Benny Sargent during the Chinese visit to his farm in November 2009 in Lexington, Kentucky. Photo: Courtesy of Kentucky China Trade Center

Benny Sargent is not the kind of man you'd expect to bump into in Beijing. Yet the Kentucky farmer and American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) horseman of the year has almost become a regular in the city however, checking up on creatures he raised on his farm in America's fertile South.
Sargent was a first among American horse breeders when he sold a dozen horses to owners in China, having been introduced to local buyers by the Kentucky state trade office in Beijing. Now he's invited to China by the horses' new owners who want to know how to ride them, Western or cowboy style.
Indulging a little too many John Wayne epics perhaps, a core of Beijing horsemen are keen cowboys, among them the man who hosts Sargent in Beijing, Chu Wen. He's a real estate developer turned horseman whose Yihe ranch brings a slice of cowboy life to Badaling.  The 40 horses he has in the ranch will soon be joined by six American thoroughbreds currently in quarantine. "I've also just purchased three Spanish horses," adds Chu. "They're very expensive. But I can't tell you what they cost; that's a secret."
Chu and several other buyers, among them a Qingdao riding club, paid between $20,000 and $50,000 for the horses from Kentucky, most of them mature (6-to 10 year olds) and already trained, according to the Kentucky trade office in Beijing. The prices didn't include the cost of shipping the animals here on a cargo plane which took the bloodstock into the skies at New York's JFK airport.
Importing horses is a difficult last leg in a process that began with a visit to Kentucky for Chinese horse buyers organized by the state's Beijing trade office. The director of the office, David Snodgrass has become something of an authority on importing horses to China, having ironed out the many snags that arose in bringing the Sargent horses to China.

Chinese delegation of AQHA World Championship Show 2009. Photo: Courtesy of Kentucky China Trade Center

A genial Putonghua speaker, Snodgrass had been more accustomed to nosing out business opportunities for coal mining machinery and Kentucky fast food chains like Papa John's. But an interest in horses developed when the local Chinese horsey set began asking him for help sourcing horses from Kentucky. "We were visiting equestrian events in Beijing, which is the center of that activity in China. When people started asking us to take them to Kentucky to buy horses I had to go out and find sellers in Kentucky."
Perhaps attracted by Kentucky's role as host of this year's World Equestrian Games, the Chinese buyers were, explained Snodgrass, really keen on barrel racing - a distinctly American pursuit of racing (typically Quarter) horses in and around lines of barrels. Hence Snodgrass' first call was to the Kentucky chapter of the AQHA. While Kentucky is the center of America's thoroughbred breeding and racing scenes, the Chinese buyers were looking for quarter horses.
Horsemen to the core, the Kentucky breeders were more than bemused at a query about selling horses to China. Not surprisingly perhaps only one wrote back. "They're by and large conservative farmers from middle America for whom the concept of selling horses to China is very foreign," explained Snodgrass who took a group of 40 Chinese buyers to Kentucky and Oklahoma last November.
That's not entirely the case though - the AQHA exhibited at last year's China Equestrian Expo in Beijing, alongside representatives of breeds and breeding societies around the world. David Avery, director of international programs at the AQHA said the breed suits China, still formative in equestrian sports, because "most Quarter Horses sold have a well rounded background meaning they have the capability of performing in several different events."
"The Quarter Horse in particular has a mild mannered disposition and people friendly demeanor," said Avery, adding, "we have been doing an advertising campaign and plan to attend more trade shows in China and Asia. We have also been developing educational materials to be translated."
While imports of horses are increasing (three Spanish horses were flown into Beijing in July by the local representative of the Pure Race Spanish Horse Federation) China's equestrian scene remains immature next to countries like Japan, where a thriving racing scene has produced a support scene of vets and feed specialists. A lack of local expertise (and, from my talks with people in local equestrian circles, a seeming lack of interest among national sports bodies to regulate and support equestrian pursuits here) poses problems for would-be importers of horses. Snodgrass tells a salutary tale of a horse purchased in Oklahoma by his Chinese visitors which had to stay behind in the US because it proved positive for equine venereal disease - "because he was immunized against it, it was a false positive."
The aforementioned healthy animal won't be allowed into China till US equine veterinary standards - accepted by Japan and the EU - are recognized here. There are others meanwhile who question whether horses imports should be allowed till China improves its animal welfare standards. The Beijing office of the International Federation for Animal Welfare reported that horses were mistreated in a long distance race (whose length exceeded internationally sanctioned norms) at last year's National Games in Shandong.
I myself have unfortunately seen too many examples of local quick-buck equestrian clubs run with little care for horse welfare. Yet conditions and feed have been so far in order at any stables importing Kentucky horses, said Snodgrass. He does however note that local barrel racing riders use their Kentucky horses more than riders in the US, "because they have fewer of them."
Kentucky will be glad it's made the connection to China, given the state's suppliers of horse feed and care products may be able to get follow-up business here. Equestrian events in Beijing tend to be poorly organized, said Snodgrass, whose office had locals impressed by an equestrian-themed event hosted for the Kentucky governor at the Beijing International Equestrian Center in Daxing. While Chinese participation in the event's competitions is still in doubt local enthusiasts like Chu Wen will likely learn more when they return to Kentucky for the World Equestrian Games in October.
They may of course return with more horses. Money certainly isn't an obstacle for the local rich, for whom riding has become a hobby (and a reason to open the private-member equestrian clubs that have opened around China). Dismissing any such notions of grandeur, barrel-racing Chu Wen believes horse riding can be for the commonpeople. "It's very good for keeping you fit."
Barrel racing and the differences between English; Western riding
Barrel racing, as practiced by Chu Wen and friends, is a discipline of the American style of horse riding. From the American West, the Western style of riding comes from when cowboys trained horses specifically for use on large ranches. They used a much larger saddle than the other (English) style more popular in Europe. This allows riders to distribute their weight across the horse's back so the animal can work for longer. The Western saddle (known for its large forward horn to drape a lasso rope) is also more comfortable for rider and its stirrups longer. The bit and reins are also different - longer and held with one hand - compared to the two-handed English reins. English riding evolved in Europe, where many riding disciplines popular today originated in the military. English style tack is more light-weight and formal than its Western counter-part, maximizing contact between horse and rider. English riders use the legs to prompt their steed, and also rely on their reins, held (unlike Western reins) separately in each hand. Riding crops are common, especially in English competitions like show jumping and dressage, which feature more formal dress than you'd find in any competitive Western discipline.