Teen Tian saddles up for China
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-08-20 13:26

MARTINVAST, France (AFP) - Chinese teenager Alex Hua Tian becomes the first rider from the country to compete in a European equestian event when he saddles up for the opening event of the 2005/2006 season here in Normandy this weekend.

Chinese teenager Alex Hua Tian becomes the first rider from the country to compete in a European equestian event when he saddles up for the opening event of the 2005/2006 season here in Normandy this weekend. [AFP]

Tian, 15, whose mother is English and father Chinese, spent his childhood in Hong Kong but has been training for the past five years in England.

His sights are now firmly set on competing in next years Asian Games where he hopes to represent China before qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

The Olympic equestrian events will take place at the Hong Kong Jockey club where Tian learnt how to ride.

He has been trained to compete in the three main disciplines of dressage, showjumping and cross-country and is coached by Australian rider Clayton Fredericks and his British-born former-eventer wife Lucinda.

"I'm very, very proud," Tian told AFP of his representing China.

"Horseriding in China is really becoming very popular. But it's still a little early to say if I will compete in the Olympic Games in 2008. For the moment I'm focusing on the 2006 Asian Games and after that we'll see depending on how I perform," Tian added.

Competition organiser Andre-Jacques Le Goupil said that Tian's participation was the first of what they hoped would be more Asian competitors.

"Equestrian sports are starting to conquer more and more countries," he said.

"There are competitions in China and some structures are in place but until now it was difficult to travel and to bring the horses by plane."

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