Walking out of Allen’s home on Sunday November 21st, it never crossed my mind that I might not see or chat with Margaret again. It never occurred to me that I had said my final farewell to my friend of over 50 years. And sure enough, 36 hours later, the call came. She had passed.

AS tributes poured in for the esteemed president and founder of Araglen Pony Club, Margaret Rice-Allen, the wider pony club movement began to come to grips with and mourn the loss of one outstanding lady.

Margaret Rice-Allen was a proud Araglen woman and came from the great Rice/Kearney clan where horses, hunting and all things equestrian were to the fore.

Margaret was a ‘chip off the same block’ as her parents John Joe and Maggie. The Rices and the Kearneys were great community people, great workers, great neighbours and great horsemen. Both families contributed so much to their parish.

Is it any wonder then, that their daughter Margaret and her sister, the late Julia, would be any different? They were taught well and as the saying goes, ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’.

Margaret wore many community hats, but her top hat was Araglen Pony Club.

In 1993, four like-minded individuals sat around the kitchen table in the Rice household and muted the idea of forming a Pony Club. It was a leap into the unknown, lots of doubt and lots of maybes and lots of what ifs.

But Margaret’s motto was ‘better try and fail than not try at all’ and away we went. Before we knew it, we were in trot mode. We started with just 10 members and four or five ponies who were generously shared by their owners.

We were like the travelling circus moving from field to field every Friday evening. We started out in the field above the Rice household and moved to Russell’s Inch, Pat Horgan’s field, Kearney’s, and many more and rotated every week until we found a permanent home in the community field, which the club now shares with Araglen GAA of which Margaret’s brother, Willie, is a lifetime Trustee.

As the years went by, Araglen Pony Club was gathering pace and we got brave and visited places like Dublin Horse Show, the Green Glens Arena in Millstreet, the Irish National Stud and we even ventured to Oakwood in Wales among other venues. Can you imagine 50 youngsters on the ferry to Wales! Mag always ‘pushed the boat out’ so to speak.

Within our pony club, she held the positions of DC, Joint DC, etc., but in reality, Margaret did it all. She was event organiser, taxi driver, ‘agony aunt’ with her open house and beautiful home-baked apple cakes, chef and financial controller. She engaged with parents and instructors and, at all times, strove to ensure that every pony club member achieved their full potential.

Winston Churchill once said, ‘No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle’ and Margaret adopted this policy.

Competitions were important to Margaret – her attitude being that you needed to get your name out there – and so we competed in Triathlons, Minimus, Hunter Trials, Eventing, Show jumping, Musical Rides, Mounted Games and many more. Our famous Araglen Pony Club team, the ‘Araglen Eagles’, did us proud of a few occasions in the National Minimus Championships. Great times and great memories.

Strength to strength

The club is now 28 years in existence and we haven’t looked back. We have produced many top equine professionals in amateur and professional jockeys and trainers from our little squad including John Allen of Australia fame and Sheila Aherne, the O’Brien brothers Paul and Eoin, and Darragh Allen (Darragh is Margaret and Henry’s son). Special mention must be given to Teresa O’Dongohue (another lady who started out on the lead rein at Araglen Pony club) who was accepted on the 2022 Irish National Stud Breeding and Management Course. Some of our past and current instructors have came up through the ranks of Araglen Pony Club.

Fitting Award

In 1993 the Lady Carew Awards were introduced in memory of the late Lady Sylvia Carew to recognise the exceptional devoted service of pony club volunteers. Margaret Rice-Allen was the recipient of this award in 2013 at an event in the Hudson Bay Hotel in Athlone. At this event Lady Carew, along with Liz Scott, presented Margaret with the award in recognition of her sterling service to the organisation during her lifetime.

Mary O’Donoghue, former secretary of Araglen Pony Club, said: “Margaret maintained a life long interest in the pony club right up to her recent death. Her enormous enthusiasm for all things equestrian gave inspiration and encouragement to everyone who knew her. She gave exceptional and long years of voluntary committed service to the Irish pony club organisation”.

John Joe White, founding member and Former DC of Araglen Pony Club, concurred with Mary by describing Margaret as an incredible lady. Both personally and professionally, she was always at the end of the phone – already responding to the need even before it arose.

Positive, approving, enthusiastic and always very supportive of ideas, she strove to see the bigger picture. Without doubt, Margaret’s drive has resulted in our pony club standing tall. We now have our own sand arena, cross-country course and resident hold all/office, all made possible through Margaret’s persuasive, coaxing and cajoling ways. She always found a way and the word ‘no’ never appeared in her dictionary.

Despite her illness, poor health never defined Margaret.

She supported many young people in growing their knowledge and confidence in riding and caring for their ponies. Her attitude was always, encouraging, positive and inclusive. She kept a watchful eye on the child who was nervous or struggling and discreetly encouraged and praised them to build confidence.

Margaret was a ‘mum’ to so many riders, especially those who did not have ‘horsey parents’ and had an amazing ability to be quietly close by, to shadow and give gentle support at moments when it was most needed. She calmed nervous riders as they waited for competitions or pony club exams.

Stood up for what’s right

Margaret fought for what she believed in, she gently argued for what was right. She stood up and was counted – always. And more than anything she drove us onwards. She raised the bar and challenged us with the notion of ‘well, why not’ and always saw the bigger picture.

Like her sister Julia, they absolutely believed in community – not in any one person, nor any one group, but the wider community working together for the common good, an ethos very similar to the great John Hume.

Our loss is Heaven’s gain. Least we forget her face, her gentle smile, the softness of her influence, just remember her impact and her impression will remain with us forever.

Margaret’s passing, like so many deaths, robs this community and the Rice-Allen families of a unique equine character who asked for so little but gave so much especially to her pony club and wider community in return.

Whatever the loss to the Araglen Pony Club family, Margaret’s loss is greatest to her husband Henry, children Sean, Mairead, and Darragh and little Sean. My dream is that some day little Sean will slot into our pony club, where I know that his granny Margaret will keep the same watchful eye over him.

Margaret’s death has evoked many personal memories for so many who turned out in their hundreds for her funeral, all determined to say a fond farewell to one special lady.

Bridget Leddy

PRO Aragen Pony Club

Kindly assisted with the valuable contribution of Mary O’Donoghue and Claire Kearney in compiling this obituary.