RIDING TO FAME
PERFECT BONDING AMONG RIDER, MOUNT AND TRAINER NETTED HONOUR AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL
Chennai-based Kavya Gopal has won both Individual Gold and Team Gold at the Junior National Equestrian Championship 2021(JNEC).
Twenty-year-old Kavya, who started riding at the age of 12, says, “I was not expecting to win the Gold but I was sure that my preparation and skill sets were good enough to do well in the competition. I am really proud and happy.”
Kavya has ridden many different horses, and so understands the temperaments of horses, and is also able to learn from each one of them, enabling her to work in partnership with her mount.
Describing her own horse, Supreme Quest as “super amazing”, Kavya says he has made her a much better rider. “However, the partnership became stronger because I had an amazing coach in Isabelle,” she adds.
And now she has developed a partnership with ‘Sechs Richtige’, the horse she has been training with for the last six months. Their partnership clicked under Isabelle’s guidance. “We’ve now bonded as a team — Sechs Richtige-IsabelleKavya” says the young woman.
She is a member of Chennai Equitation Centre (CEC), where she rides every day. For the past four years she has been participating in the JNEC after qualifying
I WAS NOT EXPECTING TO WIN THE GOLD BUT I WAS SURE THAT MY PREPARATION AND SKILL SETS WERE GOOD ENOUGH TO DO WELL IN THE COMPETITION. I AM REALLY PROUD AND HAPPY.
—KAVYA GOPAL, WINNER OF JUNIOR NATIONAL EQUESTRIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
2021(JNEC)
in regional selections competitions.
Kavya says “The 2021 JNEC had been a very rewarding experience.” It was held at Mumbai where she participated in the Young Rider Dressage category and won the individual gold medal with a super score of 73.3475, and a team gold as well.
Kavya says the equestrian sport is growing very fast in India and she is hoping to compete in the next level by the time she turns 21 and dreams of participating in international circuits.