Al Rayyan — Coming Back to Life

AL RAYYAN

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The mare

RUBI AL RAYYAN ( Fares Al Rayyan x NK Rubba)

“Rayyan was down and is now back, supporting all the world with the stallions.”

On the cover: His Highness The Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and Ansata Halim Shah (Ansata Ibn Halima x Ansata Rosetta).

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AL RAYYAN— COMING BACK TO LIFE Denise Hearst alessio azzali anD Henrike Hormann by

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n a breezy, sunny day in Doha in February, Sheikh Hamad bin Ali Al Thani was sitting outside the Al Rayyan Majlis recounting the events of the past three years.

In the adjacent paddock one of the mares, the lovely bay Rubi Al Rayyan (Fares Al Rayyan x NK Rubba), left her friends and her lunch to come and stand near Sheikh Hamad. There she remained for the next hour, nuzzling and gazing at him. It was obvious that the love flowed both ways.

There was a time, in late 2014, when all was not so tranquil at this famed Egyptian Arabian farm. That’s when Sheikh Hamad was summoned. “Sheikh Joaan called me one day and asked me to visit him,” recounts Sheikh Hamad. “When I went to his office, he told me that his father, His Highness The Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, had purchased Al Rayyan and that they would love for me to manage it.

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Top and middle: 2015 Egyptian Event Gold Senior Champion Straight Egyptian Mare and Most Classic Head Straight Egyptian Senior Mare RAYYANA AL ALIYA (Ashhal Al Rayyan x Asrar Al Rayyan).

Bottom: 2015 Egyptian Event Bronze Champion Straight Egyptian Junior Filly SAHLA AL RAYYAN (Ansata Sokar x Sundos Al Rayyan), left, and Gold Champion Straight Egyptian Junior Filly and Most Classic Head Straight Egyptian Junior Filly NAWAAL AL RAYYAN (Ansata Sokar x Nadrah Al Rayyan).

They are pictured with Sheikh Hamad bin Ali Al Thani, Director of Al Rayyan Stud, Qatar, trainer Michael Byatt and handler Austin Colangelo.

“I had been away from Arabians for a long time, four or five years, and I didn’t know what was happening here. I came in the old gate, and I was really surprised by what I discovered.

It was a shock for me and for all those in Qatar who really love horses. The jewelry and the diamonds — the most famous broodmares and precious dam lines — were suffering. Most of the important mares had been sold or given away.

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Top left: The 2019 Qatar International Arabian Peninsula Horse Show Silver Champion Junior Filly MAGIDAA AL RAYYAN (Hilal Al Nakeeb x Furat Al Rayyan).

Top right: The 2019 Qatar International Arabian Peninsula Horse Show Gold Champion Colt DUKHAN AL RAYYAN (Sabeh Al Salhiyah x Serene Ciai Dii), Dukhan also won Gold Champion Colt at the January 2019 Souk Waqif Equestrian Festival.

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Right: The 2019 Qatar International Arabian Peninsula Horse Show Silver Champion Junior Colt ASFOOR AL RAYYAN (Hilal Al Nakeeb x Ghalia Al Zobara by Ashhal Al Rayyan).

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“The Egyptian Event is always a special show for me — it is where we had our first triumphs with Al Shaqab. The air, the atmosphere … it made me feel as though time had not passed.”

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AL ADEED AL SHAQAB

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(Ansata Halim Shah x Sundar Alisayyah), a two-time World Champion Stallion who died in 2018.

EFREEN AL RAYYAN

Top right and bottom right: (Al Adeed Al Shaqab x Sahla Al Rayyan), pictured after winning Gold Champion Colt at the Souk Waqif Equestion Festival Show in January.

SAHLA AL RAYYAN

Below: Efreen Al Rayyan’s dam (Ansata Sokar x Sundos Al Rayyan).

“To start again without the best foundation mares was a big challenge. But God was with us. And the passion was with me, along with the love of this animal.”

Sheikh Hamad wasted no time charting a course. One of his first calls was to Michael

Byatt. “It was in January 2015,” says Michael.

“Hamad said, ‘I’m at Al Rayyan. I need to bring it back, and I want to send horses to the Egyptian Event in Kentucky. When can you come visit?’ I got on a plane the next day.

Hamad had been there a week, and the troops had been mobilized. Everything was firing on all cylinders. We went through the horses.

We figured we could get horses to America by March and ready to show at the Event in June.

So off we went.”

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NJOUD AL RAYYAN

The 2018 filly Jalila Al Rayyan).

