When Anush Agarwalla rode into the arena at the Paris Olympics, he was not just the first Indian dressage rider to qualify for the Games he was the embodiment of a decade-long personal and structural transformation that Indian equestrian sport had never seen before.
His presence on that grand stage was a culmination of discipline, endurance, cultural dislocation, and the invisible labour that goes into building a sporting ecosystem from scratch. But it was also, as Anush says repeatedly, only the beginning.
Across his words, one theme emerges unmistakably: nothing about his journey has been easy. And yet, every hardship, every early-morning ride in Germany’s freezing winters, every lonely day away from home, built the athlete who would later secure Asian Games medals, India’s first Olympic dressage quota, and a historic Olympic debut.
A Childhood Spark and the Fire of 2012
Long before the medals and milestones, there was a young boy in Kolkata’s Tollygunge Club, sitting on a horse before he even fully understood the sport he now masters. The moment that changed his life arrived years later in 2012, in front of a television screen.
Watching the London Olympics with his father, he saw dressage in its purest form riders and horses moving in harmony, crowds erupting as each performance ended.
“It was the first show I ever saw on television at such a high level it really ignited the fire in me,” he recalls.
That spark led him to chase something far bigger than a hobby. By 11, he knew he wanted to pursue equestrian sport professionally. But Kolkata had no infrastructure for the discipline he would eventually specialize in.
Dressage often described as “ballet on horseback” requires technical precision, world-class horses, quality coaches, high-level competitions, and an ecosystem that simply did not exist in India.
For years, he travelled from Kolkata to Delhi on weekends just to train an extraordinary routine highlighted in his background file. Even then, he quickly realised that India did not have the competitive depth needed for the level he aspired to.
A Leap of Faith at Seventeen: Germany and the Hardest Years
The decisive moment came in 2017 when an opportunity opened to train under Olympic champion Hubertus Schmidt in Germany the global epicentre of dressage. The decision was immediate. Within three weeks, he had relocated.
The transition was brutal.
“I came from a very sheltered family and then going there, living alone in a foreign country no car, no drivers. I did not know the language.”
He was, in his own words, at a “very, very, very basic level” as a rider. The training intensity was unlike anything he had experienced. He struggled with writing, technique, communication, and loneliness.
“If I said I never thought of quitting, I would be wrong but I never doubted myself.”
His father’s advice kept him going: on days he felt like giving up, he only needed to “stick one day longer.”
Those early months shaped him completely building resilience, emotional maturity, and the discipline that would define the rest of his career. And Germany, as both files emphasise, is where the world’s best train, compete, and build their equestrian foundations.
This shift was not merely relocation; it was a rebirth.
The First Breakthrough: Grand Prix Debut and the Promise of a Future
In 2019, two years after arriving in Europe, he competed in his first Grand Prix the highest level in dressage.
“That was another milestone where I learned, okay, maybe I really can do it.”
It was the moment when the dream became tangible. From there, progress accelerated as he trained under Schmidt’s classical system, which emphasises harmony, trust, and finesse principles that would later define his partnership with his most iconic horse, Sir Caramello Old.
Sir Caramello: The Partner Who Changed His Life
The story of Anush cannot be separated from the horse who carried him through his most important achievements: Sir Caramello Old.
The partnership was not smooth initially. Caramello suffered injuries, and Anush struggled to understand him. The breakthrough came when Anush realised the problem was not training it was trust.
“He didn’t trust me that’s when I really started investing in our time together.”
That bond led them to history.
In 2022, the pair became the first Indian combination to compete at the Dressage World Championships. Then came the Paris Olympic qualifiers, where Anush rode Caramello to India’s first-ever Olympic dressage quota.
When he looks back, he says that if Caramello could speak after Paris, he would tell him:
“We’ve come a long way there are things to be proud of and things to learn from.”
Caramello retired after Paris not just as a horse, but as the co-architect of India’s modern dressage era.
Asian Games 2023: The Moment That Changed Everything
No moment accelerated Indian awareness of dressage more than the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Anush anchored the youngest team in the field to a historic Team Gold, ending a 41-year drought for India in equestrian sport. He then won Individual Bronze, India’s first-ever individual medal in dressage at the Asian Games.
It was during this period that he discovered the true power of team culture.
“At the Asian Games, we were all supporting each other it helped us push through and stay mentally calm.”
The medals transformed Indian equestrian perception overnight. They also inspired a new generation proof that the sport was no longer closed off to India.
Paris 2024: A Historic Debut
In Paris, he finished ninth in the qualifying group, but scorelines were not the point. India had never reached this stage before.
The Olympics, Anush says, were crucial for experience. His transcript notes that dressage riders peak around age 30, and at 24, he was competing against the world’s most seasoned names.
Paris was not the destination only a test run.
Equestrian sport is expensive far more than mainstream Indian audiences realize.
When asked about it, Anush is frank.
“Equestrian is an expensive sport and at the high level, you have to shift abroad.”
This aligns with the background file, which outlines the staggering annual costs of training, competition, stable fees, equipment, and horse acquisition in Europe. This is why families, private sponsors, and institutional support become essential pillars.
The Reliance Foundation, he says, has been a major influence in his training particularly in nutrition and psychology, areas he had never approached professionally before.
Every bit counts. Even a one-percent improvement matters.
Life Beyond Competitions: A Structured, Balanced Routine
Away from competitions, Anush is still deeply connected to his horses. He personally cleans, feeds, and prepares them even at major events. Plaiting the horse’s hair before competition a two-hour ritual serves as his mental switch to performance mode.
Music is part of this zone. His freestyle routine set to Jai Ho became iconic during the Asian Games qualifiers, resonating with crowds across Europe. On off days, he cooks for friends, travels across Europe, and balances university classes with daily training. Despite the workload, he loves the grind.
“I never have the feeling that it’s Monday and I want to get to Sunday.”
A Vision for India: 10–15 Years to Become a Powerhouse
Anush believes Indian equestrian sport is finally on the right path.
“There have been massive improvements and in 10–15 years India could become a powerhouse.”
He points out that Germany has had a 100-year head start. India’s journey has only just begun but the results of the past few years are building belief among young riders.
What is needed is structural growth better horses, coaches, competitions, veterinary systems an entire ecosystem. His background document reinforces this long-term strategic need.
The Asian Games medals, he says, lit a spark across the country. Now it must be nurtured.
The Road to LA 2028: A New Partner and a New Era
With Caramello retired, Anush has turned his focus to Floriana, a 7-year-old mare who recently gave him his first S-level win. She is the center of his LA 2028 plan, and her training timeline aligns perfectly with the next Olympic cycle.
The lessons of Paris technical, tactical, psychological will fuel the journey ahead.
“Failure will always come. What matters is how you react to it.”
In one of the final reflections of the interview, he says: “It’s important to analyze what we did well and what we could do better. failure will always come, but it depends on how you react to it.” That mindset is why he remains grounded despite historic successes.
His story is not just about medals. It is about belief, courage, and the willingness to leap into the unknown alone, at 17 to pursue a dream no Indian had achieved before.
Anush Agarwalla is more than a pioneer. He is a blueprint for Indian equestrianism’s future a living example of what is possible when talent is matched with infrastructure, support, and relentless discipline.
From Kolkata to Germany, from Tollygunge to the Olympic arena, his journey has rewritten India’s place in the sport. And with LA 2028 now in sight, he stands not at the end of a dream but at the beginning of the next one.
