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August 31st - Sept 2nd 2001

The Auroville Horse Tournament 2001, or in short AHT 2001, was organised by the Red Earth Riding School, Auroville (RERS), which is managed by Aurovilians Eric, Katelijne and Jacqueline. RERS is located in Gaia's Garden, Kottakarai, opposite Auroville's well known 'Pony Farm'.

RERS has 15 horses, and Eric gives daily riding classes in dressage and jumping at different levels to anyone who loves horses and wants to learn riding or participate in competitions. Eric, Katelijne and their four sons left Belgium a few years ago to join Auroville. They come from a background of horse breeding and show jumping, and Eric's sister is a member of the national riding team in Belgium.

Overwhelming response

The overall organisation of AHT 2001 was in the hands of the South India Equestrian Association, of which RERS is a member. RERS had requested a few months ago that the next tournament be held in Auroville, and the response was quite overwhelming. For the first time ever, all the existing riding clubs of south India, without exception, were present at the event (for complete list see below). The next tournament is planned for November 2001 by the Embassy International Riding School in Bangalore. Yearly, 4-5 tournaments normally take place, usually in either Chennai (Madras) or Bangalore, sometimes in Hyderabad. Since there were no complaints and all participants liked the tournament in Auroville very much, it is likely that there will be another AHT in 2002. The official results of the AHT were announced in one of India's major daily newspapers, 'The Hindu'.

350 entries!

The event was very well organised, as Katelijne and Eric have the needed experience from their horse tournaments in Belgium. It began on Friday afternoon, Aug 31st, with dressage tests and lasted until Sunday evening, Sept 2nd. Katelijne and Eric had never expected so many horses and participants to come to Auroville. Overall, 350 entries were registered for dressage and show jumping in 4 age-groups: children (aged 6-11), youth (aged 12-16), juniors (aged 16-21) and seniors (over 21 years). The youngest participant was Ayasha (Jacqueline's daughter) aged 6 years, and the oldest Frederick at 62 years. Both received a special 'age-allowance'.

Aurovilian team work

The Aurovilians formed a good team, especially the Auroville youth, who did a good job in preparing breakfast and catering for lunch and the buffet. One could even order pizza! Overall, 40-50 Aurovilians were directly involved in the event as participants or organisers. Some units gave their products as donations to be sold, to help finance the tournament, while at the same time promoting their products. For example, 'Gekko' sold hats and shirts and toys, Ganesh Bakery sold snacks and cool drinks (even payable via one's 'Pour Tous' account), 'Colours of Nature' sold T-shirts dyed with natural colours from plants, and a big box of incense was donated for sale. Many other donations were received by sponsoring companies mainly from Pondicherry and Chennai.

78 south Indian horses of different breeds

In total, 78 beautiful south Indian horses of different breeds shared the ground for 3-4 days using temporary stables, 3 riding arenas and 2 warm-up lawns. The dressage arena measured 60 x 20 metres (the international size). Jumping heights were 60 cms for children and juniors, and 1.20 metres for the adults. The jumping parcours built by the judges was tough. Two judges were well-known dressage gold medal winners in south Asian horse tournaments. Two horse vets were present: the race course vet from Chennai who is an old friend of Auroville, and the vet from Hyderabad.

One thousand people watching the jumping competitions

Early Saturday morning, September 1st at 6:30 am the dressage competitions started, and the atmosphere was quiet and concentrated with few spectators. This was in strong contrast to the afternoon jumping event, which provided a real spectacle. Sunday afternoon saw a huge crowd, many from the surrounding villages, who were experiencing such an event for the first time in their lives. There were probably around one thousand people watching the afternoon jumping competitions. Luckily most horses were used to the clapping, shouting, and loudspeaker announcements, but some got quite nervous and difficult to handle. All in all, it was quite an impressive show.

Thank you for organising this event, Red Earth Riding School!

Contact: tine@auroville.org.in 

List of participating riding clubs:

CEA = Chennai Equestrian Academy;
MRS = Madras Riding School;
BARI = Bangalore Amateur Riding Institute;
EIRS = Embassy International Riding School, Bangalore;
ECE = Equestrian Centre For Excellence, Bangalore;
PEA = Princess Equestrian Academy, Bangalore;
Mysore Mounted Police;
NPA = National Police Academy, Hyderabad;
Lawrence School, Lawdale, Ooty; and
RERS = Red Earth Riding School, Auroville.

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