For his new TV series, Diarmuid Gavin follows the progress of five Dublin 'pony kids' as th ey train with professionals, including show jumper Jessica Kürten, to compete at the RDS next week, writes Michael Kelly.
If you can bear any more excitement after the Nations' Cup (Aga Khan Trophy) at the Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show this Friday, it would be worth hanging on at the RDS for an event which will happen just after 7pm.
Five "pony kids" aged 12-16, from Finglas, Dunsink, Tallaght and Ballyfermot, will trot into the arena decked out in full showjumping finery, salute the judges and then compete against each other in a mini tournament. The event will be the culmination of a 10-week training programme which aims to bring them from riding ponies bareback to competing in the prestigious RDS arena.
The highs and lows of those 10 weeks are the basis of Diarmuid's Pony Kids, a new series which will air on RTÉ 1 in the autumn. Gardener Diarmuid Gavin has become an avid fan of showjumping since taking part in the BBC's Only Fools on Horses, in which he was trained by British international rider Tim Stockdale and competed against other celebrity novice riders. Jessica Kürten was one of the judges on that show and she is lending her expertise to this series to help train the kids, along with Ronan Corrigan of Coolrea House Stud.
"I'm fascinated by the pony kids," says Gavin. "When I was a kid, my Dad took me down to Smithfield Market and I loved Perry Ogden's book about them. When I was working on Only Fools, the trainers kept asking me about the Dublin Horse Show, which I had never been to and considered very elitist. I was interested in these extremes of Irish horse culture and thought there might be something in bringing them together."
It would be easy to dismiss the project as a made-for-TV gimmick, were it not for one crucial point - the project offers these kids a genuine, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to forge a career in the equestrian world. Projects such as the Fettercairn Youth Horse Project and the Ballymun Horse and Animal Centre have similar objectives - to channel the abilities and love of horses which these kids have into genuine career prospects.
It was these projects which provided Diarmuid's Pony Kids with its participants, with Gavin, Corrigan and Kürten picking five kids from 50 hopefuls at trials in Fettercairn. All of their parents are very much involved and enthusiastic about the project.
Dean Dwyer (14), known as Squeeky, lives in Finglas and has his own pony which his dad bought for him. Daryl Hogan (15), also from Finglas, learned to ride on his brother's pony and says he rides horses because there is nothing else to do in Finglas. Dean Comerford (15) lives in Tallaght where he used to own a horse until it was taken away to the pound. Thomas Keenan (16) is from Limerick but lives on Dunsink halting site. He's a Traveller and loves Johnny Cash, wrestling and horses. He would like to join the Army Equitation School.
The only girl, Jade Mooney (12), from Ballyfermot could, according to Gavin, "charm the birds from the trees". During the shoot Mooney tamed a wild kitten in a day by hugging it for eight hours straight.
It is a remarkable journey for these children. When they began their training at Mullingar Equestrian Centre nearly 10 weeks ago, only Thomas had ever been outside Dublin before. Since then they have trained four days a week; travelled to Düsseldorf to train with Kürten; met a horse-whisperer; swam with ponies in Connemara; and visited the Army riding school at the Curragh.
Gavin is cognisant of the responsibility the film-makers have to the kids after the applause fades on Friday, and is keen to explore potential careers for them in the industry. "Squeeky has great ability. He wants to be a jockey and he's the right size for it." Gavin thinks Squeeky can succeed if he learns to concentrate more and handle frustrations better.
"Thomas wants to join the Army Equitation School and we introduced him to some of the key people down at the Curragh. They would be rooting for him, but I think he understands that he needs a good Leaving Cert first.
"After we went to visit Willy Leahy, who runs a pony trekking centre in Connemara, Daryl and Dean called him up and he offered them work placements. Leahy was very patient with them and he thinks they are great horsemen. Jade is very young, but she has got a placement in Mullingar and her Mum is going to bring her up and down each day."
But it hasn't all been sweetness and light. "The first few days they were just like: 'This is boring'," says series producer Clare Kavanagh."They love being shown stuff but they hate having to listen. There is a lot of slagging and sometimes it gets out of hand. You would think they would stick together because they are from the same backgrounds but they're quite tribal. Finglas gangs up on Ballyfermot and so on."
"Everyone's patience has been tested," says Gavin. "When they were in Düsseldorf airport the alarm went off and the crew were thinking, 'I hope that's not one of ours,' but of course it was. Jade had walked up to a big red button that said 'Don't Push This' and pushed it. I had Zara Phillips [World and European three-day event champion, and Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter] lined up to host them for a day at her yard, but you just wonder, should I really go ahead with this? Will they behave? What will they do?
"We have been trying to get them to see the opportunity that they have. They are getting access to the best people in the industry; take Jessica - I mean she is flying in every single week to train them, which is a massive commitment. The week after the Horse Show she will be taking part in an Olympic qualifier for Ireland."
Kürten will not be competing at the Horse Show but she will be there to watch her charges in action. What will it be like for them riding out in front of an RDS audience? "Even now when I enter an arena I get butterflies," Kürten says, "so I think for them it will be one of the worst and one of the best days of their lives. It is dawning on them now that this is very important and for that reason they are all starting to concentrate."
Do they have the ability to make careers for themselves in showjumping? "Yes absolutely," says Kürten. "They all have very good feeling for the horses but like anything they have to start at the bottom and work their way up. Ten weeks is a very short time, so this is only step one."
I went along to watch as the pony kids made their first competitive outing at Kill Equestrian Centre in Co Kildare. They come from different worlds to some of the other competitors, and yet on another level they are similar. They were equally nervous, equally focused, equally keen to do well. "They have all shown great commitment to this," says Gavin. "Not one of them has missed a single day of training since the start."
My heart was in my mouth watching them compete and I found myself willing them over each fence and desperately wanting them to do well. I can only imagine what it will be like at the RDS on Friday for the kids themselves, their parents and everyone involved in this project. You get the feeling that while competing is important for all of the competitors at the Dublin Horse Show, this opportunity is something altogether more crucial for the pony kids.
The first episode of Diarmuid's Pony Kids airs on September 6th at 8.30pm on RTÉ1