TIGGY’S Trust first met Fiona Cloke, DC of Cherry Orchard Pony Club, in 2022 and, since then, a strong collaboration has been formed.

The Pony Club operates every Friday out of the Cherry Orchard Equine Centre in Dublin 10. Established in 2003, the Centre supports the needs of the local and wider community. The busy yard is managed by Michele Leonard and the trustees were deeply impressed with its achievements and commitment to the community.

The Pony Club uses the equine centre horses and ponies, who reside on site. The young riders have reached a high level of competence, resulting in four members achieving their Pony Club ‘B’ test this year. The enjoyment the young riders get from being members of the Pony Club is inspirational and The Trust is thrilled to be supporting the branch in a number of ways.

The Cherry Orchard Equine Centre has some wonderful facilities, which the Pony Club can use, including a cross-country field, which was built in 2020 and is in need of upgrading.

Series

The Trust has already produced a series of cross-country safety videos, which are available on their YouTube site and the current initiative is the production of the 2024 series, in partnership with Cherry Orchard Pony Club and is aimed at assisting pony clubs and individuals to build safely at home and at local events.

Alain Ponsot (FEI course designer and builder), together with the young riders of Cherry Orchard PC, their DC Fiona Cloke and volunteers from TIggy’s Trust, notably TJ Dillon of Punchestown, John Lyttle, Adrienne Daly, Carol Coad, Emer Hatherell, David O’Brien and Fiona Nangle, spent a week sanding, chain sawing and painting, and totally revamped the course, with an emphasis on cross-country safety.

The video team from Videos on the Net (VOTN) spent three days recording the work in progress. The videos will cover the main aspects that anyone building at home should consider - notably aspects of profile, structure, anchoring, maintenance, the use of ‘unjumpables’ and visibility.

Editing is now in progress and the Trust hopes to launch the videos in early 2025.