UAE Senior Sheikh Speaks Out Against Winning at All Costs

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

November 11, 2016

by: Pippa Cuckson

A senior Sheikh from the United Arab Emirates has spoken out about the “winning at all costs” mentality in endurance which has “broken” the core relationship between horse and rider.

HH Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed al Nahyan gave his landmark address at the World Horse Welfare Conference in London on Thursday, to welfare workers and other horse industry professionals from all over the globe.

He did not hold back from blaming UAE riders and trainers for the speed-obsessed, racing-style endurance “which ultimately led to our highly publicized situation in the press.”

“Speed is the number-one problem,” he added. “The higher the speed, the greater the risk of compromised metabolism, severe lameness, fracture and death.”

He said UAE endurance has broken “the relationship between horse and rider; horses often ridden and trained by inexperienced people; mismanagement and cruelty through ignorance.”

Sheikh Sultan is already admired for reforms introduced at Bou Thib, his own endurance village in Abu Dhabi.
However, this was the first time endurance in the UAE has been openly criticised by one of that country’s most distinguished figures...

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