Long considered a niche sport in the country, equestrian is slowly carving out a space of its own on the Indian map. Among the names shining through this resurgence is Asian gold medallist Ashish Limaye. The 32-year-old is bringing some much-needed glory to the nation in equestrian sports, leaving his mark in eventing discipline. After tasting gold at the 2025 Asian Championships, he said, ‘it was a dream come true’ for him.
The Pune resident fell in love with the sport when he started riding horses owned by a tongawalla. Ashish was only 10 when he figured out that he belonged to the riding arena. The engineer-turned-rider is now a flagbearer of the sport in the country.
Silva Storai, Director, Embassy International Riding School tells how big an impact the gold medal has made among the youth.
“That was an incredible feeling not only for the Embassy Riding school but for the entire country because from this the children get more inspired unlike everybody in India is on for cricket so apart from cricket they came to know about Equestrian and we hope to inspire many more youth to pursue this sport”, she said.
Ashish remains thankful to those who backed him during his struggles, especially when it came to funding his passion.
‘I think that’s the biggest support and biggest help that anybody could receive because the sport is quite expensive. I always wanted to do something great in the sport but I think they wrote the path for me and it was their vision and support so I think they played the biggest role in my journey for this’, Ashish recalls.
But behind his success and the development of the sport is someone who had the eye to spot his talent years back. Bengaluru businessman, Jitu Virwani has been instrumental in the rise of equestrian in the country. His love for it goes way back to 1996 and it was his vision of making it affordable and accessible to Indians that led to the creation of the Embassy Riding Club, which is now a premier horse-riding institution in the country.
It was only down to his passion for the sport that led Virwani to be such a huge contributor to it despite having no formal position in the equestrian federation. Looking back, he says, ‘It was a sport which wasn’t affordable for a lot of Indian children, though now I can see a lot of parents investing a lot of money in good quality horses. So I said why not subsidise this sport and make it more viable for Indian children to ride and compete and that’s how the whole idea started.’
But like any sport, equestrian, besides resonance and popularity faces other challenges too. Uncertainty and infighting in the federation are two that top the list. This is where clubs like Embassy Riding School in Bengaluru are ensuring the sport goes ahead despite difficulties.
Jitu’s drive to take the sport forward also led him to come up with the Embassy Riding School in 1996. The support from the club has been crucial for athletes like Fouaad Mirza who went on to become India’s first equestrian to qualify for the Olympics in 20 years.
India’s upward arc in the sport is being watched by the whole world and Jitu exudes confidence about India doing better in the future.
‘In Equestrian when we have success a lot of children will follow and I can see the quality of riding and the quality of horses and the compassion in the kids. So, I think why can’t India be on top in Equestrian sport. When we spend so much money, we have the money. We have the resources. We have the talent’, he concludes.
Beyond individual success stories, institutions like Embassy are also strengthening the grassroots structure of the sport. With the Junior National Equestrian Championships staged across two legs this year, the South Zone once again found a home at the Embassy Riding Club.
At a time when administrative challenges continue at the federation level, it is private initiatives like these that are keeping the sport on track. By stepping forward to host the Junior Nationals, Embassy isn’t just organising a tournament — it’s reinforcing its long-term commitment to the future of equestrian sport in India.
– Ends
