08 Nov 2016

Horse race enthusiasts from Tonota and surrounding villages thronged Mandunyane grounds to witness the first ever horse race in the sub-district on Saturday (November 5).

In an interview, Tonota Sub-district’s principal programes officer in the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Bernett Kaisara, said horses in the the sub-district were mainly used for farming purposes.

Therefore, they saw it fit to engage the community through the event. The race attracted riders from Tonota, Mandunyane and Shashe Mooke, leading to a total of 19 horses. He said they planned to have this as an annual event.

Kaisara appealed to the private sector and community members to sponsor the event.

He added that they wished to see the event grow to a level of other horse races, citing Maun as an example.

“We want to nurture talent and want our riders to benchmark from professionals and represent our sub-district in other districts or even further be better riders and better professionals,” he said.

Furthermore, he said the other purpose of bringing up this sporting activity was to promote income generation for small scale businesses and bring entertainment to the community.

One of the horse riders, Mompati Fanyane (19) of Mandunyane said he was happy with his horse’s performance.

He said he participated in the 800m and 1200m races, which he both won. He started riding horses when he was 12 years old, being mentored by his uncle.

Fanyane added that his parents bought horses, which were fit and could compete in the races.

He said his love for riding grew and he never looked back as he once in a while competed with other village riders just for fun and to test who would do it better.

Fanyane said he participated in Selebi Phikwe Horse Derby last year and did not win but he never lost hope that one day he would go places. He wished to be a professional one day and participate in high ranked races. ENDS