The United Arab Emirates (UAE) cleaned up at the FEI world endurance championships at Euston Park in Suffolk yesterday (26 August), taking team gold and all three individual medals.
A convincing win
The new world endurance champion was Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is the vice-president and prime minister of the UAE and as well as the ruler of Dubai. In individual second place was Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum, riding Yamamah, while Ali Khalfan Al Jahouri and Vendaval claimed bronze.
In fourth place was Spain’s Maria Alvarez Ponton, riding her 14.2hh veteran Nobby. The pair has already won two world and one european championships and she was hoping to match Becky Hart’s record of winning three successive world titles.
Taking two world titles at one event was the UAE, who also won team gold in Suffolk, finishing an incredible two-hours ahead of France who won silver. Oman took team bronze, while the USA and Belgium came fourth and fifth, respectively.
Joining Sheikh Mohammed and Sheikh Rashid in the team event was Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, who finished sixth individually with Kangoo D’Aurabelle.
Pleasure rider
Commenting on his double gold, Sheikh Mohammed said that Madji du Pont gave him a “wonderful ride – all the way through he felt incredible!”
The prime minister is normally associated with horseracing and is one of the world’s leading owners, but said he takes part in endurance purely for pleasure.
“I do not go out to get a result, I go out to have fun,” Sheikh Mohammed said. “I do not try to change position, but ride my own ride.”
Weather worries
There were 147 riders competing from 38 countries over the 160km course, although some of the slower competitors rode a slightly shorter course due to bad weather.
The top 52 individuals and four teams has already finished when a massive thunderstorm moved in, causing concern for the safety of the horses and their riders still on the course. As a result, they were allowed to finish at vet gate five.
“We called the local police and the nearby airforce base who checked on their weather radar, and when we were told the storm would continue until after dark, which was possibly two hours later, we decided that we couldn’t take the risk to carry on in those conditions,” Ian Williams, the FEI’s director of non-olympic sports, explained. “It was the best decision to take and we produced a final classification in terms of distance travelled and their times for the lower placings, so everyone was happy.”