As a child, Thomas Ho was fascinated by all the cowboys he saw in old movies. The cool and brave style of those fictional characters inspired him to want to be a jockey. But that remained a vague childhood dream, until one day he saw for the first time his elder brother get up on a pony in Pok Fu Lam. Ho was about seven years old – and his future was somewhat set in that moment. “I thought these animals were pretty cool,” says Ho. “It was just something from then that I wanted to really do. It all went on from there.”

Soon after that Pok Fu Lam trip, Ho began to learn horse-riding. In the following years to come, he would join the Hong Kong Pony Club; compete in various competitions as a junior in Hong Kong and even in India. After graduating from university in Switzerland, he returned to Hong Kong and landed a full-time job in a hotel. It was not easy to find a balance between work and his passion for equestrian sports, but when there’s a passion, there’s a way.

In 2014, he was asked by Nicole Fardel-Pearson - a veteran competitor and instructor who taught Thomas and his brother when they were young - if he would be interested in joining the equestrian team that represented Hong Kong to compete at the Incheon Asian Games that year. He took up the gauntlet and began intensive training to get back in shape. During the Asian Games, Thomas and his teammates went on to win an eventing bronze, an achievement that helped Ho establish himself as an elite rider in Hong Kong. Thomas continued to challenge himself, was one of the members of Hong Kong’s first eventing team at the 2017 National Games, with his horse Jockey Club Charelene Old It may sound all smooth sailing, but Ho, currently based and most-often found training in the UK in between competitions, says it is no easy feat to be an elite rider. Solid work, persistence, commitment and passion are among the factors that it takes, he says.

“It’s not as glamorous as people make it out to be,” says Ho. “Socially it becomes all about horses. You’ve got to love what you do, and it’s a lot of hard work.”

Nonetheless, Ho says the sport has brought more into his life than the development of the important skills needed to match the world’s best.

“You’ve got to be really organised. You are not just managing one horse. Generally, to be a good rider you need several horses to be competitive enough and so you’ve got to keep yourself organised and manage all these horses and the events you go to. In everyday life, it teaches you about planning ahead. The competitive aspect is all about getting that edge, and going a bit further in life.”

One of the unique and quite fascinating aspects of equestrian sports is the bond formed between human and animal. As they strive to improve each other each day, says Ho. He works with a team of three horses, of varying age and experience.

“It’s a real commitment,” says Thomas. “Even when you think you’ve got it, sometimes you haven’t. You’re working with animals and they have their own personalities. They pretty much become your best friends. You have to love working with animals if you are going to take on this sport. If you can get yourself and your horse working at a higher level, after you put in so many hours each day, it’s probably the most satisfying feeling you can have.”