From rescue stables to the RDS

A 16-year-old girl from Westmeath competed in the Dublin Horse Show with a rescue pony she trained herself.

Emily O’Neill from Rahugh and her horse Da Vinci competed in one of the worker pony categories at the show, finishing a respectable 10th in a field of 20, 19 of which were specially bred for elite competition.

Da Vinci, whose competition name is KHE Watch With Regret, had a far less conventional path to the RDS; less than two years ago, he was rescued by the Irish Horse Welfare Trust (IHWT) after being found in horrendous conditions alongside nine other horses.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner this week, Emily said that when she and her mother Anne-Marie brought Da Vinci back to their home in Rahugh from the IHWT base in Wicklow, he was on the road to recovery but was still a long way from the impressive specimen he is today, both mentally and physically.

“When we got him from the welfare trust, they had already had him for a few weeks. They had started to try and put weight on him, but his ribs and hips were still quite visible. He had to be wormed, as he had quite a lot of worms. He was quite nervous as well.

“He wasn’t overly feral, but he would turn away from you in the stable. He would put his head into the corner and turn his hindquarters towards us, just to show that he was very happy on his own. But after a few weeks, he learned to trust us, and he was much happier.

“We got him around October or November [2022], and by December, we had been able to start his training process. He was much more trusting of us by then and had come a long way. He was also quite hairy at that point, but in January, we were able to clip his hair for the first time, so he wasn’t half as warm when he was working. After that, he was just happy to do what he was asked, and he trusted us.”

Emily has grown up around horses and always wanted to train her own pony – however, given the prohibitively high prices being asked for specially bred ponies, she and her mother decided to look at adopting a rescue animal and got in touch with the IHWT.

“A lady in the rescue centre sent us a video and asked if we liked the look of him. It was just of him in a lunging pen running around. It was nearly his first sense of freedom, because when they had found him, he was locked in a shed with nine other horses in awful conditions.

“They weren’t fed properly, and there was no light in there. He had a kind eye to him, and we liked his movement and his way of going. We said we’d bring him home.”

Emily’s ambition from the day she brought Da Vinci home was to ride him in the horse show. Realising that ambition, while also highlighting the potential of rescue ponies, has been one of the most rewarding experiences of her life, she says.

“You can set a lot of goals for yourself, but I think being able to achieve something like that is just amazing.

“When we got him, it was a goal to be able to produce him, and I really wanted to get him to Dublin to show that rescue ponies aren’t all write-offs. There’s potential there.”

Emily, who has competed in six Dublin Horse Shows, plans to become a vet when she is older.

“I’d like to do something that would allow me to stay involved with animals and have time for my own animals at home as well. We have a lot of horses; my sister has chickens, and there are ducks, cats, and dogs as well.”

It’s been a memorable couple of years nurturing Da Vinci to where he is today. Emily says that she wouldn’t have been able to do it without the support of a number of people.

“I would like to give a huge thank you to Jill Power and Shelly Phibbs from the Irish Horse Welfare Trust, who have always supported and helped us on our journey. Also, to all of the other volunteers in the Irish Horse Welfare Trust who give such devoted time to these horses. Secondly, to my sponsors who have helped and supported us every step of the way: John Grennan and Sons feed supplies, Midland Veterinary, GAIN Equine Nutrition, and Homestead Saddlery – thank you for your help and support.”