despite being handicapped by polio. Her example prompted a Norwegian therapist, Mrs. Brodthker, to establish a riding organization for disabled children with polio. The experiment spread to England in the late 1950's culminating in the building of the first center at Chiqwill and the National Association of Riding for the Disabled in the early 1960's. Riding for the handicapped has grown to become recognized as one of the most modern forms of progressive therapeutic exercise and recreation.