Undeterred by dusty roads or tiring tracks, this senior IAS officer prefers a horse ride to her government cavalcade, to maintain live contact with people in remote villages and get a first-hand information about their problems.

For villagers, who have started calling her the "lady on a horse", the 49-year-old Divisional Commissioner Snehlata Kumar Bhagat, clad in a pair of trousers atop a horse, was a common figure during last four elections.

"Horse riding is my passion. It also allows me to reach out to inaccessible areas and catch tardy officials off-guard," Bhagat said.

Riding across coarse terrain, Bhagat had inspected polling booths during panchayat elections in far-flung villages, ensuring tight security for a free and fair polls.

"I had used a horse during Lok Sabha, assembly and urban bodies polls too," she said, adding, the government had provided five horses to maintain law and order and she intends to use all the resources available.

"I had picked up riding during my training as an IAS officer and was told that if you cannot handle a horse, how can you handle a district," Bhagat said.

Her passion had helped her maintaining discipline in the offices she had headed. Her surprise inspections, at around 6.30 am in the mornings during her regular horse rides, had kept officials on their toes while she was posted in Bhopal.

Bhagat, a mother of two, came into the limelight when she bagged two silver medals in swimming events during the All India Civil Services competition at Chennai.