Why equestrian makes its debut as official competition sport at the 26th Shandong Province Sports Games in Tancheng

Equestrian events made their first appearance as official competition discipline of The 26th Shandong Province Sports Games, with all contests hosted at the Akhal‑Teke Horse Breeding Base in Miaoshan Town, Tancheng County. The arrangement is rooted in Tancheng’s solid equestrian‑industry foundation, professional venue conditions and complete supporting capacity.

Tancheng boasts long‑standing horse‑culture heritage. The local Akhal‑Teke horse breeding base is one of East‑China's major specialized horse‑rearing complexes, raising pure‑bred Akhal‑Teke horses, thoroughbreds and Arabian horses. The base owns professional competition fields, warm‑up arenas, standardized stables, horse‑medical stations and supporting athlete‑service facilities, meeting full technical requirements for dressage, show‑jumping and eventing tournaments.

In preparation for the Games, Tancheng carried out comprehensive upgrading and reconstruction for the whole equestrian complex. Works covered competition‑track ground material ratio, stable ventilation and cooling systems, timing‑scoring systems, horse‑isolation quarantine zones and media‑service areas. The venue passed multi‑round municipal acceptance and provincial expert reviews before being approved as official provincial‑games competition venue.

Before the formal Games sessions, the site successfully hosted Shandong Provincial Equestrian Championship serving as the Games’ qualification tournament. It received teams from 11 prefecture‑level cities and 223 horse‑rider combinations, fully simulating formal‑game operations and accumulating abundant on‑site organization experience.

Beyond competition functions, the equestrian venue integrates horse‑culture exhibition, popular‑science education and rural‑tourism experiences. Hosting provincial‑games equestrian events helps Tancheng further expand its equestrian‑cultural brand, drive sports‑tourism integration and fuel county‑level high‑quality development.

Editor：韩蒙蒙