Auroville (Tamil Nadu), Jan 17 (PTI) The EFI on Wednesday announced that nine-day National Equestrian Championship (Dressage) will begin here from January 18 and around 100 riders would vie for honours in individual and team events.
India had a highly successful campaign at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, winning gold (Team – Anush Agarwalla, Hriday Chheda, Divyakirti Singh and Sudipti Hajela) and bronze (Agarwalla) medals in the dressage events.
Speaking ahead of the event, EFI Secretary General Col Jaiveer Singh, “We have received a good number of entries for the Championship. The interest in sport has grown over the years, and the medals won in Hangzhou have only added to the excitement and expectations.” “The championship will be held at the Red Earth Riding School, and we will have a very experienced jury for scoring, including a 5-star FEI judge. The championship will conclude on January 26.” The tournament would witness seven stages – preliminary, elementary, medium, advanced medium, advanced, Prix St George and Intermediate – I, with the scoring to be done on a scale of 1 to 10.
Romanov Yuri, a 5-star Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) judge from Russia, will be among the six judges who will be assessing the riders.
“The dressage event has always interested the viewers where the rider and his horse exhibit pre-determined and well-rehearsed movements,” added EFI in the release.
The rider-horse combo performs in an arena of 20m x 60m, bordered by a low rail which the horse must stay within. The arena has 12 lettered markers placed symmetrically indicating where the movements are to start, and where the changes to pace are to occur and where the movements will end.
Source: PTI News
