Although he comes from a non-horsey family, Fares Azouni seemed destined for the equestrian world. His name means ‘knight’ or ‘horseman’ in Arabic.
Azouni, 20, who holds dual Palestinian/Canadian citizenship and is studying at Erasmus University in the Netherlands, has been making his mark in the show jumping world since his mid-teens and is now representing Canada internationally.
Recently, Azouni placed 8th in the Stawag-Prize 1.40 metre class during the FEI World Championships in August in Aachen, Germany with I’m Special, a 13-year-old KWPN gelding owner by his parents, Ahmad Azouni and Maisa Al Saidi. He was also on the gold medal-winning international team in the 1.40m Prize of Sparkasse for under-21 riders.
“Aachen is always the highlight, and I appreciate that the Canadian federation [Equestrian Canada] selected me to compete there,” he says. “The atmosphere is incredible, the crowd is outstanding. There’s nothing like it.”
Born in Amman, Jordan, Azouni spent his early childhood in Oakville, Ontario (his parents are Canadian). He was 12 when his family moved to Dubai and that’s when he discovered riding.
“I tried every sport, including football and basketball, but there was a riding stable by our house and I started taking one lesson a week,” he says. “I loved horses and it grew from there.
“I started competing at fourteen, then at fifteen I started going to Europe to compete, especially in Germany. At seventeen I moved to Europe to compete, and for university.”
His parents, both lawyers, bought him Tourano, a bay Holsteiner gelding that took him to his first 1.40-metre class and qualified him for the Youth Equestrian Games.
“I couldn’t have reached the level I’m at without my parents, as they bought me the horses I needed. When I turned fifteen, I was ready to compete as a junior and it was a critical time in my career and my training. They invested in Tourano; he’s a special horse and he’s become a part of the family,” says Azouni. Another Holsteiner, Le Chiffre CR, stepped him up to 1.45 and 1.50 metre competition.
Fares initially rode for Palestine in competitions such as the 2022 FEI Youth Equestrian Games in Aachen, where he was on the fourth-placed Team Asia. The same year, he won the UAE Junior Championship and although he was a junior, he began entering senior international grand prix and FEI classes. He has competed extensively across the Middle East and Europe.
Riding for Canada, he was first in the 1.35 metre Young Riders class at the Longines Future Global Champions in the Netherlands in August 2024 on Edgar, a KWPN gelding. Last year in the European Youngster Cup in Austria, he finished seventh in U25 competition riding I’m Special.
His parents purchased I’m Special, a KWPN gelding, three years ago from Elizabeth Bates, a Canadian grand prix rider who’s been based in Europe for the past decade.
“I’m Special has a very interesting personality,” says Azouni. “When I’m riding him, he’s a sensitive type and a little bit hot. He’s my type of horse. In the stable, he’s a big friendly giant and once he trusts you, he’s hugging you with his big head and neck.” With one exception. “Not the vet, though.”
Azouni says I’m Special has taught him how to be patient and take things slowly, and that’s been beneficial in training one of his younger horses, Colorado Z, a tall horse “with the stride of two horses” as that horse needs a similar patient approach.
Azouni calls I’m Special a ‘friendly giant’ who loves hugging people (the vet, not so much). (Leonie Minten Photographie)
His other young horse, Castiglione, is smaller but powerful. “He’s super sensitive and whenever I flat him, he starts playing around. It tells me I’m doing something right, as playing around tells me they are happy.”
His parents not only invest in his horsepower, but his mom Maisa attends every show Azouni competes at. “I know the struggles young riders might face in the sport, and they need support mentally and financially,” she says. She’s amazed when she thinks back six or seven years ago when Fares was learning how to jump and “now he’s competing internationally all over the world.”
She says she’s been gratified to hear from other top riders who have seen Fares riding and have told her he’s a rider with a feel for his horses. “On this riding journey, sometimes you see results, sometimes you don’t, but he’s motivated, he’s doing the right things and he loves his horses.”
Azouni’s trainer since his mid-teens has been Dietmar Gugler of Germany, who has a remarkable record of success coaching young riders. “Dietmar had a massive career and he’s built me from when I was fifteen. He has helped me go from children’s classes to Young Riders to grand prix to where I am today,” says Azouni.
Although Azouni’s goal is to be a professional show jumper, he is studying international business administration at Erasmus Unversity in Rotterdam and is currently doing an internship at Apex Capital, a sports investment firm.
“I hope to use this experience to gain the knowledge I’ll need to open my own start-up company,” he says “The goal is to start my own business, whether it’s in horses or something else. But everything I do is so I can compete as a professional rider.”
He is tentatively looking at entering the ring at Spruce Meadows as early as next year, but his mother says it depends on how the younger horses are progressing, as it makes sense to transport several instead of just one because of the large variety of classes offered.
“My dream is to represent Canada on the world stage, and one of my main goals is to compete at Spruce Meadows,” says Azouni. “I’m building I’m Special up for that, and hopefully we will experience that together.”
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