Anyone else really like the grey horse representing china? It was the first one to go for them. It looked tense, but there was something about it I liked. I was afraid when he spooked that they were going to jump out of the arena, or delay for more than 2 seconds, or whatever the limit is… but they recovered. Besides that, the guy riding him is only 18 years old!
I thought they did well, and I think it’s great that China is fielding an equestrian team.
They aren’t fielding a team; he’s it. He trains in GB, and I believe he actually qualified four horses for this event. Because he is from the host nation, he gets an automatic bid (assuming he’s qualified), meaning that his international ranking doesn’t come into play. However, from what it sounds like (I didn’t get to see the test), he has earned his spot.
I thought they only had one rider, then I swear the broadcaster said they had a team, so I was confused. Maybe they were refering to him as the team.
But yeah, he certainly looked like he deserved to be there… the test was nice, if a bit tense, minus the spook.
The Chinese have a Showjumping team, but not an Eventing team. Maybe the commentator was using “team” in the board sense of the word, as in all the equestrian competitors from that country combined. Kinda of the way some one is referred to as being on the “USET”.
Anyone know what they would have used to make his cool quarter marks with the design from the Chinese Flag? He was grey and the marks were darker gray or black.
Thanks!
A stencil through which you brush the hair the wrong way.
HUA T
Glad this kid’s only 17 years old. Does he have the strength to get around the XC at 6’2 & 142 pounds? Being fluent in five langages, he won’t have any problems asking for directions if he gets lost. Just kidding ya know!!!
Athletes > HUA Tian > Bio
[IMG]http://www.nbcolympics.com/imgml/athletes/large/57867_142x190.jpg)
[IMG]http://www.nbcolympics.com/imgml/flags/s/CHN.gif) Equestrian
Born: November 26, 1990
Ht: / Wt: 6’2’’ / 148 lbs
The following biographical information was provided by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG).
Historical Results
General Interests
Occupation: Student
Coach: Clayton Fredericks, Lucinda Fredericks (timesonline.co.uk 04/05/08)
Additional information: When and where did you begin this sport?
He started riding at the age of four. (timesonline.co.uk 04/05/08)
Why this sport?
His mother is a rider and he grew up surrounded by horses, so riding became second nature. (hi.baidu.com 31/05/08)
Awards and honours
He was the first rider from China registered by the International Equestrian Federation [FEI]. (timesonline.co.uk 04/05/08)
General
SPONSORSHIP
He received a sponsorship of RMB30,000,000 from Hong Kong entrepreneur Jiang Fengcan which enabled him to build a support team including four grooms, a physiotherapist, a physical trainer and a veterinarian. (china.org.cn, guardian.co.hk 31/05/08)
NAME
His father Hua Shan, whose name means mountains, named him Tian, which means sky, because sky is higher than mountains and he hoped that his son would become a high achiever. (hi.baidu.com 31/05/08)
TAILOR-MADE
With a tall and slim physique, he has trouble finding suitable ready-made clothing and has to have most of his clothes tailor-made instead. (hi.baidu.com 31/05/08)
Education: Eton: Windsor, England
Language spoken: French, Latin, Mandarin, Russian, English
[
[IMG]http://mathaba.net/openx/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=24&cb=200807272339&n=a0a21972&ct0=INSERT_CLICKURL_HERE) HONG KONG, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) – For the first time, China is fielding riders for the 11-day competitions in the Olympic Equestrian Events which kicked off here on Saturday.
The six riders representing China come from five provinces and autonomous regions, namely Xinjiang, Guangdong, Tibet, Shanghai and Jiangsu.
Among them, Hua Tian, an 18-year-old from Guangdong, receives the most media attention. With Chinese heritage from his father and a horsy background from his British mother, the Eton College student gained his berth of the Olympics at an eventing competition held in Poland at the end of April.
He was the first Chinese rider registered by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) and to compete in three-day eventing at an international equestrian event, which includes dressage, jumping and cross-country competitions.
Described by many as a “dark horse” at the on-going Olympic Equestrian Events, Hua first got on horseback at the age of four in Beijing before moving to Hong Kong with his family.
“I’ve had possibly the best start in riding anyone could have. In Hong Kong, the riding school had fun instructors, good ponies and we just had a blast whizzing around, jumping a few fences,” he told The Scotsman about his early days on horseback.
When he was ten his family moved to Britain, where he receive coaching from Australians Lucinda and Clayton Fredericks.
His coaches were equally impressed. “He was absolutely fearless and he was charging round on the biggest horses,” Lucinda Fredericks told the Times of Britain. He continued to ride with enthusiasm.
It’s lucky for the young rider that the Eton College gave him years to leave and fortunately he also found a generous backer, Jiang Fengcan, a business contact of his father’s from Guangdong Province, who provided 30 million yuan (about 3.8 million U.S. dollars) to cover all Hua’s expenses.
