This combination picture shows Chinese rider Alex Hua Tian jumping over a hurdle. Hua, a student of Eton College in England, leads a group of five equestrian athletes hoping to become the first Chinese riders to compete in an Olympic Games. Courtesy of Alex Hua Tian

Just appearing in the Olympic equestrian competitions in Hong Kong this summer would be a dream come true for Chinese riders. They would be making history, after all.

Now these riders are closer than ever to realizing their dreams since five of them - and their horses - registered with the sport's governing body, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), by the January 1 deadline.

As the host country of the Olympics, China is allotted six equestrian berths - four in jumping and one in both dressage and eventing. Although the final berth slipped away because show jumper Yu Hong could not find the right horse by the deadline, the other five Chinese riders - and their four-legged running mates - need only meet the Olympic qualifications by the end of this June and they will be on their way to the Games and into the history books.

"We can make history as long as one Chinese athlete competes in each event so that China has at least one participant in all 28 Olympic sports," Chinese Equestrian Association (CEA) Secretary General Cheng Qing told China Daily.

In a developing country like China, where the average annual income is $1,740, few can afford the high costs of horse riding. Most people have only a rudimentary understanding of the sport, if that. As a result, no Chinese rider has ever appeared in an Olympic equestrian event.

But as this year's host, China is determined to send an athlete in every sport.

"Equestrian in China lags far behind the world so we have a lot of pressure to achieve that goal," Cheng said. "Now we have five hopefuls. That is much better than we expected."

The mission seemed almost impossible at first due to China's few equestrian athletes and its lack of sponsorship.

Unlike other sports in China, the government is unwilling to invest anything in buying horses.

A sport horse for Olympic competition costs anywhere between 1.5 and 4.5 million yuan ($205,000 to $620,000) and an event rider needs between four and six horses to prepare for the Games. A sport horse for dressage costs at least 5 million yuan ($685,000).

A rider also needs to invest millions of dollars in training, competition, feed and equipment. In total, a rider spends an estimated $2.5 million to compete in the Olympics.

Two people can own a horse, but Olympic rules require that at least one of them come from the same country as the rider.

"China is a developing country and people will ask, 'How can China spend so much money on a horse?' We still need money in many important areas,'" Cheng said.

Cheng said that since a horse and rider should be perfectly matched, the CEA doesn't buy horses for its riders. The commercial management of sport horses also involves a lot of specific knowledge, he said, and the CEA has no experience in that field.

"Equestrian is the most expensive and complicated among all the sports," he said. "More importantly, it won't bring China any medals at the Olympic Games, so we just encourage local governments, wealthy individuals and big companies to sponsor the sport in China."