The day begins early for Malavika Kamath, employee of a private bank in Mysuru. She reaches the horse park on Rana Pratap Singh Road in the city at the crack of dawn to pursue a hobby that was her childhood fascination.
Attired in horse riding breeches, boots and jacket, besides wearing a protective helmet, Malavika mounts a thoroughbred that walks, trots and canters around the horse park overlooking the majestic Chamundi Hills.
In her twenties, Malavika has been practising horse riding for the last two years. But, she says she is far from done. “I enjoy every moment of the early morning horse ride”, she said adding that the 45 minutes to one hour ride is barely enough.
Malavika is among the handful, who are undergoing training in horse riding offered by the Mounted Police to civilians. Dilip Nagaraju, who runs a resort, is also regular at the horse park. “It is my passion. It is like a stress buster as I feel very relaxed after a ride”, said Dilip, who is also in his twenties. Commandant of Mounted Police R. Janardhan told The Hindu that training in horse riding is given by expert mounted police personnel. With civilians astride, the horses are allowed to only walk, trot or canter.
“Only if the civilian is a trained horse rider, they are allowed to gallop”, he said.
While one trainer leads the group of civilians on horseback, another follows. But, the main trainer rides alongside the civilians giving instructions to the horses and the trainees.
“We are even taught how to give commands to the horses. The horses used for training civilians are normally seasoned thoroughbreds that obey commands. I have become attached to the horse that I ride”, said Malavika.
Dilip, who has been riding horses for the last 10 years, even participates in show jumping and equestrian tournaments.
