A FEI judges course for women and men will be held at the Al Asayel Endurance Village, Sweihan, Abu Dhabi on February 10 and 11 respectively. The course is held in collaboration with the UAE Equestrian and Racing Federation.

The course is being sponsored by Sorouh and will be directed by FEI Endurance Chief Ian Williams.

Those interested in taking part in the course can contact the UAE Equestrian Federation on or fax , before February 9, 2008

The Round II of the His Excellency Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa al Nahyan Endurance Challenge for Ladies will be staged on Friday, February 8, 2008. The Challenge, sponsored by realtor company Sorouh, will start off at 6.30 am at the Al Asayel Endurance Village in Sweihan, Abu Dhabi and over 35 riders are expected to vie in the competition. Fourteen riders who had completed Round I successfully will be riding in Round II to increase their points.

The 100-km ride will be run in four phases of 30 km, 30 km, 24 km and 16 km respectively.

Salem Al Ketbi, President of the Al Asayel Endurance Village, stated that the ride is popular both with the national and expatriate riders. He thanked Dr. His Excellency Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Chairman of the UAE Equestrian and Racing Federation, for making the event an annual one and for his continuous support.

The winner of Round II will receive Dh 30,000 and the runner-up will receive Dh 25,000. The top five finishers will also get prizes apart from the Dh 10,000 prize for the Best Conditioned Horse.

The top 10 finishers will earn points which will be accumulated to their overall tallies for the grand prize of Toyota Fj Cruiser, courtesy of Hydra Properties.

Sheikh Shakboot Nahyan Al Nahyan put up a brilliant performance to clinch the first and third places in show jumping competitions held on February 1 and 2, 2008, at the Emirates Equestrian Centre, Dubai.

Sheikh Shakboot was astride Victor B from the Emirates Heritage Club to grab the first place in the Class 8: B1, A2 (One Round with Jump-off, Section B1) category, which he completed in 31.79 seconds with no faults. For the third place he was riding Idiane and his timing was 34.46 seconds. Sheikh Shakboot also won the second place in Class 5 B2 (One Round Against the Clock) riding Isiane.

Second place in this category went to Ali Abdullah Al Kumaiti from Ajman Equestrian Centre who was riding Salsabeel (29.95 seconds, four faults).

IN Section A2 of the same category, Mohammed Abdullah Al Kumaiti, Omran Ahmed Al Owais and Mohammed Ghanem Al Hajri won the first, second and third places.

Other results are as follows:

CLASS 4: C2 (Two phases):
1. Nickle Madsen, Rokerby Flip, Dubai Polo and Equestrian club, 24.60 seconds,
2. Obaid Saeed Al Shaer, Look At Me 2, Al Safinat Stables, 26.28 seconds,
3. Kamal Ziri, Outline De Beaufour, Plantation, 28.87 seconds,
4. Sarah Abdul Aziz Taryam, Coralle 26, Sharjah Equestrian club, 29.04 seconds,
5. Franck Fogarolo, Absolut Mandarin, Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, 31.00 seconds.

CLASS 5: B2 (One Round Against the Clock):
1. Salim Ahmed Al Suwaidi, Natalie 079, Sharjah Equestrian Club, 51.41 seconds,
2. Sheikh Shakboot Al Nahyna, Isiane, Emirates Heritage Club, 55.49 seconds,
3. Humaid Rashid Ejtebi, Kan Sou Du Hameau, Al Arab Stables, 55.58 seconds,
4. Saif Sultan bin Dhahi, Arile De Utillers F, Wadi Stables, 67.84 seconds,
5. Khalid Ali Al Junaibi, Lorraine De Sion, LFS, 70.75 seconds.

CLASS 6: C2 (One Round with Jump-off):
1. Abdul Rahman Al Abdouli, Bashair, Sharjah Equestrian club, 41.29 seconds,
2. Sarah Abdul Aziz Taryam, Tofina Du Lys, Sharjah Equestrian Club, 42.33 seconds,
3. Hisah Ali Al Shamsi, Fundy, Sharjah Equestrian Club, 42.33 seconds, 4. Laura Reader, Shelly, Emirates Equestrian Centre, 41.51 seconds.

CLASS 7: C1, B2 (Accumulator with Joker against the clock):
1. Nickie Madsen, Fockeby Flip, Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club, 48.28 seconds, 44 points,
2. Saif Sultan bin Dhahi, Cassara Z, Wadi Safa Stables, 63.24 seconds, 44 points,
3. Eman Ahmed Al Muhairi, Mozart De Malon, Sharjah equestrian club, 53.91 seconds.

The Abu Dhabi International Show Jumping Championship CSI-W will be held at the Abu Dhabi equestrian Club from January 24 to 20, 2008 and has attracted around 187 countries from 17 countries.