(Al Adeed Al Shaqab x

At the 2015 Egyptian Event, Hamad and Michael posed with the Qatari flag along with the Gold Champion Straight Egyptian Senior Mare and Most Classic Head Rayyana Al Aliya (Ashhal Al Rayyan x Asrar Al Rayyan), Gold Champion Straight Egyptian Junior Filly and Most Classic Head Straight Egyptian Junior Filly Nawaal Al Rayyan (Ansata Sokar x Nadrah Al Rayyan), and Bronze Champion Straight Egyptian Junior Filly Sahla Al Rayyan (Ansata Sokar x Sundos Al Rayyan).

“Sheikh Hamad had been there a week, and the troops had been mobilized.

Everything was firing on all cylinders.”

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The stallion

FARHOUD AL SHAQAB

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(Al Adeed Al Shaqab x Johara Al Shaqab), 2010 U.S. Egyptian Event Supreme Champion Male and Champion Junior Stallion, and 2009 Egyptian Event Europe Reserve Champion Colt.

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Foaled in 2008, Farhoud Al Shaqab ranks as one of the finest sons of the late, great Al Adeed Al Shaqab, and is his designated successor at Al Shaqab. Looking at this magnificent grey stallion in his prime, who combines an exquisitely refined head with champion conformation, it is not hard to see why.

Farhoud has not been shown often, but with excellent results. He began his caree r by winning European Egyptian Event Reserve Junior Champion Colt in 2009 and topped this a year later by being named Junior Champion Colt and Supreme Champion Male, both by unanimous ch oice, at the U.S. Egyptian Event. As a mature horse aged four, he was named Champion Senior Stallion and Best Male in Show at the I talian A-Show.

Having Al Adeed Al Shaqab as a sire is certainly a good start for a show champion and a sire, but Farhoud’s dam is also in a class of her own. Johara Al Shaqab is not only a su preme beauty in her own right, but also has an unusual pedi gree for these times, prov iding some outcross blood which has played an important role in making Farhoud wh0 he is.

While many straight Egyptians today, especially in the Middle East, are saturated with the blood of Ansata and Dr. Nagel’s Katharinenhof

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Stud, Johara has just one line to Ansata Ibn Halima. This does not come from Ansata, but through the Gleannloch-bred El Hilal, who was the leading straight Egyptian sire of champions in his time. Johara’s sire Imperial Mahzeer combines the best of old German and old American Egyptian breeding, with predominant Gleannloch and Babson bloodlines that bri ng in precious outcross blood. So does Johara’s dam, Sahaba (Adeeb x Hasanat), who was bred by the EAO. She was one of the first Al Shaqab imports, imported from Egypt in 1992, and provides a close connection to El Zahraa, the source of all straight Egyptian breeding, that is rarely found today. Sahaba was a double granddaughter of the Morafic son Shaarawi and a great-granddaughter of the outcross sires Tuhotmos and Sultan, tracing in tail female line to the Rodania family through Bint Rissala . She produced only three foals in Qatar, of whi ch just one daughter carried on her line in the Al Shaqab breeding program. But this daughter was Johara Al Shaqab, and her contribution is proving to be precious as well as enduring, especially through her son Farhoud. If you add the Ansata and Albadeia bloodlines that Al Adeed Al Shaqab brings into the mix, you end up with a blend of the very best straight

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MARMAR AL RAYYAN

Bottom: The stallion Dhuha Al Nakeeb)

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Top: The 2018 filly (Bahhei Ezzain x Namar Al Rayyan). Marmar’s dam, Namar Al Rayyan, is by Safir Al Rayyan, son of the great Ashhal Al Rayyan and a very special mare: RN Farida. This beautiful mare was out of the mare Noha (Hadban Enzahi x Nadja) from Germany’s Marbach State Stud, and sired by Dr. Nagel’s Salaa El Dine. Noha, who was already 23 years old at the time, was one of three famous full sisters and arguably the best of them, certainly one of Marbach’s best and most beautiful mares. RN Farida was her last foal, and the most beautiful of them all. A prized broodmare for Al Rayyan, she produced many daughters and sons, of which Safir Al Rayyan became his sire’s successor at Al Rayyan.

Namar’s dam Salwa Aljazira is by Sinan Al Rayyan, whose sire Ansata Sinan was one of the most successful straight Egyptian show horses of his time. Sinan Al Rayyan is one of his best sons and one of the most successful sires in the Middle East.

BAHHEI EZZAIN (NK Qaswarah x

Egyptian breeding programs of the past, creating a horse for the future: Farhoud Al Shaqab.

