Culture

Grabbing the reins of his new life

By Li Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-04 12:06

Guo Baoyan, from Weifang, eastern Shandong province, is a 29-year-old horse riding instructor at the Beijing Great Wall Sunshine Valley Equestrian Club in Beijing's Yanqing county.

Equestrian trainer Guo Baoyan talks to his favourite horse. Wang Jing / China Daily

But 10 years ago, Guo was earning a living as a security guard in Beijing. "I never thought I would be an equestrian trainer. I had never even seen a horse in the flesh before I came to the club," he said.

The first time he set eyes on the horses, which were race horses retired by the Guangzhou Horse Racing Association, Guo recalled that, "I was very excited. The horses were very tall."

"I had to take care of four horses, feeding them four times a day and sometimes adding honey and millet to their daily menu to reward them," he said. Adding that he was also responsible for grooming them: brushing coats, removing mud and dirt from the body and legs, brushing the tail, as well as dampening and trimming the mane and cleaning stables were his duties.

As the 15 retired horses were previously racing horses, they were all hot-blooded, bold, energetic and sometimes hot-tempered.

It was nearly a year before Guo started to ride, "The first time I rode a horse, I was thrown. The horse was tall, at least 1.6m, measured at the highest point of the withers, where the neck meets the back." He admits, "I was scared. My body was inflexible and it was impossible to be in tune with the horse's moves." Falling four or five times a day was common at the beginning. "Fortunately regular falls did not hurt me much."

In 2000, horse riding in China was still in its infancy and there were neither professional trainers nor any proper courses. "My instructor was a veteran rider.

Riding posture is the first and most important lesson he taught. A strong straight back, square shoulders, upright head position and flexibility through the lower back and pelvis is a must Guo explained.

After half year, he had picked up the basics and learnt to understand his horse's moves and react to them accurately with his body language. "The grooming experience facilitated my approach to the animals. I believe a good rider must be a good groom first," he said.

In 2005, the club organized a one-year overseas training course, and Guo and his associates went to Viebog in Denmark, and studied everything from feeding and rearing horses to equestrian skills and management.

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Back in Beijing, Guo attended equestrian games organized by local clubs. Then together with other clubs in Beijing, "I organized four to five equestrian games every year at our club."

In the past decade, riding has become more and more popular and now Guo's students are aged between 7 and 50-years-old. "Although the youngest one is just three-years-old," Guo said.

Guo believes that eight is a good age to start learning to ride. "Children at this age know how to control their body while feeling the tempo and moves of horses intuitively," he explained.

Aside from the student riders Guo also trains horses at the club. The latest addition is a three-year-old horse, named Morley. "She is warm-blooded, which is suitable for sport riding, and was born at the barns of the club."

Horse prices range from 5,000 yuan to 20 million yuan. He said, "It costs 1,200 to 1,500 per month to raise and train a horse for riders."

It takes usually four years to train a horse, from entry-level to sophisticated stepping back and costs at least 400,000 yuan to make it qualified to attend world-level games.