Horse whisperer's passion to jump
United States-born Raena Leung is sparing no expense in chasing her dream to represent Hong Kong
She can speak Cantonese, Putonghua, French and German, but when Raena Leung Hou-ling whispers to her horse to urge him to find his flying feet, it is English she uses.
Born in the United States, the multilingual Hong Kong showjumper has put on hold a career as a sports psychologist as she tries to crack the big time.
"My heart told me to ride," says Leung as she reveals in horse-language her dreams of one day representing Hong Kong at the Asian Games, or even being selected to represent the city when the biggest equestrian show since the Beijing Olympics, the Longines Hong Kong Masters, hits town next February.
"I hope I will be the one to represent Hong Kong in the main competition against the world's best riders. That would be something," says Leung, who was in town last week having taken part in three legs of the FEI World Cup Showjumping China League in Beijing and Chengdu.
The Germany-based Leung, 24, won the event in Beijing and entered Chengdu with hopes of retaining her overall top position in the standings so as to qualify for next April's World Cup final in Gothenburg, Sweden. But a fourth-place finish saw Leung drop to second behind the mainland's Liu Tongyen.
"We ended up with the same points as they only take the two best scores out of the three legs, but since the Chengdu show had a higher rating, he was the overall winner," Leung said.