The seventh World Cup Arab League Qualifier will also be held as part of the championship. The competitions for World Cup start every year in August, while the Final is always held in April. This year the final will be held in Sweden.

The Championships are held under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Presidential Affairs and also Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, in cooperation with the UAE Equestrian and Racing Federation.

At the Abu Dhabi show, 94 UAE show jumpers will be taking part in various competitions and the featured competitions will be participated by Sheikha Latifa Al Maktoum, Arif Ahmed, Abdullah Al Marri, Ahmed Al Junaibi, Rashid Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Ahmed Ameen, Adel Khamis, Khalid Al Junaibi, Abdullah Humaid and Muftah Al Dhaheri.

Currently the Syrian rider Fadie Zobaibi leads Arab League Qualifier with 70 points.

Emirates Heritage Club Endurance Cup, , a 100-km ride for junior and young riders is being held on Saturday, January 26, 2008, at Boutheib Endurance Village, Al Khatem, Abu Dhabi.

Over 40 youngsters will be taking into the field to participate in CEI Two-Star JY, EHC Endurance Cup, which will be run in four phases of 30 km, 30km, 24 km and 16 km respectively, and will be flagged off in the village premises at 6.30 am.

Some of the riders taking part in Saturday's ride include Sheikh Abdullah bin Faisal Al Qassimi, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Al Qassimi, Sheikh Saqr bin Faisal Al Qassimi, Shuaib Abdul Razzaq Al Raeesi, Rashed Salem Mohammed Al Faresi, Ahmed Saeed Mohammed Al Faresi, Munthar Ahmed Al Bloushi, Hamad Ibrahim Abdullah Al Marzouqi, Ali Ghanim Al Marri, Khalifa Ghanim Al Marri, Kimberly Dean, Aliya Ali Mohammed Yusuf Al Marzouqi, Abdul Rahman Salem Al Marzouqi Rashed Ahmed Al Bloushi, and others.

The day will also feature two Federation Qualifiers. The 80-km qualifier will run in three phases of 30km, 30 km and 20 km respectively and the 44-km Qualifier will run in two phases of 30 km and 14 km. Both the rides will have a mass start at 7 am.

As many as 31 lady riders got off to an early morning flag-off in the chilly and desert biting cold on Saturday, January 18, 2008, to participate in the Round I of the HH Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Challenge endurance ride at the Al Asayel Endurance Village, Sweihan, Abu Dhabi.

The 100-km ride sponsored by Hydra Properties was run in four loops of 30km, 30km, 24km and 16km respectively. Fourteen riders completed the distance.

Afra Khalifa Al Suwaidi from Al Reef Stables finished in the first place on 13-year-old Arabian chestnut Jen A Dale Zamarah. She finished the distance in three hours, 54 minutes and 36 seconds riding on an average speed of 25.58 kmph.

Aliya Ali Mohammad Yousuf Al Marzouqi on 15-year-old chestnut gelding Wadhnan finished second clocking four hours, two minutes and 44 seconds with an average speed of 24.72 kmph. Bayan Abdullah Abbas Ahmad finished third on eight-year-old grey gelding Reesville Saban. She took a timing of four hours, two minutes and 45 seconds and her average speed was 24.72 kmph. Both these two horses are owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

This is the second consecutive year that the Al Asayel Endurance Village is holding the endurance championship exclusively featuring ladies.Riders from many different countries vie for the challenge.

Sheikha Aliyazia bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Member, Organising Committee of the Village and also the winner of last year's challenge, said she could not ride herself in this round because she was preoccupied with the arrangements at the Village, which has been refurbished with more facilities including overnight staying facilities for 40 horses, premises expansion, etc She said she was overwhelmed by the response from the ladies as it was more than last year.

Sheikha Aliyazia said the ride got a further boost because of the sponsors. "When we have a strong sponsor like Hydra, we can attract more lady riders from different stables and the event can be more challenging."

Sheikh Aliyazia, who will be taking part in Round II of the competition scheduled for February, said everything went off well for the rain and the rain made the loops more user-friendly.

Other two finishers in the top five include Kayleigh Smith from Great Britain who finished the ride in four hours, 11 minutes and 35 seconds. She was riding 14-year-old bay gelding Stanpark Trooper and Sue Sidebottom who was astride 11-year-old Chestnut gelding Fenwick Cadenza, whose timing was four hours, 17 minutes and two seconds. Both of them rode horses owned by Shekh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Minister of Finance and Industry and Dubai deputy Ruler.

Sheikh Mohammad bin Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan gave away the prizes to the winners. "We thank our father for his support and if not for him, this achievement would not have been possible", said Sheikh Mohammad and Sheikh Aliyazia.