gurgaon away from the lights and the cameras away from the hoopla of city events and in a quietly bucolic setting was a gathering of people and equines this was the inaugural millennium city horse show in the village of bhondsi on sohna roadcows rather than horses may have dominated column inches of late but it was the latter that stole the limelight on the weekend the captain jagmal singh olympic stadium was the venue for this twoday equestrian event which was organised by the equestrian sports academy esa of gurgaon in partnership with the haryana police team that competes in the regional equestrian league which also formed part of the show racing often called the sport of kings can boast of an eventful past in indias metros but theres little history of equestrian events in the country col retd r s ahluwalia is doing his best to change all that at least in haryana youngsters are attracted to equestrian sports but they dont have the exposure to the events and activities col ahluwalia told toi this was the motive behind the show to give exposure to the youngsters and to encourage them to take up equestrian sports as an activity or a parttime hobbyaltogether there were around 70 horses and the same number of riders among them cavalry units of the army and the equestrian team of haryana police there were also riders from the bsf and itbp and from civilian clubs and schools students from scottish high and dps maruti kunj were present at the show participants young and old showed off their skills in disciplines like show jumping and tent pegging its all about tapping emerging talent and promoting the majestic art of horsemanship amongst the young with that in mind the academy has been sending its horses to gurgaon schools to help boys and girls develop a relationship with the horse and a liking for the sport ordinarily ahluwalia explains only kids aged eight and above would have the required stamina and height to be able to handle a horse by themselvesbased in bhondsi the equestrian sports academy a member of the equestrian federation of india helps impart basic riding skills while training budding riders in dressage showjumping tent pegging eventing endurance and polo its heartening to know that the bond between horses and humans has a future and isnt just a relic of the past