CONGRATULATIONS to the enterprising team of Transition Year students from Ballinrobe Community School, who recently won an award for their mini-company ‘Stable Steel’, which gives new life to old horse shoes. The team is made up of James Grimes, Adam Lydon and Michael McGrath.

“All three of us come from farming backgrounds and have grown up surrounded by agriculture and horses,” explained James. “I grew up breeding and showing Connemara ponies, while Michael’s family breed Connemaras and horses and also have a keen interest in horse racing. We are also very involved in our local community. During the racing season, we regularly work at Ballinrobe Racecourse, on the track, and each year, we are involved in our local Ballinrobe agricultural show. Because farming and horses have always been such a big part of our lives, we wanted our mini-company to reflect our country backgrounds and the things we are passionate about.

“The idea for Stable Steel came from something very simple. Both James’s and Michael’s farms had a surplus of old horseshoes that were no longer being used. Instead of letting them go to waste, we started looking online where we saw creative items being made from recycled horseshoes. That inspired us to try making some ourselves.

“We began designing and producing a range of handcrafted items, including horseshoe reindeer decorations, Christmas trees, and traditional lucky horseshoes. We really enjoyed the process of turning something old into something new and meaningful, allowing these old horseshoes to get a new lease of life.

“Our products proved very popular at local Christmas markets and, over the three-month Christmas season, Stable Steel generated approximately €3,000 in sales, which we were very proud of as a Transition Year mini-company.

“Through the project, we developed valuable skills in product design, manufacturing, pricing, marketing and customer service. It also showed us that people really appreciate handmade, locally-produced products, especially when they are made using recycled materials. We also entered the Transition Year Mini Company competition, which took place in Ballina, County Mayo. It was a great experience to present our business and share our story.

“We were delighted when Stable Steel won the award for Best Sales, which recognised the success of our products and the strong support we received from customers. It was a very proud moment for us, our school and our families and a great way to celebrate all the work we had put into the project.”