(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
Doha: The increasing number of participating riders and especially female riders who are excelling both in show jumping and dressage in the Longines Hathab Qatar Equestrian Tour Season 2020-21 supported by The Social & Sport Contribution Fund is highly encouraging, says Ali Al Rumaihi, Event Director and Organizing Committee Member, Longines Hathab.
Speaking on the sidelines of the dressage event of Hathab Round 4 at the Qatar Equestrian Federation's indoor arena yesterday, Al Rumaihi, himself a former Olympian rider, said while the young riders have bucked up and are steadily improving in their performances they are also being encouraged to go for online tests competitions in dressage which has become quite a trend.
'It makes us happy to see riders like Maryam Ahmad Al Boniin, Maryam Ahmed al Semaitt, and Asmaa Yasser Mohammed that they are competing in two disciplines of equestrian and doing a really good job. It also encourages other young lady riders that can be in both show jumping and dressage. All these riders are also working quite hard to stay in contention at this level. I hope soon they will be ready for international competitions and eventually aim for say the Asian Games. This is the goal to encourage them to think of reaching such levels at the moment, said AL Rumaihi.
He also revealed that the riders are also competing in other competitions in dressage overseas online.
'They are doing a great job participating here and also online, he said.
Elaborating on how they do it, he said: 'Online if you participate, they give you the tests and you practice on it, record your performance and send it to the judges who then assess it and give you points accordingly. Then you see where you stand.
'They also have special equipment like cameras which can be placed at strategically to follow the rider and for the sensor to track the horse's movements.
'There about nine from Qatar who are already competing, but you will see more and more soon, he added.
Competing in an online dressage event means there is no for travelling, no stress, no riding in public and a whole month to get your test ridden, videoed and submitted. Plus there are a number of classes to choose from.
Opining on the on-going fourth season of Longines Hathab and overall progress in equestrian since the event was launched in 2017, Al Rumaihi said yesterday: 'The aim of Hathab has been this right from the start to get people to know our sport. You can see now so many young new faces who are competing, they want to buy their own horses.
'From this we can find a new generation of riders, new juniors, and teams which can only be based on such new talent. You can't do that with a handful of riders, you need to have a big base to choose from which Hathab is helping produce.
'If we continue in the same vein, in five years' time you can see a big difference, he concluded.
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