Arabische Pferde IN THE FOCUS 1/2018 (Vol. 13) - Leseprobe

Sport Distanzreiten
the diversity of these parameters, ride categories
and comparable ride lengths make sense as
a constant.
AH: What effects do you see that comes
from the sponsorship of European endurance
rides by the Middle East?
A.A.S.: Basically, sponsoring over the past 20
years for endurance rides was mostly positive.
The problem is the border crossing: The sports
promotion, so to speak, became a "take over".
If at at the price giving ceremony of the Junior
World Championships, which are an FEI event
after all, only the first three are mentioned, and
the winning team from the country of the main
sponsor celebrates itself for 30 minutes, then
this does not comply with what I would call a
fair and for all appreciative competition. Especially,
for these young riders the wrong signals
are given. Furthermore, with massive sponsoring
including travel grants and arrival bonuses,
as we could see at some sponsored competition
in Europe during 2017 and which have been
already announced for 2018, big starter fields
are generated. But this will take riders away
from established rides, which are organized by
several very active people in countries such as
France, Belgium, but also in Germany, which
resulted in 2017 in drastically reduced numbers
of participants at various rides. Also, endurance
riding as a sport will change with the influence
of the sponsors also in Europe and become flat
and fast races, which have nothing in common
anymore with the challenge of a rider-horse
team against a demanding technically challenging
track. On top of that are the declining
prospects for success, because only on technically
challenging tracks riders of other nations
have a chance to win. Above all, however, also
in Europe more and more rider will train according
to the motto "faster, faster", which - as
previously mentioned - is paid for by the horses.
AH: Now, one could say, the Middle East is
far away, and nothing like that will happen
in Europe. But the effects of this scandal are
also felt in our country - in which way?
A.A.S.: It is the effects of the development, that
we get to feel more and more. Dead horses can
never be completely excluded in any Equestrian
sport. Tragic accidents or unfortunate circumstances
can always end deadly, as, for example,
in 2006 during the WEG in Aachen, where
we happen to be part of the German team,
and a horse from Scandinavia got severe metabolic
issues after only 10 km and had to be
put down. That was not because of the type of
race. However, what we cannot tolerate are the
system-immanent fatalities: cannon fractures,
splinter breaks, and heart failures. These are the
consequences of physical stress way beyond the
physiological limits of the animal's life. This also
causes considerable damage to the image of the
endurance sport. Although, here in Germany,
we have nothing to do with this type of sport,
which is solely focused on speed, our endurance
riders are discredited by other riders and parts
of the public. Apart from the usual prejudices,
that endurance riders cannot ride, and if so, only
straightforward, we now have to face the accusation,
that we have a sport in which horses
die frequently. Although this is not actually the
case in our country, it makes it difficult to get
recognition for your achievements, to establish
this fascinating equestrian sport, to get the normal
sponsorship for national and international
events and slows down the development of endurance
riding in Germany, because young riders
are being kept away.
AH: What kind of measures can be taken
in our country? And how would you advise
a breeder, who considers selling his endurance
horse to a group VII country?
A.A.S.: I would wish for a clear statement of
the FN and the VDD (German endurance riding
association), an active search for co-operation
with other organizations in other countries,
such as Scandinavia, Switzerland and the US,
and a common approach to the FEI. For breeders,
who wish to sell their horses to a group VII
country, I have no advice. In the end, everyone
has to answer this for himself. Each individual
has the freedom to decide, that's also true for
participating at invitational rides - and also
here, one has to differentiate -, just like when
selling a horse. Today, everybody can get information,
if the prospective buyer has had any
fatalities or if his records show frequently fast
rides. The FEI has a publicly accessible database
for each rider and each horse. Nobody can say,
he didn't know about it.
AH: Thank you for your clear words, and we
wish you continued success for your horses
and your family!
(the interview was conducted
by Gudrun Waiditschka)
Background Knowledge United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates are a federation
of seven emirates, founded in 1971 under
Sheikh Zayed [bin Sultan Al Nahyan]. Abu
Dhabi takes the most important position,
it is the biggest in size with the most money
(i.e. oil and gas). All the other emirates
have been integrated into the UAE at the
time, through skilful negotiations and concessions
of the old Sheikh Zayed, who, as it
seems, has been a really smart and downto-earth
state founder.
The present ruler of the emirate Dubai is
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
in short Sheikh Mo. Already Sh. Mo's father
[Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum] began,
to build his own industrie, apart from
the contractually agreed commissions from
Abu Dhabi. He wanted Dubai to become the
"Gateway to the East", i.e. the role that once
was taken by Beirut, which lost this position
due to never-ending conflicts over the past
decades. Sh. Mo successfully advanced already
during the lifetime of the old Sheikh
Zayed this strategy, and today, Dubai is
known world-wide and is the destination of
many million holiday-seekers, companies,
that make use of the world-wide biggest duty-free
zone Jebel Ali (the biggest free trade
harbour on earth) and myriads of business
men from all over the world. Part of the
marketing strategy of the Al Maktoum family
is, to achieve and hold a leading role in as
many areas as possible. This serves primarily
the political goals of an autocratic ruler
model.
With regards to endurance riding, the UAE
appeared for the first time at the World
Championships in Kansas 1996. In the following
five years, endurance riding developed
with breathtaking speed in the UAE
and elsewhere, mainly due to Sheikh Mo's
support. Horses, trainer, rider, vets - all
knowledge was bought, as far as possible.
The achievement of the Al Maktoum family
were well promoted, and so also the rest of
the country began to get interested in this
sport, and investments were made mainly
in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The state founder of the UAE, Sh. Zayed died
in 2004, his successor as president was Sh.
Khalifa [bin Zayed Al Nahyan]. His brothers,
among others, are Sheikh Sultan [bin Zayed
Al Nahyan] (Boudheib] and Sheikh Mansoor
[bin Zayed Al Nahyan] (Al Wathba). While
Sh. Zayed did not engage in any of the activities
as known from Dubai, his sons are
different and started after his death to develop
Abu Dhabi in a similar way - although
less excessive -, to promote it world-wide
and to open it more to the West, may it be on
a cultural or business level (Ferrari World,
Formula 1, museums, etc.). Financially, Abu
Dhabi is the more potent partner in the UAE
and so, more and more of the prestige of
Dubai was taken away by Abu Dhabi which
also took more and more influence on the
sports area, among others with two endurance
cities (Boudheib of Sh. Sultan and Al
Wathba of Sh. Mansoor), and with influence
on the National Federation (FN) - much to
the annoyance of Sh. Mo, who had - until
then - a rather free hand with regards to
the decision who would go to any championships,
as well as other political decisions.
With regards to endurance sports, a competition
developed (also in between the two
ruling families within the country), which
over time escalated in such way, that everyone
wanted to be the fastest in his country,
and fatally, many private owners copied
this attitude and tried to beat the leading
endurance stables - which de facto is not
possible -, often without any fundamental
knowledge.
Because of the known escalation, Boudheib
left the common line and did his won thing
(Boudheib initiative), Al Wathba remains so
far unchanged. But there seem to be some
disagreements between Dubai and Al Wathba.
So, it remains exciting. F. Brueck
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