City boy Aadit Ghose has been steadily making a mark in his chosen sport — equestrianism.

The nine-year-old La Martiniere student put up an extremely commendable show at the Delhi Horse Show 2023 recently.

Representing the Fort William Riding and Polo Institute, Aadit picked up four medals, of which three were gold — team gold (dressage), individual gold (hacks), team gold (show jumping normal) and individual silver (dressage), — and all on his chosen horse, Gulab.

He also secured the individual position of third among 84 children in his group from all over the country.

This was a marked improvement on his performance last year where he bagged a gold and a bronze in hacks and show jumping,

Dressage is one of the three Olympic disciplines — the other two being cross country and show jumping — which makes up the event of eventing.

In dressage, a competitor needs to show off a horse’s training by performing a set of prescribed movements in front of a panel ofjudges.

In hacks, the conformation of the horse, its demeanour and general behaviour are checked along with the command of the rider over the equine.

Aadit had placed third in Open Hacks at the East India Equestrian Championship held at Tolly Club in February.

So how has he developed as an equestrian in the last one year?

“I have grown in the last one year by leaning how to ride advanced equines and being kind to horses which are our partners in this sport but do not understand our language,” Aadit, displaying a maturity beyond his years, told The Telegraph.

“In terms of riding skills, I have learnt new techniques like how to put the horse in a frame and use a correct contact, use of my legs as the primary aid, importance of the approach and centring the horse while show jumping,” he added.

As of now, Aadit is focused on the regionals, which serve as qualifiers for the junior nationals, which he will be eligible to compete once he turns 10 in September.