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The
family name of Maktoum is as
recognisable to horse racing as
Schumacher is to Formula One, but the
achievements of a 16 year-old member of
that famous
Dubai
ruling family has eclipsed any of those
by their all-conquering Godolphin
stable.
Sheikh Ahmed Bin
Mohammed Al Maktoum created history in
September by becoming the first ever man
to win the Endurance World
Championships, which were held during
the World Equestrian Championships in
Jerez
,
Spain
.
Riding Bowman, the
brave youngest son of General Sheikh
Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Dubai
’s Crown Prince and Minister of Defence, mastered
unfamiliar terrain and some of the worst
weather conditions riders had ever
encountered to be crowned a worthy
champion by some margin.
Sheikh Ahmed fended
of the challenges of 149 of the
world’s greatest endurance riders from
35 countries to show the world that he
has fulfilled his awesome potential as a
truly gifted rider.
He was ecstatic at
the finish line and admitted that the
victory took him by surprise.
He said: “The race
was very tough. It had all the best
riders and the very best horses so to
finish on top is really something. I
honestly did not expect to win but I
feel great and very proud.”
Sheikh Ahmed’s 13
year-old ride Bowman has been trained by
Margaret Wade of
Australia
who finished third in the grueling 160
km race. Second was
Italy
’s
Antonio Rosio who was full of admiration
for the young champion.
Sheikh Ahmed was a
part of the
United
Arab Emirates
team which was made up of his two older
brothers – Sheikh Rashid and Sheikh
Hamdan – and his experienced father
Sheikh Mohammed.
The UAE team was
fancied for gold,
but the unseasonable
heavy rains that pounded the route
before and during the race proved a
massive hindrance. The UAE team had
trained and prepared for the
Championships expecting firm going and
hot weather, but they were one of the
many teams caught on the hop. Heavy rain
continued throughout the day in short
bursts turning the once dusty tracks
into a watery bog. The conditions were
to prove influential as the mud pulled
off many shoes, and the slippery going
caused knocks and injuries.
Sheikh Mohammed was
one of the riders to fall victim to the
conditions when his horse, Fay, slipped
and injured its foot and he was forced
to withdraw. This did enable him though
to cheer on his sons who were all going
well.
“The horse had
shoes for dry weather, but the rains
came pouring down and we could do
nothing,” said Ismaeel Mohammed,
trainer of Sheikh Mohammed’s endurance
horses.
But despite their
father’s misfortune, the three sons
were going great guns and were well up
with the leaders. Sheikh Rashid, the
reigning European Champion, was setting
the pace but disaster struck at the end
of the second stage when the vets
decided his horse, Maradon, was not fit
to continue. Up until that point he
seemed unstoppable but the vets stuck by
their decision, forcing Sheikh Rashid to
join his father on the sidelines.
With Sheikh
Rashid’s exit, the UAE’s hopes of
winning team gold were finished so
attentions turned to individual gold
with both Sheikh Ahmed and Sheikh Hamdan
well in contention. Two other UAE riders
– Saeed Abdullah Al Ketbi and Saif Ali
Al Ketbi were still going well close
behind.
At the end of the
fourth stage and with 19.3 km left,
Sheikh Ahmed was in the lead with his
brother in third. Saif Ali Al Ketbi was
fourth. But there was more
disappointment as Sheikh Hamdan was
withdrawn before the final stage could
begin.
With some of the
world’s most experienced riders on his
tail, Sheikh Ahmed, who was the youngest
rider in the field, kept his composure
to cross the finishing line without
another rider in sight. He even had the
luxury of going the wrong way at one
point but the constant advice from his
father in close attendance guided him
home. Saeed Abdullah Al Ketbi finished
fifth.
It was also the first
time in the Championship’s 37-year
history that a rider from the Arab or
Asian countries had won a medal of any
description.
Sheikh Mohammed had
said before the race that the winner
would have to beat a UAE rider for gold
but on the day no one was up to the task
and Sheikh Ahmed returned home a
national hero.
Sheikh Mohammed hopes
the victory will encourage more Arabs to
take up the sport, which is one of the
fastest growing equestrian events in the
world. It could one day become a part of
the Olympic games.
He said: “It is
growing at a fast pace. More owners are
breeding horses for endurance and the
Arabian horses are the most commonly
chosen. In Arab countries as well as in
Africa
the sport is growing fast.
