Horse riding a passion for this 11-year-old girl

Gagan K Teja

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Tribune News Service

Patiala, January 4

At an age when girls are busy playing with their Barbie dolls and kitchen sets, Ria Puri (11) enjoys horse riding. A Class III student of Yadavindra Public School, Patiala, Ria started horse riding incidentally in Class I. Since then there has been no looking back.

Started her training two years ago under Subedar (retd) Muktiar Singh, Ria has gone on to win numerous medals in different competition this year and aspires to be the best horse rider in the country someday. Her parents too have decided to support their child in every way to ensure that he lives up her dream.

Her father, Rahul Puri, is a businessman and mother, Seema, is a housewife. But now they have decided to make their daughter a sportswoman.

Speaking to The Tribune, Seema said: “My daughter’s interest in horse riding came as a surprise to us. But once we realised that she is passionate about it, there are no second thoughts”.

“We personally met Subedar Mukhtiar Singh and that’s how she began her training with her pony ‘Hema’. After almost one-and-a-half-year, she participated in her first competition and began with a bronze medal, which was rewarding,” she said.

Her first medal was during the All-India Inter-Public School Championship that was held at the Punjab Public School, Nabha, and she won a bronze medal in ball and bucket race. It was her first competition.

Then, she competed in a riding competition organised by the Punjab Police in Chandigarh in July in which she won a gold medal in poll bending and silver in trot race.

Her latest achievement is three medals, including gold, silver and bronze in poll bending, hacks and jalabi race, respectively, during the Punjab Horse Riding Competition held at PAP Campus, Jalandhar, recently.

School principal Stanley Vinod Kumar congratulated Ria and said the school would provide every possible assistance to help her pursue her dream.