The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Long riders saddle up to give Health Link bus a push
AN anniversary celebration at Long’s Horse Riding Centre in Ventry was turned into an opportunity to raise funds for the Kerry Cancer Support Group Cork/Kerry Health Link bus on Sunday as almost 50 riders took part in a charity jaunt around the parish.
ALMOST 50 horses and riders took part in a charity jaunt around Ventry parish on Sunday to raise funds for the Kerry Cancer Support Group Cork/Kerry Health Link bus.
Long’s Horse Riding Centre has now been in business for 25 years and John Pat Long felt a fitting way to mark the occasion was to hold a charity ride with all the proceeds going the Health Link bus, which provides transport for outpatients attending hospital in Cork
Almost 50 novice and experienced riders paid €25 a head to join the fun trek along the beach from Paidí Ó Sé’s to Long’s riding centre and then over the hills to Marthain and across Mount Eagle before returning to Páidí Ó Sé’s.
John Pat was entuhsiastic in his gratitude to local farmers who gave access to their land and to his staff at the horse riding centre as well as the many local people who supported the event.
The event has so far raised €1,500 for the Cork/Kerry Health Link bus which provides services to eight hospitals mostly in Cork. Limerick has also been added recently to their destinations, according to Breda Dyland who manages the service and who was in Ventry to see the riders off,
The bus service annually provides free transport for 300 people from pick-up points around the county. The closest pickup point to West Kerry is in Castlemaine, but Breda Dyland said that volunteers can provide lifts to the pick-up point for anyone who cannot access it themselves.
Horses and riders came from around Kerry and as far away as Kilkenny to join up with locals at the charity ride in Ventry on Sunday.
Long’s fully certified riding school is a development of the trekking and horse riding that was run by John Pat’s father and mother, Maidhcín and Main since the early 1960s. With the passing of time John Pat turned his passion for horses into a business, employing three people locally.
The weather was kind on Sunday and riders and horses had a great experience taking in the best of Ventry’s scenery while rasing funds for a good cause.