Going into the FEI Asian Equestrian Championships 2025, Ashish Limaye was hoping to get to the podium in the individual eventing competition. Even top three was going to be tough and gold seemed almost out of the picture.
No Indian had ever won the championship and the competition was cutthroat. Both past and present suggested Limaye and his horse ‘Willy Be Dun’ were not the favourites to win gold.
And yet, the duo rewrote history to give India its first individual eventing champion at the Asian Championships.
Almost two weeks after his historic win in Thailand, Limaye still remains on cloud nine.
“(I’m) On cloud nine still. To be very honest, it is definitely a very amazing feeling. It still feels like a dream,” Limaye told Firstpost in an exclusive interaction. “It still doesn’t feel like reality in a way.”
Embassy International Riding School (EIRS) sponsored Limaye, his family members and his close ones had all seen this dream for him for a long time. But heading into the Asian Championships, he was not fully sure whether the dream would be realised or not.
‘On paper, I think I would have been fourth’
Limaye said that the competition was so strong that when he entered the tournament, he was not even eyeing gold. He was pushing for the podium.
“So statistically, I thought I would be something around fourth or fifth. The top three riders were quite strong, like they were Olympians and two of them were the same ones who had placed in the Asian Games. They were again over here with stronger horses, I would say.
“So on paper, I think I would have been fourth, is what my calculation said. And yeah, so going there, I never expected a gold,” Limaye said. “Very honestly, I was hoping for a podium finish for sure,” the 32-year-old said.
Even though there were more accomplished riders than him, Limaye ensured that he rode a perfect race and pounced on the mistakes of his stronger rivals.
“In the end, I think the dressage went well. And then it was just lucky that I was good at both show jumping and cross country and others made a mistake.
“So I think, yeah, the pressure point of view, I think it was the third day or the final day that I had pressure and I felt like, you know, now gold is possible. Till then, I really didn’t think that the gold was possible. It was podium, yes, but gold was a little bit far-fetched.”
‘Willy Be Dun’ does it
The key to Limaye’s success was also his 13-year-old horse Willy, who rose up to the occasion to give Indian equestrian one of its greatest moments. Limaye admitted that his horse is not the best in the word but under pressure, he pulls out his best effort.
“If you consider or if you take a person who knows a lot about horses, he wouldn’t say that this horse has a lot of quality, but I think he always pulls out more somehow. I don’t know how, but he always pulls it a little bit and gives his extra during the championships, which is what I’ve seen. He’s a gem of a person by his heart, in a way. He’s always wanting to give you 100%. He has a special character of his own,” he said showering praise on his “perfect partner”.
Limaye also shared that buying Willy was actually a stroke of luck and he was only bought because there was a lack of better options three years ago.
“I couldn’t find any good horses at that point. So we just bought him. His record wasn’t great, but somehow we just gelled along and our combination just kept growing.
“So yeah, it was a lucky buy, I would say, in a way. And yeah, today I’m definitely happy to have him.”
From engineering to horse riding
Limaye comes from a family of doctors and he, too, is an engineer. In fact, he had to give up on horse riding to pursue engineering.
“I eventually had stopped riding in my 12th grade, completely stopped riding. Then I did my engineering, in the middle of engineering, I asked my dad that I don’t think I can do this all my life. Can I get back into horse riding? And he said, yeah, if you’re going to finish it. So I said, yeah, of course, I’ll finish it.
“So during my second year, I went to Chennai to do an internship. Because one of the coaches over there, I knew them really well, they said that, ‘Ashish, till now, you’ve ridden only one horse a day or two horses a day. So it’s more like a passion. But if you do it 24-7, maybe you might not enjoy it as much.’
“So I went there for one, one and a half months, work with them. And then I came back, did my engineering. Since that day, I have not really thought that I don’t want to do horses.
After that, he says, “It was just horses.”
‘India way behind Europe’
Apart from Limaye’s gold, India also won four more medals at the Asian Champions, suggesting an upward curve in the trajectory of equestrian in the country. Limaye, too, is seeing things change quickly, but he knows India remains far behind the top nations.
“I think there’s a huge boost in the last four, five years. Like me personally, I’ve seen a huge change in the whole system,” he says.
He explains that while the infrastructure and training resources are improving in India, the lack of quality competition is a major difference when compared to Europe.
“We’re definitely way behind the top countries at the moment. But, I think the main difference going to Europe and training over there and training in India is that you’re competing against these top riders… That, I think, is the biggest difference, which is now in India also we have good facilities. We have good horses. We have good trainers. It’s just the competition level, which is lacking.”
He also feels that once the government allows horses to fly in and out of India, that would be a game-changer for the sport in the country.
One more thing that he points out is that horse riding is an expensive sport. He revealed that just the cost of maintaining his horse is “1000 euros to 2000 euros per month at least.” And that is why he wants the federation to do more.
“It is an expensive sport. And that is why you need people to, you know, or the government or the federation start helping more,” he said.
Eyes on LA Olympics
Limaye has his eyes set on the Asian Games next year and then the Olympics. He is preparing for both and remains positive about the future.
“I would say the next (target) would be the Asian Games next year. And then the LA Olympics is what I’m hoping for. Well, I think we are preparing for both. Definitely the next first target is the Asian Games and then the next target is LA. I am positive that it would happen. Let’s see how it happens. But I think I’m pretty positive at the moment,” he said.
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