Four of 13 starters completed the test ride for the title race in the UAE; footings expert to assess part of the natural desert track.

Riders who have trained over European terrain are unhappy to be facing a desert race, and there is astonishment that the troubled UAE won the bid.

Many 120km endurance rides in the desert will have to run under FEI rules in future, unless organisers drastically reduce the number of foreigners invited.

Fans of ‘desert racing’ seem baffled by the suspension - not surprising, against a background of widespread disregard for the rules.