The fight has started on two fronts. For the high stakes on public health, Qatar is using all known means against the pandemic. Tests? Of course. Masks? Always and everywhere. Distance? Obligatory. Covid app on your phone? Must be green, it is impossible to move without it. At the show, however, the stakes are temporarily small – the first class presentations were held, hopes were awakened – but it is now that you can bury your championship chances.
The highly subsidized, although only a regional show for Straight Egyptian horses, attracted a large group of breeders. Participation is rewarded not only in the championship, but also in classes, up to 6th place. The lowest paid place in the yearling class is 3,000 QAR, the highest – in the senior stallions with 28,000 QAR, which in the championship increases to 250,000 QAR (60,000 EUR).
The horses exhibited at the show represent breeders from Kuwait, Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and, of course, Qatar, in general there are 228 of them. The most numerous is of course Qatar with 213 horses and just 15 from the other countries, with 1 symbolically from Egypt. The Arabian Peninsula Horse Show (ECAHO Specific Origin) was supposed to be an overview of Egyptian horses bred in Arab countries, which, however, due to such a clear disproportion of participants, was not entirely successful.
Dominating among the breeders from Qatar are; Aljassimya Farm, Al Shaqab Stud, Al Rayyan Farm, Doha Stud, Sh. Hamad Ali A TH Al-Thani (Mudhar Stud), Al Nasser Stud, Al Nawasi Stud and Jathab Arabians, which by no means exhausts the list of Qatar participants. It can therefore be assumed that the amount will translate into the scale of Qatar’s victory – serious foreign competition is Dubai Arabian Horse Stud (UAE) with 3 good horses, Alsayed Stud with 1 and Khaled Baagdoo with 3 (KSA).
In this regional show, intended for Egyptian horses, we do not find any traces of Polish influence, although due to imports, horses of European breeding also participate; Italian, Belgian, Austrian, German, Danish and Irish as well as American and even from Australia.
An interesting fact, however, is the participation under Qatari colors, bred by Dr. Hans Nagel, of the yearling chestnut filly named NH Lara, a property of the newly created, dynamically developing Doha Stud.
The competition – what distinguishes this show from the European ones – were mainly grey horses, in the number of 202, but also 5 black ones (there were also 11 bays and 10 chestnuts).
Therefore, although the name of the show – compared to the small number of representatives of the remaining Persian Gulf countries – turns out to be a bit exaggerated, the number of horses entered proves the scale of the challenge that the organizer had to face.
The hard work of the judges has started, each age class is judged by as many as 10 judges who came from different continents. The pressure is enormous, but there are so many in the ring that they cannot be wrong. So the best will win.
