Australian coach Robert Hutcheson with a young rider in Dibrugarh. Telegraph picture

Dibrugarh, Dec. 24: With the dates for the 34th National Games to be held at Jharkhand being announced, the Equestrian Federation of Assam (EFA) has started its preparation for the games with specific focus on endurance.

A coaching camp is under way in Dibrugarh to prepare and select the team for the forthcoming National Games, which begin on February 12.

Despite the limited time available, efforts are being made to complete the 60km training programme before the Games.

“In order to encourage young riders and to promote endurance riding, the EFA had organised for the first time a junior endurance ride on December 23, over a 20km trail. Students from Delhi Public School, Numaligarh and Assam Valley School, Tezpur, took the ride,” Siddhartha Sharma, the secretary general of EFA, said.

An advanced training camp is also in progress under the guidance of Robert Hutcheson from Australia, who is being assisted by Brig. (retd) K.S. Rao. The riders participating in this camp are Sajid Khan from Assam Valley School, Tezpur, Sagar S. Choudhury from DPS, Numaligarh, Jitender Singh, Banamalie Boro, Prafulla Rajuwar, all from EFA, Wakambam R. Singh, Hijam P. Singh, Salam D. Singh and Sarat K. Singh (all from Manipur Equestrian Association). Most of them already participate in competitions. A regional centre for equestrian sports for the northeast will be established in Dibrugarh.

“The Northeast has a large pool of resources for equestrian sports which is still to be tapped. Efforts by the EFA have always been an able attempt to tap these unexplored talents. We will continue with our efforts,” Sharma added.

Hutcheson, who has been to Dibrugarh earlier, felt the riders can really do well if they continued with the advanced camps.