I started horse riding when I was eight years old. The reason behind this hobby was purely coincidental. One weekend, my mom visited a relative in the suburbs of Hanoi. From the car, I was suddenly attracted to a place where lots of people were riding horses on a large lawn in the distance. That led me to decide to pursue horse riding, although I had never had any knowledge or experience with it.

At the beginning, I registered as a member of the Hanoi Horse Riding Club, and we had weekly practice at the racecourse. At first, I had to get familiar with the horses and feed them before starting to learn horse riding. It was very exciting but also nerve-racking for me because it was the first time a horse would become my friend and partner in future horse riding competitions. Then, under the instruction of the horse caretaker, I successfully completed these tasks, and my horse-riding journey started here.

I fed the horses at a horse farm at the age of eight.

Horse riding is really challenging for me. For the violin, it requires finger dexterity, while horse riding requires more physical strength. At first, I struggled with basic movements such as the basic riding position, walking, and halting. However, with the support of a horse-riding coach and consistent practice, I overcame all these challenges and started learning advanced movements within the next six months. During four years of practicing horse riding, it taught me many qualities, such as courage when dealing with unexpected circumstances and how to communicate with animals. For others, it might be a royal sport, but for me, it is a way to learn new things and improve my skills.

I was horse riding in 2024.

After one year of horse riding, I started practicing mounted archery after being introduced to it by a friend from the horse-riding club. Mounted archery is an unfamiliar sport to many Vietnamese people, and it is also much more challenging than horse riding because it requires a combination of skills such as horse control, balance, and archery precision. This sport helped me improve many skills, such as coordination, spatial awareness, and focus.

Unfortunately, an accident happened while I was practicing mounted archery. I broke my arm and had to receive treatment for four months. The doctor told me that if I got another injury, it could negatively affect my ability to play the violin. Standing at the crossroads between my passion for music and mounted archery, I had to choose to give up the second one after three years of pursuing it. It was a tough decision for me, and I realized that in life, there are always difficult decisions we have to face. It taught me how to make decisions based on what is most important to me.

I practiced mounted archery.

During my time horse riding, I participated in some competitions and won several national prizes. I am proud that I was able to turn an interest into a strength and achieve considerable results from it. Through this sport, I have also met people from different backgrounds and with different interests. Every year, we go camping together and share horse-riding techniques and experiences with each other. Unfortunately, I didn’t keep any photos from those camping trips, but this sport has brought me many challenges and helped me connect with interesting people outside my circle of friends in music and academics.

I received first prize in the Thanh Giong Horse Race 2024.

Finally, during my time practicing horse riding, I also supported my club in connecting young violists from the Vietnam National Academy of Music to organize an event to promote the club to a wider audience. It was an opportunity for artists to introduce themselves, practice outside the Academy, and earn income from their performances. It was also a creative way to make this sport more accessible to a wider audience. So, I gave a hand in organizing and supporting the event.

I was riding a horse in the front row.