Chetan gears up for ride of his life
● An airline pilot by profession, Chetan Reddy is passionate about horses and has soared in various regional and national level championships
Hyderabad rider Nukala Chetan Reddy is all set to compete in the showjumping event of the Asian Games to be held at the Jakarta International Equestrian Park next month.
An airline pilot by profession, Chetan is passionate about horses and has soared in various regional and national level championships.
Chetan comes from a family of horse riders. His father N. V. R. N Reddy used to ride in his youth and so did his grandfather.
The 33- year- old, who is part of a seven- member Indian team, was off the blocks early, at the age of four, when he took to equestrian as a sport.
The weekend hobby soon turned into a passion.
At nine, Chetan took part in his first Junior National Equestrian Championship in 1993. Four years later, he clinched a silver in dressage in the subjunior category in Bengaluru.
“I got a letter of appreciation from the then president of the Equestrian Federation of India for being the youngest rider to finish the gruelling one- day event, which comprised dressage, cross country and showjumping,” Chetan recalls.
In 1999- 2000 he was selected to represent India at the CSI- Y International Championship held in Chennai.
“I secured a bronze in team showjumping and also won the national individual silver in the Young Rider category in showjumping.
“I bagged a gold in the sub- junior dressage category in the same show,” he said.
The charismatic rider and his Belgiumbred showjumping mare, Cleo, galloped up the popularity charts by winning several medals at the National Equestrian Championship in Hyderabad in 2016.
“I won silver medals in Grade 3 and Grade 2 showjumping and the team bronze and gold as well in the same category,” said Chetan.
The current expenditure on the upkeep of Cleo is ` 50,000 to ` 80,000.
The horse is based in Bengaluru where Chetan works and trains whenever he is on ground.
Chetan’s other horse is Elco VM, based in The Netherlands. “Over the past year, I have been training and competing all over northern Europe,” he says.
The Reddys spend around 10,000 euros on the upkeep of Elco VM.
Chetan is thankful to a few people in his career.
“I will always be grateful to the chairman and the stewards of Hyderabad Race Club for their support and sponsoring me at national and international competitions,” he says.