Horse-riding in Saigon

The Saigon Pony Club in District 2, Ho Chi Minh City has been a venue for horserace training and horse lovers for over a decade.

Passion

It is the passion for horse racing that drives parents to take their kids to the riding stable with two paddocks, 600 and 1,000 square meters in size, for two levels: beginners and well-trained riders.

Five years ago, the club was transferred to the Amaury couple. After learning to ride as a child in France, taking part in many horse-riding contests and experiencing one year in the cavalry, the husband and coach Amaury Le Blan came to Vietnam to seek his chances with a business.

Riding brings many benefits, both mentally and physically, to those who take part in the activity.

Riders are required to interact with the horses. “You can learn a lot from them, ranging from how to sit comfortably on horseback to understanding the one you ride in order to control it”, Ms Abigail Teeven, a qualified English coach, shared. This interaction helps kids stay calmer and better control of situations, according to Nerida Evans, an Australian mother who brought her daughter Eloise and her friends to the club. Her family used to ride horses in Australia and England.

For Mary Jin, a Korean, riding helps her son, Robin Han, stay away from video games whenever he’s at home alone and be more active. She added that in Korea riding was becoming popular.

All horses at the club are named after foreign words, such as Diabolo, Crac, Flamme, Mogito, and Wok, even though they are all Vietnamese, bought by Amaury from local localities as Cu Chi, Duc Hoa and Duc Hue – the former prestigious horse-raising farms for Phu Tho race track before horse-racing became illegal recently.

According to Amaury, European riders groom the horses by themselves before riding. However, in the Saigon Pony Club, students usually practice after school, so they do not have enough time to do so except on the weekend. At the stable, a German woman, Iris Haegle was grooming the horse named Romeo before her daughter Esmee rode him to practice for her competition.

“This horse is from Dalat, and is 6 years old,” she said while fitting him with a tool to protect his knee from injury. “Last time, he jumped and crashed into the rails.” He was bought from Dalat. She and her husband come to the club to take care of and ride him.

Although she has two girls, she still calls Romeo “son”. She explained that her two daughters will leave home when they grow up, but Romeo will not. They even plan to bring him back to Germany when they end their jobs in Vietnam in two years.

Coach Abigail Teeven (standing) is guiding a child to ride horse (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Sunlight, heat, dust and love for animals

There are many difficulties in approaching horse riding for children, apart from expensive fee of VND400,000 for each 45 minutes.

“There are four factors that prevent Vietnamese from riding: sunlight, heat, dust and love for animals. The last is part of the culture. There were some Vietnamese who brought their kids here to try to ride a few times and then never came back, for no reason”, said Amaury.

Pointing to an 11-year-old French girl who was insisting on practicing with the horse named Diabolo the following morning, he added that “this girl thinks about horses day and night”.

There has never been any research on how many Vietnamese children are keen on riding horses, however, it is common knowledge that most of them enjoy riding fake horses in parks or entertainment areas.

Ngoc Vy, one of the students, took a “xe om” to the stable since her mother could not take her this day. She is skillful at riding thanks to a period of living in Poland.

For Khanh Vy, animals are her passion, and she dreams of becoming a veterinarian, her mother said. After riding for four years, even when she returned from the US, she is still in the ready-for-competition group. Although she falls sometimes during practice, her mother stayed calm and said “It is not a big deal for them to fall while riding. Moreover, they know how to fall the right way.”

Risk is a part of sport, the responsibility of the coach is ultimately to limit it.

Ngoc Vy is confident on the back of the horse (Photo: Tuoi Tre)