Equestrian Inspirations: Kate Russell
Bringing the joy of equines to those who need it
This country has been blessed with a huge amount of equestrian talent, not only in the form of the equines themselves, but also the people who handle and ride them. Horse&Field would like to feature some of these people, across all the disciplines, and give recognition to their achievements. If you know of someone who should be featured, please email: horseandfield@gmail.com
Kate Russell is well-known in Riding Club and Endurance circles. Her friendly approach and bubbly personality make a positive impression on those she meets. Coupled with her love of all things horsey, Kate has set to work putting her talents to good use… Not only has she set up an Equine Facilitated Learning centre, but has now also written a book to support her positive message!
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Kate has always had a passion for horses; she started to ride at the age of four and received an unbroken dun Connemara pony for Christmas - however, she couldn’t ride ‘Flicker’ for three years, as he was only a yearling!
Kate’s love of animals grew - as well as ‘Flicker’, she had cats, dogs, ducks and goats. She enjoyed looking after animals, caring for them and training them. She joined Iveagh Pony Club and jumped at local gymkhanas and at Mossvale.
Kate had a break from horses, while she went to university (she has a BA (Hons) in Working with Young people and Children), then got married and had her family - but she never lost her passion and got her own horse again at the age of 40. ‘Spike’ was bought as a ‘Happy Hacker’, but ended up with a flair for endurance and together they completed 50 mile rides on the mainland, at Burgie (Scotland) and Red Dragon (Wales). She then got an Arab, ’Pride’, as a two-year-old, specifically for endurance; they did 50 miles at Wicklow and novice horse at Ludlow.
Kate then got ‘Bingo’, just to add to the herd, as a five-month-old foal. Kate and ‘Bingo’ have done everything together, apart from endurance; although they did make the exception for the St. Patrick’s Coast ride this year!
Kate has been a longstanding Riding Club member, being involved in both Mossvale and Downshire over a number of years. She has tried all the disciplines, including show jumping, eventing, dressage, endurance and even driving (with ‘Spike’)!
Her good friend, the late Robbie McWilliams taught Kate to drive, harness up etc and now Gareth Quinn is helping her with mini driving, as she has bought a tiny cart for her miniatures, ‘Peanut’ and ‘Ginger’.
Kate already had a number of horses and ponies and, over the years, she has rescued and re-homed others. At the start of lockdown, Kate rescued ‘Tobi’; he was very sore, very thin - in fact, emaciated - and he had lost the will to live.
Kate says: “He just felt like nobody loved him!”
Kate spent a lot of time rehabilitating him and showing him the love that he had been missing. She then got ‘Peanut’, a miniature with a big character! That brought Kate’s horses to six… Then ‘Coconut’, another miniature, also joined the herd, making seven!
“Tiny ones are great !” Kate says. “But I thought I needed to give them a job to do…”
Kate has always been interested in Equine Facilitated Learning and is passionate about helping people through animals. She completed her Equine Facilitated Learning Diploma with Anne Brown at Learning in Harmony with Donkeys and qualified in July 2022.
Anne is a qualified trainer and mentor, as well as being a teacher; Learning in Harmony with Donkeys is associated with Horse Haven UK and a member of HETI. Kate is keen help her clients as much as she can, so she also got a Counselling Level 4 qualification from Ulster University Jordanstown and she is accredited with ACCPH (Accredited Counsellors, Coaches, Psychotherapists and Hypnotherapists).
“Anne has been really great as a mentor and as a sounding board for ideas,” Kate says.
Kate is now getting referrals from the South Eastern Trust and is working with people from a wide variety of age groups and backgrounds.
When asked how this came about, Kate says: “I got a visit from a Social Worker, who wanted to see that all the appropriate policies were in place, such as Health and Safety, Risk Assessments etc. I have converted my garage into a workshop for learning and I have developed workbooks, such as ‘Understanding Emotions’ and I tailor each workshop to suit the clients’ needs.”
Kate is very aware of the welfare of her horses; she has lots of them, so she can use different animals for individual sessions, so they don’t get bored. Kate even includes her dogs in the learning too!
Depending on the size and requirements of each group of clients, Kate can bring in other people to assist if necessary.
Kate has become aware that there is a lot of anxiety in children around going back to school and relationships. For many children, going back to school again after lockdown was a huge source of anxiety. Kate has taken her therapy ponies into schools and delivered programmes, such as ‘Learn with Tobi and Peanut’ - the feedback from which has been excellent; unfortunately, some of the funding for this area of work has now been cut.
Kate also gets referrals from supported living, where clients aged 50+ with mental health issues, live together, supported by health workers. These clients came out to Kate’s for afternoon tea and worked with the horses each developing their favourites. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience!
Kate has also done charity work, she took ‘Peanut’ and ‘Coconut’ to the Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children for a visit, which went down very well with the children! She even got ‘Tobi’ and ‘Peanut’ toys made at Christmas, working with Knitted Knockers in Lurgan (who make knitted prosthetics for cancer patients). She attended the Knitted Knockers Christmas event and ‘Peanut’ even went to visit Santa!
Alongside all of this, Kate somehow manages to have another job and, as the business develops, her dream would be working full-time with ‘Tobi’ and ‘Peanut’ and working on writing more books as well.
She is an ambassador for Chunky Monkey Saddles and brings Samantha Rhodes over to Northern Ireland for saddle fittings, after finding it difficult to fit her own wide horse ‘Toffee’!
Kate manages to maintain a website and Instagram page for ‘Tobi and Peanut Therapy Ponies’ and is now about to launch her first book, entitled ‘Peanut gets his Sparkle Back’. This is a lovely, positive story aimed primarily at children, but has a message that will resonate with most adults too! It has wonderful illustrations of Kate’s real life animals, by Faye Hobson.
“I would like to express my sincere thanks to EDA Media for their help with the book design,” said Kate.
‘Peanut gets his Sparkle Back’ will be available soon from the website: www.tobiandpeanut-therapyponies.com and Bridge Bookshop, as well as other local equestrian outlets, such as Rockvale, Ballynahinch.
This would make an ideal gift for someone you know and maybe it will help people of all ages get their sparkle back.
Keep up the good work, Kate!
Congratulations on achieving so much - keep up the good work with the therapy ponies and good luck with your book.🐴