Riding a wave of popularity Horsemanship poised to gallop into China’s sports mainstream

As she exited the stands of the Royal Dublin Society Arena, filled with 20,000 Irish fans gathered to watch a thrilling Nations Cup show jumping event, FEI secretary general Sabrina Ibanez was excited.

The event’s success proved that a solid fanbase exists for equestrianism. It also proved that her work of 27 years has paid off.

“It’s fantastic,” she told Xinhua on the weekend. “The fans really wanted to see the performers. It was absolutely fantastic.”

But the sweetest success yet is still in the making — one Ibanez believes will soon be achieved. She thinks the sport is on the brink of rapid growth in China.

“It’s going to happen quicker than you think,” said Ibanez, who joined equestrianism’s global governing body in 1991 and has served as the FEI secretary general since December 2014.

“We’re ready. I don’t know if you are aware of it, but we started the FEI World Cup Chinese League in 2011. It’s growing more and more. We’re seeing now that there is a huge interest in China to promote and to develop the sport.”

Ibanez said Gou Zhongwen, Minister of the General Administration of Sports of China, told International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach last year that equestrianism is one of the 10 sports which are of the most interest to the Chinese.

“It shows that the Chinese government also wants to do something, and we’re seeing clubs popping up all over China. Competitions there have doubled over the past five years.”

Statistics show that in 2014 there were around 200 equestrian or riding clubs in China. Now the figure is over 1,500 and rising, with club membership at nearly one million.

World No 1 Harrie Smolders of the Netherlands chose to kick off his Global Champions League campaign in Shanghai, where the 38-year-old and his top stallion Don VHP Z won to earn the trophy.

“We just established a Chinese FEI website, and we also have secured commercial partnerships to ensure that our events are televised on China’s national networks,” Ibanez said.

“So for us it is an incredible market and we know that the Chinese people as well have had a long history with horses in the past. There is now this wish from the people to go back to that and to find their roots again in equestrianism.”

China’s equestrian tradition dates back several millennia, when chariot riding was one of the six arts that young nobles had to master during the Zhou Dynasty (1122-256 BC).

The 2008 Beijing Olympics allowed Chinese to rediscover horse riding as a sport, thanks in large part to eventing competitor Alex Hua Tian, who was born to an English mother and a Chinese father.

Because of strict quarantine rules which made it impossible to fly international competition horses in and out of China, equestrian events for the Beijing Games were held in Hong Kong. But in the 10 years since, international events have been hosted in Shanghai and other major Chinese cities by creating special quarantine zones.

Ibanez noted the quarantine problems will soon be solved, and once a new protocol is passed, horses will be moved in and out of China freely.

“We are now working help the transportation horses,” she said.

“We are working very closely with the OIE, which is the World Organization for Animal Health, and with the International Horse Racing Federation. Sabrina Ibanez, to of

We’re seeing now that there is a huge interest in China to promote and to develop the sport.” FEI secretary general

“We are also working with the agriculture ministries —not only in China but in other countries as well. A new protocol will help enable horses to come in and out. We are getting very close to finding the solutions.”

Ibanez said that the future is looking bright for equestrianism in China, and that a surge in popularity is right around the corner.

“When we make visits to China, it’s clear that there is really an enormous interest from people, and now they have access to more information. We are bringing in trainers, coaches, farriers (who tend to horses’ shoes and hooves) because people want to practice the sport and see international competitions.”

Hua Tian, who was only 18 when he competed at the Beijing Olympics, went on to finish eighth at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Ibanez said the Londonborn, Eton-educated rider has become an important symbol for the sport.

“Alex is a fantastic ambassador,” she said.

“He was one of the main reasons we launched the campaign in 2016 to get more Chinese interested in equestrian sports.”