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HORSE COUNTRY

Irish draught stallion - Horse Country Image Name: Irish draught stallion - Horse Country
Grey Horse on the Road Image Name: Grey Horse on the Road

Episode 3

Horse Country follows a group of people and their horses as the humans try to achieve a set of goals. For six teenage members of the Kildare Pony Club qualifying for the Three Day Eventing national championship in Tattersalls in County Meath is what the year is all about. It’s a wild and bumpy ride.

Margaret and Des Jeffares have been breeding and selling top class horses alongside their blackcurrant farm in County Wexford. In 2021 they decided to compete themselves with a 4 year-old who made it to the RDS Horse Show finals. It was a bitter-sweet experience.

Sarah Ennis is a veteran ‘Eventer’ who was often shortlisted for the Olympics but finally selected for Tokyo.

Series information

The Irish Sport Horse world has rich and deep roots in Ireland even though it gets less attention than thoroughbred racing. Encompassing the strands of showjumping, three-day-eventing and dressage as well as other recreational activities, this sport and industry is an important part of the social and recreational life of rural Ireland. 

Horse Country is a six part series that tells the stories of people and their horses who make up that world. It’s set in the Covid summer of 2021 when many sport horse events were canceled, and those that did take place were attended only by the competitors and their close connections. While that diminished the atmosphere the competitive passions were always in evidence with every character featured in Horse Country. 

Horse Country tells stories of success, failure, frustration and exhilaration. They are treaded through different programs with many coming together at the RDS Horse Show in the final episode. What each story thread has in common is the passion and love that Irish people have for their horses. 

This is not a series with formal interviews — nearly all the interviews take place in fields or stables with horses nearly always present. Like humans horses are complex creatures who sometimes just don’t feel like performing. It’s a tangled relationship with its fair share of trust issues and disappointing outcomes. But hope springs eternal and that often contradictory combination of human and horse expectations provides plenty of drama and unexpected outcomes. 

Horse Country is directed and produced by Kate O’Callaghan and Patrick Farrelly, award winning documentary film makers (IFTA, Best Documentary; Dublin Film Festival, Best Irish Film; and Emmy Award nomination). Their most recent work for RTE was the critically acclaimed feature documentary, ‘Marian’ about the life of the late Marian Finucane. 

Horse Country is sponsored by Horse Sport Ireland, the governing body for all equestrian sport in Ireland.