The Donegal Gaeltacht Riding Club TG4 Documentary Airs Tonight
‘In riding a horse we borrow freedom…’ Helen Thompson
This intimate observational documentary series follows the day-to-day and season-by-season rhythm of life inside a remote community of horse-riding enthusiasts.
The Donegal Gaeltacht Riding Club is based in the north-west region of Cloich Ceann Fhaola in Co. Donegal. Against the backdrop of the Derryveagh Mountains, the consuming passion for the members of this club is their love for their animals and their sport, spending all their spare time and money indulging in their hobby.
Theirs is a unique club, given its geographical isolation and the level of commitment needed for the long journeys down the country to perform and qualify for competition at national level. Local estate agent and auctioneer Manus Kelly laughs as he explains that sleeping in the back of the horse truck in a field at weekends wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea but for him it’s what living is all about. He’s partial to the hunt aspect of the sport but watching his seventeen year old daughter Áilbhe improve over the years has been rewarding too. She sits her final exams at the local Pobalscoil this year and is busy juggling her studies with intense training, in the hope of qualifying for the Dublin Horse Show at the RDS in August.
Retired teacher Lawrence Smyth had never even sat on a horse until he was well into his senior years. He took early retirement and found himself with time on his hands so his wife bought him a horse for his 67th birthday and he hasn’t looked back. He certainly doesn’t have much spare time these days, being an active show-jumper and running his stable yard high above Gortahork, where his horses have a fine view across to Tory Island.
The club’s chairman Packie Ferry looks forward to the social side of the club as much as to the training and competing; for him it functions at a very important level within the community. He and his wife Carmel are both keen riders and his two sons Sean and Paul will soon be joining the pony club. Mickey Mac Aodh says his wife thought he was crazy when he bought a horse over 20 years ago. Mickey who teaches at Youth Reach, a programme for young people who leave school early, stresses how it’s not just about the winning ribbons but more about appreciating the sense of belonging, embracing the challenges and taking pride in small achievements.
Life inside Cumann Marcaíochta Dún na nGall is certainly a colourful one. Elitism doesn’t come into it in this particular club, it’s for young and old alike, the novice and the more accomplished. In Ar Mhuin na Muice agus na gCapall, the drama of the competition both within the county and further afield punctuates the rhythm of life as it is lived in this Gaeltacht parish. We witness the tears, tantrums, trials and tribulations inside this equestrian world across the year and gain insights into life in the broader community too. For the many members of this particular riding club, it’s a life better lived in the company of the horse.
In the first programme, it’s horses not reindeer that Santa Claus is preparing for the task of pulling his sleigh on his visit to Falcarragh, we hear how the oldest member of the club took up the sport at the ripe old age of 67, builder Eamonn McGee attempts his first jump and has his first fall and we find out how the North West League is progressing for the Donegal Gaeltacht Riding Club.
Episode two sees the members of the Donegal Gaeltacht Riding Club put the finishing touches to their St. Patrick’s Day parade, it’s not good news for Patricia Warren’s best pony Colorado who has a growth in a most unfortunate place and Manus Kelly and Micky McHugh set off in the lorry to compete at the National Hunter Trials in Tipperary.
Episode three and it’s all to play for as members of the club head for the RDS show-jumping qualifiers in Sligo with hope in their hearts. Áilbhe Kelly is struggling to balance studying for exams with her passion for riding while her father,estate agent Manus Kelly, faces his own challenge of trying to sell a house on an offshore island. It’s also the club’s biggest event of the year, organising their popular beach show which attracts visitors from all over the country.
The final programme sees Manus Kelly and Micky McHugh attempt a local triathlon, the girls from the North West Pony Club anxiously travel to Wexford to compete at their biggest event to date; the Irish Pony Club Festival, while the grown-ups have to manage their own nerves in Stradbally Co. Laois where they have one last chance at qualifying for the RDS. It’s exam results time for Áilbhe Kelly and the equestrian year is drawing to a close in the Donegal Gaeltacht.
Ar Mhuin na Muice agus na gCapall is an Imagine Media Production for TG4, with support from Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund.
Broadcasting weekly from 11/1/15 @ 21:30 on TG4, with a repeat weekly from the 12/1/15 @ 19:30
Category: News, Other, Riding Club
