National Equestrian Championship in Meerut from Sunday

The National Equestrian Championship for eventing discipline will be held at the RVC Centre and College in Meerut from April 24, the national federation announced on Friday.

The championship, which will conclude on May 1, will also serve as preparatory event for the Asian Games. Eventing is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combination compete against other competitors in the three disciplines of dressage, cross country and show jumping on three different days as an equestrian triathlon.

Competitors accumulates penalty points in each phase and at the end of the event, the pair with the lowest score takes home the top honours. "The National Equestrian Championship is one such event where budding athletes' gain much needed exposure and the competitions are held at the highest level. The event will also be an important stepping stone for riders preparing to represent the country in the upcoming Asian games to be held at Hangzhou in China," Lt Col MM Rahman, Joint Secretary, Equestrian Federation of India, said in a release.

The NEC will begin with veterinary inspection on the first day, Dressage test on the second day, X-Country test on the third day and Show Jumping test on the last day of competition. The event will be organised in five categories with different difficulty levels namely: - (a) Pre-Novice, (b) Novice, (c) Concours Complet National (CCN) 1*, (d) Concours Complet National (CCN) 2* and (e) Concours Complet National (CCN) 3*.