ARABIAN HORSES STAKE CLAIM IN THE HEARTS OF CAMEL OWNERS
A growing number of horse racing fans have big plans for the future, writes Anna Zacharias
The desert town of Madinat Zayed is famous for its camel beauty contests, but in a few years it could also be known for its racehorses.
As 15,000 camels gathered in the desert south of the town to battle it out in the beauty stakes, a very different crowd was holding another kind of competition in the sands to the north.
A handful of UAE-bred Arabian horses raced down a converted camel track at the festival’s Al Dhafra Horse Race.
There were only 20 horses in the three races for Dh42,000 in prize money, and almost no spectators.
The 1,700-metre, 1,400m and 1,200m races were named in honour of the camel festival, but similar races are held nearly every two weeks by those who hope their city can make a name for itself in horse racing.
Owners credit government support and a new international outlook for the growing popularity of horse racing in the Dhafra desert towns of Ghayathi and Madinat Zayed.
“Now we can say we are 95 per cent camels and 5 per cent horses,” said Saif Al Murar, a vet from Madinat Zayed attending the races. “Before we were zero per cent horses.”
Owner Ahmed Al Muhairbi from Madinat Zayed nodded in agreement, and pointed at the fresh sand beside the track where his horses trotted before the first race.
“You see this sand? All this is new. It cost Dh900,000. The horse was not here 10 years ago.”
Mr Al Muhairbi won second and third place in the 1,700m race. His odds were always good – not only is he a well-known owner, three of the nine competitors were his.
Racers praised the government, which converted an old camel race track into a horse track in 2010, offers regular races with prize money and, they say, gives every support to horse owners.
“It’s happening now because our government is encouraging this,” said Rashed Al Kindi, 37, an owner. “Ten years ago, they didn’t have racing and now they give land for it.
“When Sheikh Hamdan [bin Zayed, Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region] came seven years ago, the first thing he said was, ‘Who has horses?’” Government support is part of the appeal for Mr Al Kindi.
“The Government says if you have five horses, you can go to the Government and get land.”
Mr Al Kindi, a graduate from a university in California, bought his first horse on Sunday for Dh25,000 from a local breeder. Like many, his husbandry experience is limited to camels.
“I have race camels already and here is something new for me,” he said. “People who have horses are different than people who have camels.
“You know, Bedu, they like camels. Here, people who like horses are graduates.”
Prestige plays a role. The city has become more international and horses are associated with international tastes.
“All these people graduated from the US and the UK and they like horses,” Mr Al Kindi said. “All people like camels because camels are traditional, but now they’ve become international.”
Mr Al Kindi estimates that most horse racers in Madinat Zayed are aged 25 to 45.
The camel pageants, by contrast, are filled with young men who have been given camels or, in some cases, taken loans.
“Camels are for 16- or 17-year-olds,” he said. “You don’t need to buy camels because your father has hundreds of camels.”
As the sport has taken off, there is only one type of horse they want to buy. “Everyone here has an Arabian horse and nobody has a thoroughbred,” Mr Al Murar said.
“An Arabian horse because we are Arabian.”
Hamed Al Hameli left camels permanently five years ago to devote himself full-time to breeding Arabian horses.
“Actually the Bedouin people, they know very well about horses but we don’t know technical things. They’re not like other animals. They get sick easily.”
He expects racing in Madinat Zayed and Ghayathi to take off in the future.
“Everything will change,” Mr Al Hameli said.
“Just a few days ago, our horses from Madinat Zayed got first in Al Ain and Abu Dhabi.”
I have race camels already and here is something new for me. People who have horses are different to people who have camels RASHED AL KINDI Horse and camel owner