On July 8, the equestrian events of the 12th National Traditional Sports Games for Ethnic Minorities opened in Zhaosu County, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, known as the "Hometown of Chinese Pegasus Horses". The event will last until July 13, with 229 athletes from 12 delegations across the country participating.
The equestrian event is the first event to start in this Games, and it is also the one with the most participating teams in all the previous equestrian events. It is divided into national equestrian events and equestrian performance events. National equestrian events include national horse racing, horse archery, horse picking Hada, and individual biathlon. The performance events are divided into three categories: competitive, skill, and comprehensive.
After the opening ceremony, the first equestrian event, the 2000-meter national horse racing, started. After fierce competition, Zhaxi Pingcuo, a player from the Tibetan team, won the first gold medal of this Games with a score of 2 minutes 24 seconds 68.
