Meet the trainees - Ciara Murphy

Hi, my name is Ciara Murphy, I’m 16 years old and from Kilcormac Co. Offaly I have always had an interest in horses. I first sat on a horse when I was 6 years old.  Before I came to RACE I had hunted a lot and took part in dressage, show jumping and cross country.

A normal day in the barn would start at 7 am, I get dressed and go down for breakfast. Then we go down to the pool room at 7.50 am and go down to the barn at 8 am. We then go into the tack room, look for our lots and go muck out the boxes. We tack up our lots and ride out. After that we do jobs around the barn and finish at 12:30 pm. The lads down in the barn are very helpful and can teach you a lot.  They can have a laugh with you too especially with Niall Byrne and his jokes!

I first heard of RACE through a graduate of RACE. He really recommended the course so I said it to my Mam and she was delighted I was going to do something, because I was never great at school and I was in my element applying here! So, we came for the Open Day and I knew that RACE was where I want to be.

A day at my yard from work placement starts 7 am and the horses are fed and all their temperatures are taken. A few horses are put on the walker and we tack up our first lot and ride out on Maddenstown gallop. After all lots are ridden, we do a few jobs around the yard like haying, feeding and all that. My yard has given me great experience since I went out there.

 Ciara was placed with Tracey Collins on the 22^nd January 2018

Training on RACE Gallops

Meet the trainees - Sean Byrne

H!  My name is Sean Byrne. I am 16 years old and from Maddenstown Co. Kildare. I have been riding horses for about 6 years. I started Showjumping 5 years ago and I am hunting about 3 years also. I have been involved with Racehorses for 2 years and I currently work for Jessica Harrington. I have wanted to be a jockey from a young age. I always loved watching horseracing on the TV.

A typical morning at RACE for me is waking up at 7.30am and go for breakfast. I go down to the barn for 8 am.  We muck out 2 horses and then we tack up our first lot, we head out to ride them on RACE gallops and then we walk them off and wash their legs. Then we bring them back to their stable and groom them. At 10 am we go up for tea and we finish that at 10.30 am. We then tack up our 2^nd lot. For our 2^nd lot we could be schooling or going up Maddenstown gallops. After that we would skip out, hay, sweep the barn and then feed the horses.

A typical morning on my work placement with John Oxx would be getting up at 5.35 am and heading for breakfast. I have to be on the RACE bus for about 6 am and when I get into work I take my horse off the walker and tack it up and ride out. We usually go for tea break at 9:30 and then at 10 am we tack up our 3^rd lot and ride our last 3 lots.  I usually finish up at 1 pm.

Sean was placed with John Oxx on 20^th November 2017

Training on the Curragh