Three children from a remote mountain village in China travel on horseback for three hours a day in order to attend their nearest school . The eight-year-olds endure the 16km round trip every day accompanied by their elderly grandparents - who walk for six hours a day to ensure their grandchildren get the education they themselves were denied . The grandparents of Huang Shijun , Huang Chenbin and Huang Lingyan take the children from their remote home in Mudong village to school every day on horseback , leading the animals along the muddy , rocky and winding track 1,300m above sea level . The grandparents take it in turns to lead the horses along the trail , which is 1,300 metres above sea level . The journey can be dangerous , particularly when it is icy - then the children have to stay at home . The children , all from the Yao ethnic minority group , are all 'left-behind children ' - which means their parents have left them in the care of their grandparents while they look for work in towns and cities miles from their village homes . The People 's Daily Online reports the youngsters have ridden the horses along the muddy and often dangerous road to school for the last three years . All three youngsters are in Grade One at Liuli elementary school . Huang Shijun , Huang Chenbin and Huang Lingyan are all aged just eight - and travel 16km a day to school . Huang Lingyan ( left ) said she loves going to school by horse - and all her friends are jealous of her transport . The muddy road from Mudong to Liuli village was only built in 2010 , supported by government grants and can not carry cars . The school has just one teacher , who has worked there alone for five years , teaching two classes with 19 students in total . Huang Fengjun , Huang Chenbin 's 60-year-old grandfather , has been using a horse to carry his grandson to school since Huang Chenbin started preschool three years ago . He said the three families had three horses and use them to carry their children to school . During busy seasons for farmers one elderly person takes all three children to school on behalf of the three families . The children often get soaked through on their daily excursions as they can not carry umbrellas when it rains . After arriving at school , the horses are tied in front of the school 's field to graze and the elderly people return to their village . At 3pm the grandparents walk back to the school to take the children home . According to Huang Fengjun , their horses are very docile and do not run around or kick people . But at the beginning of March one horse ran into the mountains and disappeared . Now the three children have to share two horses to get to school . The children often get soaked through on their daily excursions as they can not carry umbrellas when it rains . Huang Fengjun said : 'Rain will wet their clothes and shoes , so we use plastic sheets to cover the kids and then take them slowly on the horses to school . ' But when the weather takes a turn for the worst and the mountain pass freezes it becomes too slippery and dangerous to travel on . When that happens the children are forced to stay at home . The school has just one teacher , who works there alone , teaching two classes with 19 pupils . Huang Lingyan 's grandmother said that Huang ( pictured ) is clever , sensible and studious . The tiny school has just one teacher and two classes - eight-year-old Huang Lingyan came first in her class . Huang Fengjun said : 'We all hope that they study hard and become promising in the future . 'We hope that they can leave the mountains to see the outside world as soon as possible . ' At Huang Lingyan 's home , there are many certificates of merit on the wall . Huang Lingyan , a straight-A student , came first in her class following an exam last term . Meng Binghua , Huang Lingyan 's grandmother , said Huang is 'clever , sensible and studious ' . But she added that her granddaughter often asks her questions about her homework - questions illiterate Meng Binghua can not answer . She said : ' I am an illiterate . What can I do ? I feel sad every time I am asked by my granddaughter for help with her homework . 'Life in the mountain is very hard for an illiterate . I want to send her to school for further study in the future , no matter how hard and tired I become . ' Huang Fengji , her grandfather , said : 'Basically , I can not do other work as long as I need to send her to school . ' I pray that she arrives at school safely without any accident every day . I hope that my granddaughter will be accepted by a good school to win honour for our family . ' Huang Lingyan said : ' I like going to school by horse , all my friends are very jealous and want to have a horse as well . 'Sometimes we let them have a ride , when there is time . My horse is also my friend as well . '
Children from remote village in China must travel 16km to nearest school . Journey is too long for them to walk so two children share three horses . Their grandparents walk six hours a day to ensure children get to school . But the mountain road can be dangerous especially when it becomes icy .