There is a racehorse in New Zealand called Fettercairn, which also happens to be the name of an estate in West Tallaght in Dublin. It seems like an odd coincidence, until you realise that the mare’s trainer is Samantha Wynne, a native of Fettercairn whose equestrian skills were fostered as a teenage member of Fettercairn Youth Horse Project (FYHP).
“It’s kind of a little family within the community. The staff here are all local, everybody knows everybody, so it’s really community-based,” said manager Colette Needham.
Thirty years ago, the project got off the ground after strong campaigning and fundraising by local residents, community workers and elected representatives.

The idea for the facility came after the introduction of the Control of Horses Act, which made it almost impossible for young people in urban areas to legally keep horses.

However, many of them had grown up in families who had a tradition of keeping horses, and they wanted to work with them. The founders were keen to skill up local young people to give them a route to employment in the equine industry.

Sheilann Monaghan, community development worker with South Dublin County Partnership, recalled that era:

“Our big thing at that time, and still, is that horses were here long, long before the houses. Horses were economic animals and that’s where the whole interest came from with the guys in Fettercairn. One of the founders, John Phelan, worked in Finglas where horses were used there to pull milk lorries. Another guy Noel was in Ballyfermot and he used horses to pull the scrap carts.

“Both John and Noel ended up having sons and daughters who saw photographs and said: ‘How come you had horses when you were young?’. They had an interest, so they got wandering horses. And there were most definitely issues at that time around horses being on football pitches and going out in front of cars and stuff,” she said.

One of the volunteers getting Bella ready for a lesson at Fettercairn Youth Horse Project. Photo by Ben Ryan.

MAKESHIFT STABLES

Sheilann said they met with the local authority at the time “and the council chairperson said, ‘I will give you this piece of land, if you promise to keep the horses within that’, and that was the start of it.”

The project began with between 10 to 15 makeshift stables. Then the Irish Horse Welfare Trust became involved and began to teach children how to look after the horses properly. They also held educational day trips to show young people how to get into the equine industry.

Sheilann said the founders were “very clear” that the project should have a strong focus on youth education.

“They wanted young people from Fettercairn to be able to handle a horse as well as anybody else from any other part of the country.

She recalled “huge opposition” to the project:

“Horses were seen as for people in Kilkenny or Killiney or whatever, people who had money and who had stables, not for young fellas or girls from disadvantaged communities.”

NOW AND THEN

In the project’s early days, young people owned the horses and paid a membership fee to use the centre. As time went on, the project began to provide horse-riding lessons to the general public to generate more income. The project bought, and was donated, horses suitable for lessons.

Colette said, “We now offer mainstream and therapeutic lessons to all the local groups, schools, and the general public. All walks of life use us,” she said. The project has up to 25 different groups regularly using the centre and they come mainly from Tallaght, the North Inner City and Blanchardstown.

“Weekly we have five or six local schools, and they’re on a rotation. We have a waiting list of schools,” said Colette.

BENEFITS

Horse-riding provides many benefits. On the educational side, children receive lessons and learn what it takes to care for a horse in the right way. In terms of therapeutic benefits, the children lead other kids on out on horses and this helps to develop empathy.

The project has a contract with the HSE where an occupational therapist with equestrian experience carries out sessions with young patients.

“For kids (with additional needs) that come in and have the lessons, it helps with their motor skills, their balance. Parents tell you ‘It’s helped so much with regulating their emotions’ and stuff like that,” said Colette.

FUNDING

It costs roughly €200,000 annually to run the FYHP, although costs fluctuate depending on the price of feed and veterinary bills.

The project receives ongoing funding through the Department of Rural and Community Development’s Community Services Programme and recently it was also a beneficiary of the Department’s Community Recognition Fund which enabled the project to completely refurbish Fettercairn’s arena. It also hopes to soon open a sensory garden.

The project generates regular additional income through running programmes and providing lessons and pony camps.

However, costs are rising and animals need to be fed and looked after 24/7, so the project regularly applies for grants and seeks out corporate sponsorship.

“We have to generate income continuously all the time, no matter what the outside circumstances are,” said Colette.

EMPLOYMENT

All of the staff at the FYHP are local, with all the instructors having started out as volunteers, helping to feed horses and muck out stables as young people.

“It’s a full cycle, we now employ the people we trained,” said Colette.

Sheilann added: “The founders were completely right. If you get skilled with a horse, you can use that in any place, at any time. For every aspect of the life of a horse, there is a skilled job.”

ROLE MODELS

Several former members of the project have gone on to train at RACE, the Racing Academy and Centre of Education in the Curragh, Co Kildare, where the competition for places is fierce and standards are high.

“One year RACE had three people from Fettercairn who applied and got spaces, they thought some sort of a deal had been done, but that wasn’t the case! One of those was Samantha Wynne,” said Sheilann, speaking of Fettercairn’s greatest success story in the industry.

Today, Samantha is one of the top female jockeys in New Zealand and she runs her own yard.

“She has her own racehorse who competes, who she actually named ‘Fettercairn’, said Sheilann.

“Orla Casey is a jockey and rides out over there too. She has opened up a yard as well, where she takes in racehorses that are retired and can’t compete anymore, and she retrains them. We also had another girl Lynsey Spellman that went on to become a groom in the Army Equitation School,” she said.

Colette believes that having more horse projects like FYHP around the country “would make a huge difference” to many young people and their communities.