NEW DELHI: The last few weeks have been nothing short of a whirlwind for 19-year-old equestrian Niharika Singhania. Securing Merit 4 alongside her horse, First to Cash Out, she booked her ticket to Japan for the 2026 Asian Games. And, as confirmed by the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) recently, Niharika will enter this year’s Asiad as the only woman in India’s Show Jumping squad.The Asian Games selection was no surprise for the teenager. Daughter of businessman Gautam Singhania and Nawaz Modi Singhania, Niharika has put together a string of strong international performances, including clinching a gold medal at the Azelhof CSI Lier in Belgium in April 2025.Nevertheless, despite her international pedigree, her road to Aichi-Nagoya was anything but a smooth ride.
The road to the Asian Games
Earning a place at the Asian Games was as much a logistical challenge as it was a sporting one. For Indian riders, especially, the road to qualification is complicated by international regulations.Because horses based in India cannot be transported directly to Japan under existing export protocols, athletes were required to base their horses in Europe, compete in qualifying events between November 2025 and June 2026, and prepare for the Games from there.“It was definitely very up and down,” Niharika told TimesofIndia.com during an exclusive interaction. “There was a lot of balls being thrown at us. I think our criteria also was updated very, very close to the deadline. So we were all trying to run around, trying to figure out how to accommodate this new framework.”
Niharika Singhania is only 19 (Special Arrangements)
The ultimate test of resilience came when her primary horse, Iron Lady, who had taught her the European ropes, fell ill just weeks before the crucial deadline.“A few weeks before the deadline, she started not feeling so good,” Niharika shared. “Coincidentally, a week or two prior, the horse that I’ve qualified with, Cash (First to Cash Out), came to the stables. He was actually supposed to be a horse for next year, to build up for bigger levels… And then we started going, and I was like, ‘Wow, this horse is unreal.’ Over the first weekend itself, we decided, ‘Okay, I think this can be a horse for the Asian Game trials.‘ So then we gave it a shot with him, and it really worked out.”
It all began from a school trip
Niharika’s romance with the sport began entirely by chance at the age of 12 during a school trip. “Honestly, for me, it was not something that was at all planned,” she revealed with a smile.“With school, we had gone to this camp in Pune, and just randomly over there, I fell completely in love with it. I was like, ‘I love the horses.’ Everything about it. I came back, and I was just pestering my parents… ‘Please let me ride!'”Her parents guided her to a local racecourse. She spent four years training under Asian Games veteran Yashaan Khambatta, who is now her teammate for the 2026 Games.
For me personally, I really like to spend a lot of time with them in the stables
Niharika Singhania
Seeking to push her boundaries further, Niharika relocated to Europe two years ago to train under Belgium’s veteran rider Vincent Lambrecht.
A stable of eight
Today, Niharika has eight horses, six of which are stationed in Europe and two in Mumbai.But in show jumping, a rider is only as strong as the partnership they build with their horse.“There’s 100 different ways to approach a horse,” she explained.“For me personally, I really like to spend a lot of time with them in the stables. I think that’s how you get to know them. If I have to read my book, I’ll go and sit in the stables and read it. It’s just them getting used to you and getting used to your energy, and you have to get used to theirs.“What I really find difficult to overcome is when the horses are sick… It hurts you more than something hurting you would hurt you to see that the horse is in pain.”
Finding balance off the saddle
Balancing elite European training with rigorous academics was a daily tightrope walk.While completing her International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma, Niharika seamlessly merged heavy study sessions with full-day stable duties, from cleaning water buckets to tending to her tack.“I was not the perfect student at all, but I tried my best,” she laughed. Fortunately, she received support from her parents, who understood the mental sanctuary that riding provided.
Niharika Singhania rides one of her six horses (Special Arrangements)
“I was lucky the conversation never came up of, ‘Please stop riding until your boards are finished.’ Not at all. For my mom especially, her thing was that if you’re studying for your board exams eight or nine hours a day, you deserve that one hour a day to go,” the teenager added. “She said, ‘Don’t sit there for five, six hours, but go for two hours, go for one hour, enjoy and come back, and I think it’ll help.'”With her qualification officially secured, Niharika is now in the final preparation phase for the September 2026 Games.“The main thing is just to keep the horses in a good shape, and also still liking what they do,” she says. “Enough time that they get to relax, and then enough time where they’re working to keep them in better shape. We have to work a bit backwards from the Asian Games to make sure that they do peak at that time.”Looking beyond Aichi-Nagoya, Niharika refuses to put a ceiling on her ambitions. “My idea with the sport and the horses is always from the start: let me take it as far as I can take it and see what’s possible,” she smiled. “We take it step by step and see how far I can go.”
