The trainer holds the horse by a rope, neither slack nor taut, while his young student circles at a gentle trot. Despite the towering construction project in the backdrop, the white fences, sheet roofs and late-afternoon trees still conjure a faint sense of the countryside.

Not far from the heart of downtown Shanghai, the YCL Riding Center is one of dozens of stables that have cropped up in China’s biggest cities. For affluent parents eager to educate their children as widely as possible, the sport can help meet the extracurricular requirements exclusive overseas universities expect.

Deborah Kay Gooden, a British trainer, helped to develop the programme at YCL, which was recently accredited by the British Horse Society. She recalls one camp where the parents were invited to watch the students “mucking out” the stables. “They were amazed,” she says. “They weren’t disgusted. I think they saw their children in a different light.”