Horse clubs are proving lucrative, but equestrian games, though taking off, are still the preserve of a few in China.
Horses have been around China for a long time. The Mongols conquered China on horseback and ruled as the Yuan Dynasty for a century. The terracotta warriors in Xi'an, cavalrymen by their steeds, date from the pre-millennial Qin Dynasty. Tang Dynasty pottery depicts horses and camels, and many generals of the Republic of China in the 1920s had a predilection for equestrian statues of themselves.
It may be a land of horsemanship, but in the last century China has not distinguished itself as an equestrian nation. That, however, appears to be changing as the country's better-off begin to indulge in pursuits beloved of the Western middle classes such as golf, tennis, sailing and equestrian sports. While the majority of Chinese people may not have had any formal horse riding experience, a significant number are proving keen learners at a new wave of equestrian clubs that have opened in main Chinese city suburbs.
There's money to be made in horses, and new riding clubs are attractive business prospects. Fees are at the higher end of the worldwide scale. At an average 200 yuan per one-hour lesson, learning to ride in Beijing's suburbs is not for the average-earning local, say for instance a construction worker, who earns little more than 600 yuan per month. Similar lessons in German and French equestrian schools cost slightly less. And Claremorris Equestrian School in the west of Ireland, located in a region famed for its horse riding prowess, charges 15 euros, or 150 Yuan, per one-hour lesson. Beijing's Equuleus International Equestrian Center imports its horses from Australia, said one spokesperson, explaining the higher pricing tables. Staff at Equuleus have been trained at Hartpury College, a prestigious equestrian school in England contracted by several Chinese equestrian clubs, and which is schooling Chinese officials and stewards for equestrian events in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Beijing's first international equestrian event took place on September 19 and 20, 2003 at the Sunny Valley equestrian center in Yanqing County, near the Great Wall. Thirty-six riders from Korea, Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines competed. Overseen by the Asian Equestrian Federation, it was a means of demonstrating that Beijing is equal to hosting similar events at the 2008 Olympics. Officials from the Federation Equestre International (FEI) flew in from Geneva to assess organizational standards at the event. Show jumping is still the preserve of a select few fans in China's capital - 1,000 at a generous guess.
Equestrian clubs like Equuelus represent the upper end of the city's equestrian scene. But the fact that such a fine facility exists and prospers bodes well for the future of horse riding here. Saturdays and Sundays are booked-out busy days at the club, with a mixture of advanced riders and children practicing their first trots and canters. A regular flow of foreigners is assured from nearby luxury villa and apartment complexes. According to the center's manager, a former fashion magazine editor named Michelle, however, locals have begun to outnumber expats. Local riders are typically professionals in their thirties. Several couples have joined and most of the club's youngest members are the children of local businesspeople. Michelle says that business at the center is going well. "Learners from fifteen different countries come here for lessons. We also hold competitions and some famous companies have chosen to have their events at the stables." Equueleus has featured in several of the glossy society magazines on China's news-stands, and flashy saloon cars and jeeps in the car park suggest horse riding has indeed arrived.
Equestrian equipment is generally regarded as prohibitively expensive but ironically much of the world's rider wear is now manufactured in China. US firm Troxel, the world's leading provider of high-grade equestrian helmets for competitive and recreational riding and schooling, now manufactures its helmets and equestrian gear in China. Established in 1898, Troxel supplies helmets to the United States Olympic cycling and equestrian teams. The company currently produces its Orion series hat, a sophisticated, technically innovative and versatile helmet at its plants near Shanghai. Oddly enough, the company hasn't yet begun to distribute it in shops in China, but may do so in the near future, says a spokesperson for Dr Richard Timms, Troxel's CEO.
Breed diversity remains low in China. Most of the horses at the country's equestrian clubs have been imported from Australia and retired racehorses appear via stables in Hong Kong and Macao. China has a long way to go before it can reach the breeding sophistication of farms in Europe and the USA that list hundreds of different strains of horse and pony. Its indigenous Mongolian horses are invariably light and small-boned, and there are virtually none heavy or draft horses that have proven such useful cross-breeders in the west, particularly for producing hunting horses.
The performance of China's riders in forthcoming continental and world equestrian events could determine the fate of the sport here. China has certainly been investing significantly in its equestrian facilities. Lucrative business opportunities in horse sports will probably encourage more Chinese to saddle up. The big money, however, will be made on the racetrack, rather than in well-pruned, social climbing clubs like Equuleus. Gambling is illegal in China, confining horseracing - which is hugely profitable - to Hong Kong and the west. Irishman Kevin Connolly is director of racing and head trainer at the pioneering Beijing Jockey Club, the country's largest racecourse and stud farm that opened less than three years ago. He leads a staff of nearly 900 that look after 1,000 horses, including six foreign trainers. Before moving to China Connolly administered the Australian racing interests of Hong Kong millionaire Yun Pung Cheng, a key figure in the famous Domeland Syndicate and principal investor in the Beijing racing operation.
The Beijing Jockey Club occupies over 160 hectares in Tongzhou District, east of Beijing and has three tracks, the longest of which runs to two and a half kilometers. Over 1,000 thoroughbreds are stabled on-site, most of them flown in from Australia but it also has sires from Ireland, Britain and the US. Businessman Yung Pung Chung has invested US$ 65 million in the racecourse and stables.
"It's probably the world's last horse racing frontier, " says stocky, silver-haired Connolly. "The Chinese like to get involved in any sort of lottery, betting, or game of chance. Betting isn't legal in China at the moment but maybe in years to come it will be. So we're taking a huge gamble on trying to get in first."
When this writer visited the Jockey Club in late summer 2004, grass on the tracks and paddocks was green and lush from water pumped in during Beijing's dry, hot summer. Gambling by any other name happens at the track. Race goers buy a voucher corresponding to a particular horse, and if it wins, they can exchange the voucher for cash winnings. Gamblers had driven, pedaled and walked to the course, which is a half-hour drive from the city. I watched a group of old men study the form book and argue before putting down 20 yuan (1.90 euros) each for "guessing" vouchers.
Proving that locals haven't lost their equestrian heritage, Chinese jockeys have replaced their foreign counterparts, who were initially brought in to train them. They're fast learners and hard workers, says Connolly. Talented jockeys have come to Tongzhou from Inner Mongolia and Zhejiang Province, both famed for their horse culture.
"This is a whole racing industry, from breeding to selling to racing," says Connolly. "We've gotten government permission to hold races, while other places may have overstepped the mark." Testing the water has made Connolly confident of a bright future for Chinese racing. "We imagine there's a vast number of people who'll be interested in racing in Beijing," he says, optimistically.
There are new racetracks too in the southern cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan. A track in the northern coastal city of Dalian sits at the center of a luxury resort that cost over US$ 500 million to construct. Historians have documented horse-racing from the Han Dynasty 2,000 years ago right up to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), but the sport was first developed as a commercial spectacle in the mid 10th century by foreigners in Shanghai. Foreign diplomats, meanwhile, brought racing to Beijing and Tianjin, where race meetings drew huge crowds of local punters.
The equestrian scene in China is expected to grow exponentially over the rest of the decade. A gimmicky fillip to local equestrian ambitions came recently in the form of China's first Western rodeo arena, located in the Beijing Safari Park, where rodeos are held each afternoon. Originally intended for bullfighting, this huge 20,000- square-meter rodeo ring features bulls and horses on which brave local cowboys may try their bronco-busting skills. Ride on.
by Mark Godfrey (an Irish journalist currently based in China)
(China Today August 7, 2004)
