Hriday Chheda — a member of the 2023 Asian Games gold medal-winning Indian team in dressage, the first equestrian gold for India in 41 years — has been training hard after bagging the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Award for 2023–24. 

The award has motivated the Mumbai rider to look ahead, preparing for the highest level in dressage for the forthcoming Grand Prix-level Aachen 2026, FEI World Championships. He also has The Dressage Asian Continental Championship 2025 in Thailand in his sights and the next Asian Games in 2026 in Japan. Always on the horizon are the Los Angeles Olympics, still a while away in 2028. Yet every athlete dreams of the ultimate and LA is also on Chheda’s radar, distant but omnipresent, like the faint thundering of horse hooves in the distance.