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National Equestrian Park officially opens in Singapore

 The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) World Dressage Challenge is one of the biggest events in the sport's calendar and, for the first time, it will be on show in Singapore this year.

The National Equestrian Park (NEP), located on a six-hectare site at Jalan Mashhor off Thomson Road, was officially opened by President S.R. Nathan on Thursday, and it will be put to the test during two prestigious meets at the end of the year - November's FEI World Dressage Challenge and the Concours de Saut d'Obstacles Internationale (CSI) Young Riders in December.


Equestrian's new home in Singapore costs around S$6 million and features a competition site, 40 stables and seating arenas. 

By the end of the year, it will also include international and Olympic-standard competition facilities, an on-site academy, a quarantine and rehabilitation centre, a hospital, 120 stables, rest paddocks, tracks and trails.

Speaking to MediaCorp on Thursday, Equestrian Federation of Singapore (EFS) president, Melanie Chew, said: "We have three aims for this Park. First, as a home base for the Singapore equestrian team, and to allow Singaporeans to train to compete in this sport for events like the SEA and Asian Games. 

"It is our hope that we eventually send competitors to the Olympic Games."

The park is part of the larger 25-ha Equestrian Zone that includes the neighbouring Riding for the Disabled centre and the Singapore Polo Club, who bore the cost for the new facility.

The Polo Club will help maintain the NEP for the next 15 years. Apart from being the training base for the national team and the venue for international meets, the facility will also host EFS' community outreach activities like the Equine-Assisted Learning (EQUAL) programme - which involves 160 students from Northlight and Assumption Pathway Schools - and the Equestrian Satellite Centre, which hosts the Pony Programme and Pony Road Show. 

"We have a very important benchmark for the EQUAL programme, which is to put 500 children through it in three years," said Chew. 

"We will measure the improvement of the students and it will be a first-of-its-kind study published worldwide. 

"For the equestrian satellite centres, through the NEP, people can learn to ride, and it will be made affordable and accessible."

"The other big target is to field more people in competitions and for them to bring back some medals," she added.

Helping the NEP come alive will be 25 of the 38 horses for the equestrian event at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games, which Singapore hosted last year. The NEP will add another 12 horses to their stables soon.

"We gave them (the YOG horses) a long rest after the Youth Olympics because they were very tired. But they are now contributing in an unexpected way right now, helping the children in the EQUAL programme," said Chew.

09:22 | |

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