I’m looking forward to re-visiting Hong Kong’s International Riding Centre later this month. Oddly, it was the only one of the three local clubs I called that welcomed me – the other two I phoned, on enquiring of my weight (88 kilos) said I was too heavy. That never happened me in Asia before, and I applaud the attention to horse health that it implies. Loated in the Northern Territories, near the border with mainland China, and just down the road from the site of the 2008 Beijing Olympics eventing competition, the Interntional Riding iding Centre is a neat well run establishment that looks small compared to the flashy new peers opening up in mainland Chinese cities. But the instruction standard is much higher, and the club appearence and management seems far better, from what I could see. A bilingual instructor, Edmond, took a far more demostrative approach to teaching too during my hour’s session on a horse retired from the Hong Kong racing scene. The price, at about US$30, was comparable to what I pay in Beijing.
