“It’s okay. Why are you so startled,” Aadithri Rajaram asks her horse Knockout, gently patting him. Aadithri, who has been riding horses for eight years now, is new to the world of tournaments. She has only been competing since last year. However, she has already won a gold medal in the Senior Dressage Nationals in Puducherry.
Dressage is an Olympic sport where the horse and the rider need to perform dance moves synchronised with music. Aadithri is adept now. She is aiming for more glory with her horse this year, but so are several other young riders at OMR’s Chennai Equitation Centre (CEC). These riders are on a high, following success at the 2023 Junior Nationals (in Bengaluru) and Senior Nationals (in Puducherry).
Take the example of 14-year-old Miraya Dhadabhoy who knows a thing or two about dressage, having won gold and silver medals with her horse FT. “It’s almost like dancing,” she beams, “We do a series of prescribed movements and are awarded a score. I enjoy dressage because the difference between winning and losing is slim. It is also convenient because you realise where exactly you went wrong and work on that for the next time.”
