Horse Sport editor Susan Stafford-Pooley is boarding a flight to Qatar as I post the first of several installments that Susan has kindly agreed to share as she has a Very Big Adventure in Doha this coming week. Enjoy!
I was recently gazing at the vast winter wasteland outside my window, the long, cold winter stretching ahead with no end in sight, and told my husband I had to get out of here to somewhere warm or I would go absolutely bonkers.
Then a funny thing happened….
I was invited to attend the CHI Al Shaqab in Doha, Qatar, from March 10-15, a major multi-discipline (Concours Hippique International) competition featuring a show jumping CSI5* and a dressage CDI5*, as well as a vaulting competition and endurance race. The opportunity was just too delicious to pass up. The list of top international riders is impressive: in the CSI5*, Edwina Tops-Alexander (AUS), Belgians Francois Mathy Jr., Nicola Philippaerts and Pieter Devos (who is bringing the wonderful Candy, winner of the $1 Million at Spruce Meadows in 2013) Ludger Beerbaum (GER), Michael Whitaker (GBR), Steve Guerdat (SUI), and Denis Lynch (IRL) are just a few of the names that should guarantee some great show jumping.
The dressage lineup includes Patrik Kittel (SWE), Isabell Werth (GER), and Nathalie Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein (DEN) in the field of 23 in the CDI5* (as well as another Dane with the intriguing name of Lone Bang Larsen. Really.) Canada’s own Evi Strasser was originally listed in the CDI, but has unfortunately since withdrawn.
(For details about the CHI Al Shaqab horse show, or to watch live online, just click here)
Some Qatar facts:
Qatar (pronounced Kah-tahr, in case you’re wondering – I was) is touted as the wealthiest country per capita in the world – both oil-rich and natural gas-rich, according to my online research. The capital city of Doha rises out of the desert sands on the Persian Gulf, a mix of the very modern and the traditional – with the stunning architecture of office buildings and hotels mingling with mazes of shops, or souqs, selling a staggering array of goods from Arabic clothing to spices to shoes to falcons.
Qatar, which was recently given the nod to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup soccer final, is an absolute monarchy, ruled by the Al Thani family since the mid-1800s. In June of 2013, Qatar’s ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani handed over the reins to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, his 33-year-old fourth son – currently the world’s youngest reining monarch.
Under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Al Thani, former captain of the Qatar equestrian team, and Her Excellency Sheikha Al-Mayassa Bint Hamad Al Thani, the inaugural CHI Al Shaqab took place in 2013 – the only international equestrian competition of its kind in the whole of Asia. The enormous equestrian facility – which also breeds world champion Arabians – was established in 1992 on a historic Bedouin battle site.
While the Qatari people are said to be warm and friendly, it is a Muslim country and there are certain observances that must be followed in terms of clothing and etiquette:
– no tight clothes (this required me to purchase a new wardrobe, as my clothes get progressively tighter every year, but through age and inactivity, not fashion choice!)
– no knees, cleavage or shoulders showing
– do not turn the bottoms of your feet toward anyone
– never shake hands or pass anything to someone with your left hand; it is considered the “dirty” hand. (I am quite sure that people do lots of “dirty” things with their right hands, too!)
– no public displays of affection such as smooching, fondling or groping (this should apply to the entire world, IMO)
– a woman should not offer to shake a man’s hand unless he extends his hand first
– it is considered offensive to photograph Muslim women
– they have a zero-policy tolerance for drinking and driving, which I thoroughly applaud
But my all-time favourite:
– During Ramadan (which falls in July this year) you are forbidden to eat or drink in public – with the exception of young children, pregnant and menstruating women, the elderly, and the insane. (I fall into two of those categories – you have to guess which two)
I have been attempting to learn some basic Arabic, which I have been told will be appreciated by the locals. I trust that the translation website I found is accurate – I have disturbing visions of an old Monty Python skit about a faulty Hungarian phrase book where a translation for buying cigarettes was actually “Would you like to go back to my place, bouncy-bouncy?” :
I will try to be on my best behaviour at all times, the consummate polite Canadian. I might as well be going to the Moon, it feels that surreal. However, if anybody asks about, or even mentions Toronto mayor Rob Ford while I’m over there, I will be forced to flip them the bird – with my left hand – while swearing and perhaps flashing the bottoms of my feet. Or some cleavage.
Watch this space for updates from Doha.
