Class VIII student Maitri Das on Bela matched her father Commander Das on Tahir in clearing the hurdle at a show jumping organised at the at Sagar Nagar here on Sunday.
It is a different matter that she succeeded after Bela refused to take the challenge a couple of times before being persuaded to take the jump and clear the logs. Leading up to the jump, eight children, five boys and three girls took the horses around the training arena showing off the finer aspects of horse riding.
The technically approved training arena with soft soil proved to be a real tough ground for playing polo for the trained officers of the Eastern Naval Command (ENC). Playing with a rubber ball on the soft soil required tremendous effort for the players who played only one extended chukkar. The Horse Club is being set up by Srinivas Babu to help the civilian residents of the port city live the dream of riding horses on the long stretch of sand on the beautiful beaches. The club will be ready for inauguration in three months time.
Expressing his gratitude to the Eastern Naval Command Polo and Equestrian Training Centre (ENPET), who have helped establish the facility, Srinivas Babu organised arena horse riding, show jumping and arena polo to showcase the facility. The club will have a training arena, beach riding facility, private stables and a coffee shop, he explained.
The private stables are to help the horse lovers own and maintain their horses. Long rides would be organised on holidays for the members, he added. A number of officers of the ENC and their families and other horse lovers attended the exclusive demonstration.