Individual excellence and show wins are all very well, but the true test of a stallion is in the breeding barn. Here, too, Farhoud has fulfilled all expectations, consistently siring typey foals out of mares from a broad variety of bloodlines. His first foal crops include Layali Al Shaqab (out of QR Annah Ferrari ), 2012 U.S. Egyptian Event Gold Champion Filly; Raniah Al Shaqab (out of Rahema Al Shaqab), 2014 U.S. Egyptian Event Bronze Champion Junior Straight Egyptian Filly; Tibrah Al Shaqab (out of Twom Hiddiyya), 2014 U.S. Egyptian Event Gold Champion Junior Straight Egyptian Filly; Victoria Al Shaqab (out of Victoria II HPS), 2014 Arabian Breeders World Cup Reserve Cham pion Yearling Filly; and the full siblings Fayyad Al Shaqab, 2014 Qatar National Champion Yearling Colt, and Ghala Al Shaqab, 2015 Scottsdale Egyptian Heri tage Silver Champion Filly, both out of Ghalia Al Shaqab. With Farhoud now taking his rightful place as his sire’s successor, he is sure to sire many more champions in the years to come.

As Sheikh Hamad said at the time, “The Egyptian Event is always a special show for me — it is where we had our first triumphs with Al Shaqab. The air, the atmosphere … it made me feel as though time had not passed.

“Rayyana Al Aliya is one of those special mares, a perfect picture of type and gracious femininity that we should all search for in a mare. The Ashhal Al Rayyan daughters inherit his classic aura and have proven to be excellent producers.

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Nawaal Al Rayyan e t t y

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Nawaal Al Rayyan’s sire, Ansata Sokar, is one of the few Ansata stallions not descending in tail male line from Ansata Ibn Halima. He was sired by the German import Imperial Madheen (Messaoud x Madinah), who put the small breeding program of Professor Siegfried Paufler on the international map. Professor Paufler was a genuine small breeder, in fact a very small breeder — all his horses came from a single foundation mare, Madinah (Ibn Galal x Mona II). Due to Madinah being an outstanding producer, this small stud bred an astonishing number of top horses, with Imperial Madheen’s influence going global after he was exported to the U.S. and his sons in turn exported to Egypt. It certainly shows what you can do with the right foundation mare!

Madinah was an Elite mare of the German registry, and Imperial Madheen’s sire Messaoud was an Elite stallion and for many years the most heavily used sire in Germany. He was known not only for his type, excellent conformation and trot, but also for his very sweet and calm disposition.

Ansata Sokar’s dam was another outstanding producing mare, Ansata Samantha (Ansata Ibn Halima x Ansata Delilah by Ansata Shah Zaman), dam of six broodmares and two sires, the other being Ansata El Salaam, who became a distinguished sire in Germany.

Both he and Sokar were easily recognizable as her sons in color and type and also tended to pass this on to their get.

Nawaal Al Rayyan, however, is one of the exceptions of the rule, taking entirely after her dam and her family. Her dam, Nadrah Al Rayyan, is one of the many beautiful daughters of Ashhal Al Rayyan, who ranks as one of the first and most significant sires to carry the Al Rayyan name. Apart from carrying three crosses to the great Ansata Halim Shah, Ashhal Al Rayyan is again of mostly German Egyptian breeding. His sire Safir was bred by Dr. Hans Nagel, a double Halim Shah grandson by Salaa El Dine and tracing to Dr. Nagel’s famous foundation mare Hanan in his dam line. Ashhal Al Rayyan’s dam Ansata Majesta was again by Halim Shah, her dam Ansata Malika by Dr. Nagel’s Jamilll (Madkour I x Hanan) out of JKB Masouda, who was a full sister to Messaoud, the sire of Imperial Madheen.

Nadrah Al Rayyan’s dam represents classic Ansata breeding, being by Prince Fa Moniet out of Ansata Nefertiti by Ansata Halim Shah. The dam line of Ansata Delilah-Ansata Bint Misr-Ansata Bint Bukra is the same as that of Ansata Sokar, which makes Nawaal Al Rayyan a pure in the strain Dahmah Shahwaniah of the Bukra family.

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NAWAAL AL RAYYAN (Ansata Sokar x Nadrah Al Rayyan) A L R AY YA N > 8 < W O R L D

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Above and facing page: the mare NAWAAL AL RAYYAN (Ansata Sokar x Nadrah Al Rayyan).

At left: The filly NAWAR AL RAYYAN (Al Adeed Al Shaqab x

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Nawaal Al Rayyan).

