A profile of a CAFRE, Enniskillen Campus graduate

By Liam Killen

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11 November 2008 17:08

Surrounded by horses from a young age, Liam caught the competing bug. After cutting his teeth on the hunting field he represented his school and various clubs in a variety of disciplines. Tetrathlon and Eventing provided the required thrill and challenge! He and Rolo, a 13.2 hh skewbald pony, bred from a jumping pony he has, embarked on their new life in 2003.

Living in the halls at Necarne Castle, both started Enniskillen with a thirst for all things new. They took full advantage of all the opportunities that came their way; Liam ended up on the gallops at 7:00am most mornings, and Rolo, ridden by Lisa Duggan ended up in competitions most evenings. Liam and Rolo parted ways after successful schooling in 2004, and of course Rolo went on to bigger and better things! Liam worked hard at his school work, but was all the while riding loads and competing in all the college competitions – not to mention the odd night out, the Enniskillen and Irvinstown social scenes are infamous.

One of the highlights of Liam's riding career to date was during his placement year, in 2005, working as a rider for Mclain Ward, American Olympic show jumping team member. In 2006 he was accepted onto the Washington Ireland Programme. He interned with Habitat for Humanity while in DC whilst also contributing to the production of various Irish/American charity fund-raising and informative events. The final year degree students at Enniskillen Campus are required to write a dissertation. Liam chose to investigate the career paths of Equine graduates. One of his findings was that 30% of equine graduates ended up working outside the equine industry within two years of graduating – he found this alarming but could see why people would become disillusioned.

Throughout his time at college he was a member of the Student Recreation Committee, and in his final year was voted president. He took charge of the P.R. and advertising for all events and as a result of his appointment, was awarded student who contributed the most to the college at graduation. Liam graduated top of his class from Enniskillen with a Bsc. (Hons) in Equine Studies in June 2007. Since graduating. Liam has gained marketing and business knowledge from Price Waterhouse Cooper, Belfast City Council, and Manpower Recruitment Ltd.

However, keeping his dissertation findings in mind, he has been able to put his degree to good use. He's using his degree for the purpose it is intended, keeping the equine industry fresh, up-to-date and strategic. This all sounds very highfalutin, but Liam has found a way giving the equine industry access to a very modern technology in the easiest possible way, web marketing. He set up Abbeyview Equine to let equine and other agricultural businesses manage their own websites by using the an online tool called PagePlay.

By working closely with Modlia, the system's creators, he has developed a series of bespoke content items for PagePlay that have been tailored to suit the specific needs of the equine industry. As for his horses - even though he's currently based in Manchester, he and his brother are breeding sport horses from the family farm in County Down - Abbeyview.

For more information on Abbeyview Equine check out www.abbeyviewequine.com