The “Horsemanship Movement,” co-founded by Chinese Olympic rider Alex Hua Tian, and his friend Philip Wong, won the FEI Solidarity Award at the annual awards ceremony of the International Federation for Equestrian Sports in Bahrain on Tuesday.
The latest laurel has made Hua Tian, who competes in eventing, the first person to win two FEI awards after he claimed the 2009 Rising Star Award.
The awards are to highlight the people and organizations that are making an outstanding contribution to the sport both in and out of competition.
Alex Hua Tian in action during the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. /VCG Photo
During the ceremony, Alex Hua Tian said, "Equestrian has great potential in China, but we are also facing great challenges. We hope to make the public understand the core value of the sport, the partnership between horses and riders by creating the Horsemanship Movement. Equestrian will not enjoy sustainable development if it only belongs to the elites."
Founded in 2017, the movement aims to enable more Chinese children to learn about equestrian and get along with horses. So far, over 400 kids have benefited from the program.
Hua Tian was born in London to a Chinese father and a British mother. The ace Chinese equestrian athlete started at four, and his family moved to Wiltshire when he was 11. He later attended Chafyn Grove School and subsequently Eton College.