Equestrian
Equestrian: Asian Games gold medallist Hriday Chheda toils in French stables
Hriday Chheda opens up about life after Asian Games gold, training and more in a conversation with The Bridge.
Hriday Chheda at the 2022 Asian Games (Photo credits: Special Arrangement)
The roaring crowd, countless flashes of camera, a gold medal around the neck, and a wide grin – the bespectacled Hriday Chheda was the toast of India nearly two years back.
Hriday was the part of India’s historic gold medal winning equestrian dressage team at the delayed 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Riding atop the Chemxpro Emerald, a horse brought on lease just months before the continental Games, Chheda led the field individually at the half-way mark.
Eventually, Hriday and Chemxpro Emerald were the second-best performers in the four-member Indian team, notching up a score of 69.941, only behind Anush Agarwalla and Etro’s 71.088 points.
He returned home to a grand welcome. Young riders at the Amateur Riders Club, Hriday’s base in Mumbai, mobbed him eager to tap into his experience.
He met the Prime Minister, was honoured by the state and central governments. For the next few months, life was in a fast lane.
But everything soon fell back to normal.
“I mean, my life hasn’t changed in anyway,” Hriday quipped in a conversation with The Bridge. “In terms of people knowing, it was of course a great part and we enjoyed [the fame].
“But in my day-to-day life, what I do today is exactly what I was doing before the Asian Games,” he added.
The stable life in France
So, what does Hriday do these days?
The 26-year-old equestrian is tucked away in France – somewhere near Paris. He rides almost the entire day, training multiple young horses for clients as a part of his profession.
“I live in the stables and spend my entire day there from 7:30 in the morning to 8:30 at night,” said Hriday. “In the morning, we spend a good seven, eight hours riding and then we get back to taking care of them [horses] in the evening.”
In between, he finds time to train alongside his own horse – a 2007 born Gelding named Dono Di Maggio Old.
It’s been six months since Hriday bought Dono Di Maggio Old after having parted ways with the Asian Games gold medallist Chemxpro Emerald.
Selecting a good, healthy horse is one of the most important aspects of equestrian. Riders take their time to try out different horses before choosing the one they feel the most comfortable or in sync with.
However, for Hriday it took just two rides of 40 minutes each before he made up his mind to buy Dono Di Maggio Old. It was the same with Chemxpro Emerald.
“Luckily with the horse I have currently, I know the history of the horse,” he said. “I have known the horse for a long time.
“Earlier, it was with one of my previous trainers. So, it made me a bit comfortable when I was going to get him. Let’s say, I am quite happy with the choices I’ve made in the last few horses that I’ve got,” he added.
Hriday and Dono Di Maggio Old have so far competed in two Grand Prix events at Le Mans and Aachen with a best showing of 64.404 points in their latest appearance earlier this month.
While the results are far from impressive, it’s just the beginning of a long partnership.
“There is constant evolvement in our process to get better every day from each ride to the next,” said Hriday.
“It is [the process] very similar as to with a child. Some horse might find something more difficult than the others. So, you have to deal with it in a different way.
“You have to try and fit in puzzles to see with which puzzle that the horse makes the best outcome,” he added.
Hriday and Dono Di Maggio Old now have their eyes set on the Asian Continental Championships in Pattaya, Thailand in November later this year and the World Equestrian Championships in Aachen, Germany.
Early days
Having started out at the age of six in a horse-riding camp in Mumbai, Hriday has evolved into one of India’s top riders in dressage over the years.
With the early financial backing from his father Vipul Chheda, Hriday started making a mark in the domestic circuit riding atop a mare named ‘Stairway to Heaven’ in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
Hriday first made inroads as a show jumper before finding into dressage – the event he currently specialises in.
The finances in the sport are difficult, a challenge Hriday readily acknowledges. The Asian Games gold medal did bring him a fair share of financial rewards, but the costs far outweigh them.
Understanding the need as a professional rider and trainer, Hriday has diversified via teaching, scouting horses, training young horses and reinvests these earnings back into the sport.
Despite the troubles and the stay away from family and friends in India, Hriday continues to march on for the love of the sport and horses.
“It has [riding] shaped who I am and it has been instant love from the first second,” he said.