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“She will be a messenger for straight Egyptian horses at the big shows, at the mixed shows ... for people who say the Egyptians cannot compete.”

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“To start again without the best foundation mares was a big challenge. But God was with us. And the passion was with me, along with the love of this animal.”

Trainer Giacomo Capacci, second from left, chats with Khalid Al Jehani of Al Shaqab‘s Breeding and Show Department.

“Nawaal Al Rayyan comes from the best classic lines of Al Rayyan Farm. Her sire, Ansata Sokar, has been the senior stallion for Al Rayyan through many years. Her dam is the incomparable Nadrah Al Rayyan, a daughter of two legends: Ashhal Al Rayyan, and the glorious mare Ansata Nefer Isis (Prince Fa Moniet x Ansata Nefertiti), and she is the reflection of her parents: bold, dry, classic, and a delight to be around.”

Over the next three years came the real work of resurrecting the breeding program.

“We started again from the beginning, with a few grooms who were here,” says Sheikh Hamad. “I was coming alone. No office. No vet. I brought Santiago Fornieles in to help, and then a vet, who is still with us, and we started. In three years of breeding results, I can show you what we’ve done. At the January show this year, Al Rayyan had Gold Champion Mare Menouah Al Rayyan

Sheikh Hamad greeting visitors at the farm in February.

(Fares Al Rayyan x Bint Mesoudah M HP), Gold Champion Colt Efreen Al Rayyan (Al Adeed Al Shaqab x Sahla Al Rayyan), Silver Champion Colt Dukhan Al Rayyan (Sabeh Al Salhiyah x Serene Ciai Dii) —Dukhan also won Gold Champion at the February Peninsula Arabian show — and Bronze Champion Junior Filly Al Ghashamiya Al Rayyan (Al Adeed Al Shaqab x Mardyah Al Rayyan). And now everyone has seen the new foal photos coming.

“It’s a big challenge to try new stallions and new blood. Al Adeed did a very good job here and sired so much for me in that first year when I bred most of the mares to him. I used Hilal Al Nakeeb in the beginning and Bahhei Ezzain. And now I’ve brought in Farhoud Al Shaqab.

“It is most important for every farm to

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NASHUA AL RAYYAN

(Ansata Sokar x NK Nahla)

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Like Nawaal Al Rayyan, Nashua Al Rayyan is a daughter of Ansata Sokar, but with a somewhat different maternal pedigree. Her dam NK Nahla was bred by Dr. Hans Nagel, representing the fourth generation of this unique breeding program with no less than seven crosses to Dr. Nagel’s beloved foundation mare Hanan.

Her sire NK Hafid Jamil has stamped Dr. Nagel’s breeding program like no other sire in recent years with his own, unmistakable type, characterized by short heads with not necessarily a very deep dish, but great refi nement, enormous eyes and huge nostrils. This distinctive type has come down through his sire Ibn Nejdy from Nejdy (Salaa El Dine x Lutfia), one of the most

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beautiful stallions ever bred by Dr. Nagel, who sadly died young. NK Hafid Jamil’s dam Helala (Salaa El Dine x Ansata Gloriana), a striking ri ch bay mare, was known for her close resemblance to her grandam, Hanan. NK Nahla’s dam NK Nasrin was by Adnan (Salaa El Dine x Ghazala), a double grandson of Hanan and one of the finest stallions bred by Dr. Nagel, later exported to Kuwait. NK Nasrin’s dam Nashua was one of two beautiful full sisters by Salaa El Dine out of the foundation mare Lutfia (Alaa El Din x Bint Kamla). Taking strongly after her maternal grandsire Alaa El Din in type and in color, Nashua established Lutfia’s family at Dr. Nagel’s stud, where it is the most numerous today.

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MENOUAH AL RAYYAN

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(Fares Al Rayyan x Bint Mesoudah M HP), pictured above with Al Rayyan head trainer Alessio Scaramella.

breed a signature stallion. We have some colts that are very promising, and I am very happy to say we have a stallion-quality colt to represent the rebirth of Al Rayyan – the twoyear-old Efreen Al Rayyan (Al Adeed Al Shaqab x Sahla Al Rayyan). I think he is a colt who will continue Al Adeed’s line. He will be very

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Menouah Al Rayyan has been shown successfully in Europe, and is one of the few Egyptian mares that have shown themselves capable of winning in mixed company, not only at straight Egyptian shows.

Menouah is a daughter of Fares Al Rayyan, by the great Ansata Hejazi out of G Shafaria, a full brother to international sire Ansata Selman and the broodmare Ansata Selma, who is the grandam of Namar Al Rayyan.

