Annie Ho joined her HKJC equestrian team riders Thomas Ho, Nicole Fardel-Pearson and Patrick Lam as the Eventing squad to make debut at the 2017 National Games.

What is life like for professional riders outside the riding ring? Annie Ho cannot offer a straightforward answer even though she is an accomplished rider with high-profile wins. “I have no life!” she says with a laugh.

That is perhaps no hyperbole. The Hong Kong-born, United Kingdom (UK)-based athlete, rides seven days a week, all year round. At one of her shows in the weekend, she woke up at 3.30am and was not home until 10pm. “Equestrian sports take a lot of time and investment. There’s no shortcut. You can’t achieve anything going part-time. It’s a tough sport,” she says.

Ho’s full-time, unwavering commitment to her sport has been fundamental to her success as an international eventing rider. She was the best-placed Hong Kong rider at the 2010 Asian Games where she finished eighth individually. At the 2013 Asian Eventing Championships in Thailand, she hit the headline after winning the individual gold medal. At the 2014 Asian Games in Korea, Ho, being part of the Hong Kong team, bagged the bronze medal and came fourth in the individual event.

“To have got to where I got, I think it’s a big achievement,” Ho says proudly.

The elite rider does not feign modesty when enumerating her accomplishments. You can almost feel the full force of her passion for her sport just by hearing her talk about it. This is an athlete who devotes her life to equestrian sports. Nearly every major step she has taken in life was related to riding in one way or another.

Born in Hong Kong, where she was first introduced to horses, Ho moved to the UK with her family when she was five. She continued riding in Surrey, where she grew up. Her love of riding set her on a course to pursue a career with horses. She went to Hartpury College, one of the UK’s leading sports educational institutions, to do a degree in equine business management. She is also a qualified British Horse Society instructor. In 2007, she returned to Hong Kong to work at the Club as a riding instructor. A year later, a turning point came.

“At the Olympics equestrian competition in Hong Kong in 2008, I was involved in stable management at the HKJC. When I saw the top riders and their horses, I thought that was what I wanted to do! It was the team spirit and being part of such a big event that motivated me,” she recalls.

Ho then moved back to the UK where she concentrated on training for competitions. It was the right move, not only because of the brilliant results she delivered in the international games in the years that followed, but also because competing is in her blood.

“I’m very competitive. If I want to do something, I don’t just take part. I want to do it well,” Ho says. “I prefer riding to teaching. I wouldn’t say it is awful, but on a personal level, I prefer getting on a horse and riding rather than standing in the arena and telling someone how to ride.”

What she loves about equestrian sports is that “it’s not just about you; it’s about you and your horse being in top form, which is very special compared with any other sport”. In 2017, she rode Jockey Club Amy Lee in the National Games. In 2018, she rode Jockey Club Fleurelle in the Asian Games.

On a typical day, Ho gets up at 7am, starts riding at 9am and returns home at 6pm. The work schedule is longer when she has to take her horses to a show. She tries to have half a day off each week to catch up with paperwork. As she is “fighting with time all the time”, there is no such thing as socialising with friends in her world. Does she miss it? “To be fair, not hugely. I decided riding is what I wanted to do. You either do it or not at all. You can’t do it half and half. It doesn’t work,” she says.

Strong as she is in persevering in her sport, Ho says there had been times when things went wrong and she questioned herself if all the hard work was worth it. In the end, her love of riding - and her urge to compete - always got the better of her.

“I live to compete. I live to go to those big championships. Now you have the HKJC helping and supporting you, you don’t feel like you’re doing it on your own, but you’re representing the club and the country,” Ho says.

Ho is currently part of the Hong Kong Equestrian Performance Plan, launched by the Club last year to help top athletes achieve international success. “It’s been very helpful. In the past, every rider had their own agenda and there were no team goals. Now everything is much more set. We have the trainers’ input and we have contact with the sport psychologist and nutritionist. It’s a great help,” she says.