Indonesian horse riders lack basic skills: Expert

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian horse riders are among the best in Southeast Asia, but surprisingly they lack basic skills, an international equestrian expert said yesterday.

Wolfgang Niggli, former chairman of the international equestrian federation (FEI), the world equestrian body, told The Jakarta Post after a three-day coaching clinic here that many Indonesian riders are not familiar with basic training techniques.

"I can see that a lot of basic training skills are still lacking. Maybe the basics are not known well enough," he said.

Of 12 riders invited to the clinic only five turned up; the others returned home after the just-concluded 14th National Games last week.

Niggli said, however, the riders have good prospects for success in international events. "Look at Chiang Mai. If only the Indonesian riders had had good horses, they would have won," he said.

In the 1995 Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, host Thailand adopted a ruling saying that all participants had to use local horses. Indonesia blamed the regulation for its failure to win gold medals in both the individual and team dressage events. Indonesia had to be content with a silver and a bronze.

Niggli, who prefers to come here by himself instead of sending somebody, said that the FEI issues passports for horses to enable them travel around the world for competitions.

"It is still difficult to do more because each country has its own rules. We can't do much about it," he said.

Thailand and Malaysia have just opened their borders to foreign horses.

Commenting on Indonesia's decision to exclude equestrian events from the 25 proposed medal sports when it hosts the SEA Games next year, Niggli said that the country will lose its biggest chance to win gold medals.

"It's a shame that the National Sports Council wants to drop equestrian events based on medal-tally judging. It will also prevent the sport's development here," he said.

Wijaya, treasurer of the Jakarta Equestrian Association, told the Post that despite the absence of equestrian events in the SEA Games, two series of the Volvo World Cup will be staged here in September next year.

The first leg of the tournament will be held on Sept. 7 at the Arthayasa Stable in Cinere, South Jakarta, which is owned by Radinal Moochtar's son Rafiq Radinal. The second leg will be staged a week later at the Ciater Stables in Sukabumi, West Java.

The championships will feature dressage, jumping and three-day-event competitions. (yan)