“I was a little bit nervous before he qualified for the Olympics but now I am relieved,” the sponsor said in April to the China Daily. “I have known Hua Tian for years and always believed he would make history at the Olympics.”
After the Olympics, Huan Tian will go back to England to realize his another dream -- to get into Oxford for advance study.
Another Chinese rider, Liu Lina from Xinjiang gained admission to the Olympic Games equestrian dressage event in March this year.She is a promising young rider in the Xinjiang equestrian team, which has fully backed her bid for the Olympics. She has been trained in Denmark and Germany.
In early May, Guangdong’s Li Zhenqiang, Shanghai’s Zhang Bin, Tibet’s Wang Zuping and Zhao Zhiwen from Jiangzu gained entries to the Olympics with excellent performances in jumping events in Belgium and Germany.
In particular, Li performed remarkably well in a five-star jumping competition by jumping over barriers of 1.6 m high.
Growing interest in Equestrian sport is evident at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games as riders from a record 42 National Olympic Committees compete, three more than at the Athens 2004 Olympic games. China is taking part in the Equestrian Games for the first time and is fielding riders for all three disciplines.
Chinese riders are on the increase. There are about 3,000-4,000 participants in riding clubs across the country. China also has a national-level equestrian organization, the Chinese Equestrian Association (CEA), and a team which regularly participates in the Asian Games.
[QUOTE=Equibrit;3428130]
A stencil through which you brush the hair the wrong way.[/QUOTE]
I think it was too dark to be just hair direction. Unless this horse has a reversible coat, gray one way, black the other. 
It could possibly be black skin, though.
While the markings on the butt were “cool” they were very distracting. Didn’t really seem “dressage like” to me. They had to have been painted on dyed on, they were so dark.
The horse is listed in the order of go as an Anglo-Arab called ‘Chico’.
I thought the stars were completely cool, as were horse and rider. I think the stars were clipped into the coat.
the horse had been body clipped and they clipped out the stars, or left hair for the stars which ever way you look at it. There is a close up picture of his rearend from the jog and you can tell there that he was clipped. You can see the longer hair around the end of the stars.
I dont care either way, but as a groom I would rather leave clipped quarter marks on then have to brush them on everyday. Less work! 
I agree with RVP. I think they were clipped into the horse’s coat. A bunch of the horses at the barn where we trailer for lessons have their bums done that way. A lot of the greys look darker where they are clipped because of the black skin underneath. It does look pretty cool, but kind of surprising to see something like that at this level of competition. OTOH, it’s pretty cool to see he’s having fun with his horse 
Yes…as host rider they are entitled to a place…BUT Alex HAD TO qualify…This is not a sport to be taken lightly,He is a veryu good rider on an excellent horse, based with the leading eventers of the world!
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;3427683]
The Chinese have a Showjumping team, but not an Eventing team. Maybe the commentator was using “team” in the board sense of the word, as in all the equestrian competitors from that country combined. Kinda of the way some one is referred to as being on the “USET”.[/QUOTE]
Plus the male announcer…I’m forgetting his name right now…seems a bit vague on his terminology – I don’t think he quite grasps the distinction between “equestrian events” (i.e., the Olympic events that involve horses) and “equestrian eventing” (i.e., the specific discipline of eventing). I can’t recall the details off hand, but there were a few moments yesterday when Melanie Taylor-Smith had to correct him a bit, though she was very subtle and classy about it. IIRC he referred to what was airing as the dressage competition and she noted that actually it was actually the dressage phase of eventing – that sort of thing. In any case, I can really see how laymen would be confused.
Hua Tin
Too bad Alex got the big E. If his backers and the CP aren’t too pissed, I’m willing to bet we’ll see him in another Games
Is It Me?
Now I admit that I’ve had a horrid year physically, so my brain does have to suffer at some point (I’d think) and I did spend last night in the ER, but I need some help here.
Everyone refers to HUA Tian as 18 years old.
If he was “Born: November 26, 1990”
This is 2008
and November has not yet come around,
doesn’t that make him 17 years old?
Either 17 or 18, I think it’s pretty dang’ cool and a tremendous accomplishment!
He is a lovely rider, and very talented, just a bit too young for the part still. I hope we’ll see him again in the future.
[QUOTE=Party Rose;3431828]
Now I admit that I’ve had a horrid year physically, so my brain does have to suffer at some point (I’d think) and I did spend last night in the ER, but I need some help here.
Everyone refers to HUA Tian as 18 years old.
If he was “Born: November 26, 1990”
This is 2008
and November has not yet come around,
doesn’t that make him 17 years old?
Either 17 or 18, I think it’s pretty dang’ cool and a tremendous accomplishment![/QUOTE]
They mentioned it somewhere, I forget where, but the riders have to be 18 before the end of the year which is probably what they mean.
