A 16-year-old girl has transformed a neglected rescue pony into a Dublin Horse Show qualifier in under two years.
Rider Emily O’Neill, from Rahugh, Co Westmeath, said “a lot of blood, sweat and tears” went into breaking and training the now-six-year-old Da Vinci to compete in a working hunter pony category.
The qualifying process was “very competitive”, with only a small number of ponies making it through to the horse show, she said. She and Da Vinci were “up against ponies bred to do this”.
When Emily and her mother Anne-Marie got him from the Irish Horse Welfare Trust in Co Wicklow in late 2022 he was underfed, shy and untrusting, she said. He had been found in a shed with nine other emaciated horses, one of which had to be put down because of the condition of his hooves
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Da Vinci, a bay-coloured gelding with white socks, was then aged four and was “quite nervous and a little bit feral”, she said, adding that he would turn his back to her in the stable at her parents’ yard.
In January 2023, she set about “breaking” him and working to develop his muscles and strength. He began with small competitions before progressing to two-metre jumps, which is the height he was due to jump at the RDS this Saturday.
Qualifying for the Dublin show, under the competition name KHE Watch With Regret, was the “main goal”, along with spreading awareness about the potential of rescue ponies, which are “not just a write-off”, Emily said.
Finding success with an underdog in need of love and care gave her a “sense of purpose” and was “so rewarding”. There was also no question of spending huge sums on a horse that had been bred for the occasion, she added.
“Whatever way, I was always going to have to get one that I trained up myself,” she said.
There were “days, weeks and months” she thought Da Vinci would not progress but then he did, proving “you cannot give up”, she said. The pony is now “sweet and genuine” and is willing to try anything when shown how, she said.
“He is very happy to do his work and is very much a ‘people horse’ who loves affection and cuddles,” she added.
The pair eventually finished 10th in a field of 20 in their competition at the RDS on Saturday.
Emily, who is due to enter her fourth year of secondary school in September, wants to keep up riding into adulthood and hopes to become a vet. She has grown up around horses and wants to ensure she has a career that keeps her surrounded by animals.
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