Rain test awaits UAE endurance team in Normandy

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Endurance trainer Esmail Mohammad hopes hard work will pay off

By Leslie Wilson Jr, Racing & Special Features Writer
Published: 18:27 August 27, 2014

Dubai: Endurance trainer Esmail Mohammad expects the hard work put in by the UAE team during the summer to pay off when the five-member squad compete in the gruelling showpiece event at the FEI Alltech Equestrian Games at Normany on Thursday.

Led by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, the defending champions take on some of the world’s best endurance riders in the 160 metre event, which for the first time, will be held over five loops.

Mohammad understands that it takes more than just practice to excel at this level of competition and is also hoping that the individual horse skills of each rider will hold them in good stead.

“The team have been practicing very hard all summer, at various endurance sites across Europe,” he told Gulf News. “The acclimatisation is important but nothing can prepare you for the conditions that you will encounter on the day of the ride...

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