THE start of next month is going to be very busy for Ben Kenny.

Firstly, he will be competing at the Northern Ireland Festival in Cavan (Friday, May 1st to Sunday, May 3rd) with his mother Heidi Hughes’s Ballyfair Ruben (aka Tank) on whom he was placed twice at the IPS Wicklow Area Spring Show in Boswell Equestrian last Saturday.

Then, on Thursday, May 7th, he and his team of Emily Whelan, Megan O’Reilly and Mia Poppy Cummins from Oaklands Community College, Edenderry will represent Offaly in the Intermediate final of the Student Enterprise Programme, which is being held in the Mullingar Park Hotel.

This programme helps students learn key skills on how to create, start and grow a business and ‘The Woody Buddy’ very much showcases Ben’s flair for business and love for woodwork. His fellow business class students created several social media platforms to promote ‘The Woody Buddy’.

Tank is kept on livery at Dunbyrne Stud Equestrian, which is run by BHS Assessor Ross O’Hare and his wife Lorna. The latter commented: “I have coached Ben in dressage, show jumping, cross-country and showing. Our riders train as ‘Team Dunbyrne Stud’ with a focus on having a healthy and positive attitude to competition, a respect for their parents and horses, and the idea of being part of a team.

“My husband Ross, who is the centre manager, has worked with Ben on several occasions hiring him for projects on the yard from refurbishing stable doors to building dressage boards, cavalettis and fences.”