A date with the desert

---

Click to view caption

From dawn to dusk, the 120km horse endurance race begins today photo: Mohamed Mosa'ad

IT'S NOT usual to see dozens and dozens of horseback riders shatter the Saqqara Desert's early morning silence

Today expect to see it. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab reports on the fourth annual Al- Ahram Al-Arabi International Horse Endurance Race. One hundred and fifty male and female riders from around the world will take their Arabian equines across the 120km course from dawn till dusk to monitor their endurance.

The UAE's crown prince and defence minister, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al- Maktoum, is the defending champion of all three previous tournaments. Al- Maktoum does not, however, stand unchallenged. The threat comes from his UAE rivals, especially his son.

The one-day event, governed by international rules, will start from the Saqqara Country Club outside Cairo. The riders will loop around a hilly course overlooking the Pyramids of Giza, Dahshour and Saqqara.

The race is divided into five loops. The first is 36kms, followed by a 30-minute rest. The second is 30kms and 40 minutes of rest; the third 20kms with a 50-minute rest; the fourth is 20kms with a 50-minute break; and a final 14kms followed by a medical check-up.

Contestants from Egypt, the UAE, Jordan, Kuwait, Syria and Romania as well as expatriates from Britain, Germany and Australia will be judged on the condition of their horses as well as the time it takes them to complete the course.

Mandatory check-ups -- blood pressure, dehydration symptoms and injuries -- by veterinarians are conducted on the horses every 30 minutes. If a horse is judged to be physically unfit, for its own sake the animal is taken out of the race.

Endurance riding is defined as an athletic event with the same horse and rider covering a measured course within a specified maximum time. Although the rides are technically races, many, if not most, riders participate to complete it rather than race. To them, the satisfaction of completing 120 kilometres of tough terrain on a horse is reward enough.

In the first championship, the first Egyptian finished in 40th place. The performance improved to 25th place and 16th last year. In the Kuwait version of the tournament held last month, five Egyptian riders took from ninth to 13th place.

Sponsored by the UAE and organised jointly by the Egyptian Equestrian Federation (EEF) and Al-Ahram Al-Arabi magazine, the tournament's prize money is being donated by the UAE.