The national Saudi equestrian team’s global participation in the games was certainly an accomplishment and a blessing from Allah for our nation to prosper. The spirit of this prestigious sport is a great expr ession of Saudi Arabia’s rich national identity, and it is our duty to support the Saudi Arabian Equestrian Federation so it can grow and improve even further. Through thoughtful and resolute action, we can overcome barriers, reclaim our historic glory, and move ourselves further along the road to gold. [7] This strong cultural component to Saudi equestrianism has also been detailed in a book titled Equestrian . [8] The Equestrian Fund Saudi Arabia won the bronze medal at the equestrian events of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, and while I celebrated the achievements of our riders, I felt a disconnect between those accomplishments and the overall status of our federation. I wanted our riders to accomplish even more but was unable to bring this to pass. [9] I ultimately decided to hand the leadership over, but stayed involved with Saudi equestrianism. In 2009, I took on a new role serving the nation, empowering the youth, and supporting the federation by expanding Saudi equestrianism to a more international level. This time, a group of people and I formed an independent legal entity known as the Equestrian Fund. [10]
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The fund took on the difficult task of achieving quick wins. Through reliable management and fostering the capabilities of Saudi riders, the fund achieved more for the cultural, athletic, and social aspects of the sport in three years than we could have ever dreamed. It helped Saudi Arabia win silver in the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, USA, bronze in the first Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore also in 2010, and bronze in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, UK. The Kingdom also held exhibitions during the Kentucky and London competitions, giving the world a glimpse of Saudi equestrianism. [12] [13] One of our major social and cultural achievements was the musical The Last Horseman , the 2014 production in which the Equestrian Fund invested under the patronage of King Juan Carlos of Spain and inaugurated by Queen Sofia in Madrid. [14] The musical, which was set in the 1800s and took an immense amount of time, effort, and resources, tells the story of Imam Faisal bin Turki and Abbas Pasha of Egypt, and their shared love of horses. It was their connection that gave rise to the famous historical document The Abbas Pasha Manuscript , which was published in 1993 and considered to be the first major writing on Arabian horse bloodlines. One of the musical’s main characters was Tarrad, the metaphorical link between the Arabian desert and Western culture. Tarrad was played by our own poet Prince Badr bin Abdulmohsen. [15]
Unfortunately, as we were unable to secure funding and support from the private sector, the musical did not become an ongoing theater production.
The support of my Saudi friends and colleagues have led to many endeavors I am proud of, one of which is bringing the Nations Cup series to the Kingdom. [16] I have, however, long hoped for the creation of an equestrian training and development center supported by both the public and private sectors. We have already started laying the groundwork for this, having selected a site in Thumamah National Park in Riyadh that can host a recreation center for equestrian sports, and we have also completed the preliminary studies of the project in coordination with the Riyadh Development Authority. [17]
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