Picture the UK’s capital city.

Add horses and youngsters.

What do you get?

Ebony Horse Club in the heart of Brixton.

The Club is a community initiative that provides fantastic opportunities for young people to develop new skills and achieve new goals through equine contact. Whether it’s riding lessons or youth work, Ebony is more than just a place to ride.

Ebony’s values align with the Olympic campaign #WeDontPlay run on behalf of our long-term partners, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).

Our key message: riding really is for everybody.

As part of the campaign, Redtorch brought together Ebony and Olympic champion, Tina Cook.

Our goal?

To spread the word about Ebony’s great work and inspire a new generation of riders.

Action

We arranged for young horse enthusiasts at the Club to enjoy a surprise visit during Tokyo 2020 from 3-time medalist, Tina Cook, and her 14-year-old German-bred gelding Billy The Red.

The Eventing star spoke with a group of 8 to 18-year-olds about her Olympic experiences and the medals she had won at Beijing 2008 and London 2012. She even put the future athletes through their paces before joining them on a hack through the local streets.

Our team here at Redtorch orchestrated the initiative and created a video and editorial that reached 2.2m people. They say never work with children and animals! We debunked the myth and created content that stood out in the digital space.

All the benefits of horses/riding can be highlighted, and the profile of equestrian sport raised, by providing these kinds of unique experiences.

Watch some of the day’s highlights

‘Horses are definitely really great levellers,’ says Naomi, General Manger at Ebony. ‘As soon as the kids are on the horses, nothing else really matters. When you see some of the riding that our young people do – they’re jumping, they’re doing quite complicated things – and it doesn’t matter what your background or your income is.’

Take a behind-the-scenes look …