Al Shira’aa changes the horse sport in UAE
The team from Flanders Foal Auction has landed at the CSI4*-W show in Abu Dhabi, where the very first Flanders Embryo Auction of the year will take place. Luk Van Puymbroeck and Gerald Lenaerts have auctioned before in the UAE and were now invited by HH Sheikha Fatima, the driving force behind the showjumping sport in the United Emirates. She has a tremendous influence on the sport here. The grand-daughter of the founder of the UAE has had a studfarm with broodmares and young sport horses in Great Britain for eleven years already and she hopes that her stock will produce the next GP showjumping horses for the Arabian riders.
The international show has a high European standard with an Arabian touch and it attracts an increasing number of riders. “72 horses were flown in from Europe and every year there are more. Ten years ago you would find max 28 riders here in a 1.40m class, nowadays there already are 80 to 100 riders able to jump a 1.55m class. The sport has grown so much and become more professional due to the efforts of Sheikha Fatima”, says event director Samantha Kettle (30), who has been riding for the Al Shira’aa Stables since she was 18. Samantha spends most of the year in Great Britain, although she was born in Abu Dhabi in the days when her father trained racehorses for a sheik.
Clear rounds for Flanders embryos
Her eyes often follow the proceedings in the ring for several self-bred horses and horses bought as a foal from the Al Shira’aa Stables. They are jumping in this class for 6-yr-olds. “Our first bought Flanders embryos jumped clear rounds in the class for 5-year-olds. That provides strong motivation. Sheikha wanted to add something new and innovative to the show, something exciting, a Flanders Embryo Auction. A chance for the Emirates to invest in the best bloodlines from the European breeders.”
Admittedly, most of the Arabian riders are not exactly looking for a foal still to be born, but rather get a ready-made horse that they can start right away. “But we have come to realize how expensive that can get. We are convinced that buying a very well-bred embryo or foal via Flanders offers a unique opportunity for later having a very exceptional showjumping horse in your stables.”
Growth of Al Shira’aa
Samantha Kettle started her career at the Al Shira’aa Stables as a rider. “We had bought a horse from Marion Hughes in Ireland and we got two from over here. By now Sheikha has 170 horses in Great Britain and about 50 to 60 in the Emirates. She has her own studfarm, stables here and supports the UAE-team and the Nations Cup. We have another two Grand Prix horses to possibly qualify UAE for the Olympics, and then there is a big gap. She no longer buys Grand Prix horses, she no longer believes in that, they have to be generated by their own training. There is a large group of horses coming on.”
Four riders are working on that in Great Britain, coached by Harvey Stuart. “It does take time, but we have patience. This is what gives us the biggest joy: to develop youngsters into Grand Prix horses. An annual target is to qualify youngsters for the World Breeders Championships in Lanaken. The qualifiers take place at Bolesworth International and we scored several times already, which is gratifying for us as breeder and owner. You can start at Zangersheide without having to book a table. There is another advantage of buying a Flanders embryo, by the way, because you can register yourself as the breeder and so start in young horse championships in your own country. In Great Britain you can even win a breeder’s bonus.”
In the meantime the shortlist with the embryos has been made up. Which ones Al Shira’aa Stables will buy, will be revealed later today. The collection can be found on: www.flandersfoalauction.be. The auction starts at 18.00 local time in the UAE (GMT+4), which is 15.00h in Belgium. Please check your time zone.
Luk Van Puymbroeck, Samantha Kettle and Gerald Lenaerts
Al Shira'aa Horse Show