2017 LWEA Beijing Summer Camp successfully accomplished

The 2017 LWEA Beijing Summer Camp - a new beginning, and also a recall of a memory. It is right here that you may be able to understand what equestrianism is, and have access to feel what it means to be a rider. Although all the riders appeared to be serious and focused, a dynamic vitality was revealed among this group of young riders, especially when they met the world-class equestrian academy.

From July 4th to 10th, LWEA Beijing Summer Camp was held in Dashing Stable, the Chinese base of Longines World Equestrian Academy. The campers from Hong Kong, America, Singapore and Russia gathered together with local Chinese riders to start a one-week equestrian journey. Campers gained both riding theories and skills after being trained by Thomas Stiller from LWEA's coaching team. He praised the facilities: “Dashing Stables is for sure one of the most professional stables in China. It has more or less already the European standard, it has everything to train the horse of a very high level.”

In the meantime, a series of joyful activities, including home-stay with local riders, BBQ party, Chinese painting salon, PR photo shooting, media interview and Beijing day trip were organized by Dashing team. The camp ended with a competition of 2017 Championship Tour-Road to the Bird’s Nest. All the campers attended and competed with more than 100 riders from clubs around China. 

On media Open Day, several representatives from local media and other visitors were welcomed to observe and report the innovative event. During the day, young riders had a pre-competition as a preparation for 2017 Championship Tour-Road to the Bird’s Nest. Thomas gave some practical suggestions and was very helpful to their achievements the day after. During the day the riders also accepted media interviews and shared their experience of equestrian events after many years of training and their most intimate relationship with their horses, with a spirit of chivalry in their eyes.

Natasha was born in an equestrian family and her family’s motto is “horses always come first”. She said, “Equestrianism is about loving your horse, riding your horse and winning the competition. But first and most importantly it is about loving your horse."

Talking about loving horses, Bianca absolutely agrees with her best friend Natasha. For Bianca, “The spirit of a horseman in her mind is love, and love all the time. You have to love what you are doing even though it is very difficult and of course love your horses”, she said. And she is now the equestrian team leader of her school.

Victoria started equestrian training when she was only 5-years-old and she wants to continue riding for the rest of her life. She thinks the fun of learning equestrianism is that “you get to ride different horses and meet different people.”

The same as Victoria, Leesan also started learning when she was five. She thinks “the most rewarding thing is that you could know your self better and communicate with animals”. She believes it is a sport that animals are involved in and both of the athletes and animals need to be in the best condition. 

Jeniffer Zhan (yifan) started her equestrian journey in 2011. She’s got a cool personality, and you can see her smile of relief when she and her horse accomplished a beautiful round of jumping. She trains hard every day, because she’s the owner of three horses, but she never seemed tried. ”I love what I am doing and I will keep doing it”, she said.

As the youngest rider in the camp, Yuting Qian has unbelievable energy inside of her. She thinks the difference between Equestrian and other sports is that the former one partners with another living creature. She enjoys the time she spends with horses. 

Silei Zhang is a typical Chinese girl, but what makes her special is that she has an Olympic dream. She has already participated in world-class equestrian events three times.

Maxim, from Russia, thinks equestrian is a really addictive sport: the feeling of being in the mid-air is extraordinary. There is no excuse to give up equestrian at any time no matter how hard it gets. 

Although the summer camp is only about one week, the fact is that you will never forget your friends: from the moment you pack up your luggage, you look forward to seeing all of you in LWEA again!