She is also related closely to Nawaal Al Rayyan through her dam, Bint Mesaoudah M

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HP. Bint Mesoudah M HP was bred by Horst Preuss in Germany, who continued Professor Paufler’s breeding program for some years.

Her sire is Ashhal Al Rayyan, and her dam Mesoudah M (Messaoud x Madinah) was a full sister to Imperial Madheen. Mesoudah M was a distinguished broodmare whose produce include the multiple champion and sire of champions Maydan-Madheen (by Maysoun), the broodmare Alidah Madheen (by Alidaar) in Kuwait, and the stallion Mishaal HP (by Ansata Sinan) who was exported to the U.S. and was a very successful sire there.

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BINT MESOUDAH M HP (Ashhal Al Rayyan x Mesoudah M)

impressive. I am very happy because he’s different.

So complete. His female line is very important – a very strong Burka line. It’s very nice.

“I have some other colts who have been winning in the shows like Asfoor Al Rayyan (Hilal Al Nakeeb x Ghalia Al Zobara by Ashhal Al Rayyan) who won Silver Champion Junior Colt in the February Peninsula Horse Show. We have two colts by Al Adeed that we are leasing out in Germany. I love to see them grow up in those green pastures, and also to support the breeders, because we are of the family of the straight Egyptian. This is very important – to know that Al Rayyan was down and is now back, supporting all the world with the stallions. It’s very important to find Al Rayyan horses in all the world.

“And I have nice fillies also by Bahhei Ezzain (NK Qaswarah x Dhuha Al Nakeeb) – he is making the foundation mares of the future. One filly by Bahhei

Ezzain, Marmar Al Rayyan (x Namar Al Rayyan by Safir Al Rayyan) will take the heart of every breeder in the world. This one will be very competitive.”

We have watched with interest the wide range of stallions that Hamad has tried, both at Al Shaqab, where he is also the Breeding and Show Manager, and at Al Rayyan. Michael Byatt observes, “One thing that is brilliant about Hamad is that he is willing to spin the roulette wheel over and over. For instance, he brought in some bay horses with good legs. Not many people have the passion or the financial wherewithal to do this, not to mention the vast history.”

For Hamad, whose start with horses was as a show jumper, correct conformation is important, too. He cites Nawaal Al Rayyan, who will represent Al Rayyan at the Menton show in June. “She is a complete mare,” he says. “She will be a messenger for straight Egyptian horses at the big shows, at the mixed shows ... for people who say the Egyptians cannot compete. She will send a message to everybody. If you have the right horse, a complete horse, it

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The filly KUWAIT AL RAYYAN (Bahhei Ezzain x Salwa

The filly FAWZ AL RAYYAN (Hilal Al Nakeeb x Noof Al Rayyan).

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Aljazira) with trainer Alessio Scaramella.

The filly JAFFAL AL RAYYAN (Al Adeed Al Shaqab x Mamlukan Al Rayyan).

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doesn’t matter what the pedigree is. Proof of that is when we started Al Rayyan in 1994, we won the World Championship with the Egyptian mare Imperial Phanilah (Ansata Imperial x Imperial Phanadah). And again with Al Adeed Al Shaqab – two times!

“The problem is not with the straight Egyptian horse, it’s with the breeders,” Sheikh Hamad continues. “They don’t have

the vision and strong heart to breed for a complete horse. More often they are concentrating on just the type. When you breed only for type you will lose many things. You have blinders on and can see only the head. You can’t see anything else of the horse. It’s important for straight Egyptian breeders to not focus on the head, but to breed a complete horse.”

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“It’s important for straight Egyptian breeders to not focus on the head, but to breed a complete horse.”

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No one could accuse Sheikh Hamad of lacking vision or a strong heart. In fact, his bold and sometimes unorthodox breeding decisions have, on behalf of His Highness The Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, made the Arabian horse world a better place. As Michael notes, “In Qatar, Sheikh Hamad is thought of as the person who brought glory and fame to the nation by bringing the Qatari Arabian to a position of worldwide prominence.”

Perhaps that’s not surprising, after all, he was born loving horses. “I think of this period of Al Rayyan as the ‘coming back to life’ chapter,” says Sheikh Hamad. “And of my time here at Al Rayyan as a surprise and a gift.”

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Sheikh Hamad bin Ali Al Thani TRAINER: Alessio Scaramella P.O. Box 201000 · Old Rayyan Street Doha, Qatar · Tel: + 974.5508.3371 Email: alrayyanstud@gmail.com

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