“Whether it is an
Olympic sport or not, whoever won this
event is the world champion. Nothing can
take that away as the world’s best
riders and horses were here. The
endurance event is all about
horsemanship. One must know his horse
well and the horse must understand the
rider’s mind.
“In endurance the
horse must trust the rider’s judgment
and when you say ‘go’, it must go.
The rider and horse become one in this
fascinating test of endurance. It is
easy to make a horse fit for endurance
riding, but to understand him and get
him to trust you is more important and
difficult.
“Endurance is
different to flat racing, not that I
don’t like flat racing, but in this
sport the owners are themselves riding
the horses. It is a sport for the owners
and one of the fastest growing sports
around.”
Sheikh Mohammed added
that he uses endurance riding as a way
of keeping fit, explaining that he loses
between 4-5 kilos during a day’s ride.
“While riding I
begin early in the morning and you
forget everything else. You keep talking
to the horse and also concentrate and
see where he puts his next step. It
helps me relax and I really enjoy it,”
Sheikh Mohammed said.
Reflecting on the
team’s efforts, he admitted that he
was extremely proud and dedicated the
victory, on his son’s behalf, to
President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin
Sultan Al Nahyan, the Ruler of the
Emirates and the Arab World.
Endurance
riding – a growing success
This is the 20th year
of FEI Endurance and it is remarkable
how much the discipline has grown in
that time. Professor Vittorio de Scantis
of
Italy
,
now Honorary Vice President of the FEI,
introduced it to the FEI with the
assistance of Dr George Riedler of
Switzerland
who was then the Chairman of the
European Long Distance Ride Conference (ELDRIC).
In 1982 there were
just four international riders. This
number slowly increased to an average of
18 rides per year up until 1998. This
was the year that the World
Championships were held in the
United
Arab Emirates
.
Thanks to the sponsorship of the UAE,
riders were able to ride their own
horses in the Championship for the first
time and 47 riders came from all over
the world to compete.
This huge attendance
proved the catalyst for an amazing
growth in participation, in 2001 even
with the Foot and Mouth epidemic there
were 130 riders and this year there were
well over 150.
The sport has changed
over these years although the
fundamental principles have not. Today
the rides are faster, the riders more
professional and with that improvement
the quality of all aspects have
generally improved. The challenge for
the next 20 years is to maintain this
improvement and to ensure that as in the
past the horse’s welfare is the
paramount concern of all in the sport.
World
Equestrian Games -
Jerez
,
Spain
The world’s best came together in
Jerez
de la Frontera
,
Spain
for the World Equestrian Games,
September 10 – 22.
The World Equestrian Games are
the most prestigious of equestrian
competition. Held every four years at
different venues around the world, the
Games bring together exceptional horses
and riders for two weeks of world-class
competition.
World
Equestrian Games history
The first World Equestrian Games were
held in 1990 in
Stockholm
,
Sweden
,
and featured six equestrian disciplines:
show-jumping, dressage, vaulting,
endurance, three-day event and carriage
driving. In 1994, the Games were held in
The
Hague
,
in the
Netherlands
.
The 1998 Games were held in
Rome
,
Italy
.
This year, the Opening Ceremony for the
World Equestrian Games was held in
Jerez
de la Frontera
,
Spain
.
A new addition for this year’s Games
was the western discipline of reining,
also known as western dressage.
The
Venues
The Opening and Closing ceremonies, as
well as the dressage and show jumping
competitions, were held in the 22,000
seat Chapin 1 stadium, which is also
home to the
Jerez
soccer team.
The dressage and
stadium jumping phases of eventing, as
well as the cones and dressage phases of
driving, were held in the nearby Chapin
2 stadium. The vaulting competition took
place in Chapin 3, a 6,000-seat covered
sports pavilion.
15 kilometers from
Jerex lies Vicos-Garrapilos, which was
be the venue for the endurance phase of
the eventing and driving competitions,
as well as the endurance competition in
which Sheikh Ahmed flew the flag high
for the UAE.
Jerez
is located in the south of
Andalusia
, and is known as the horse-capitol of
Spain
. The city has a long tradition of horse events,
and hosts the Horse Fair and the Autumn
Festival each year, both featuring the
top levels of equestrian competition.
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