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Qatar Annual Festival of the Arabian Horse F e b r u a r y
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by Caroline Reeves Photographed by Erwin Escher and Scott Trees
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atar International Show, 1996. Sitting in my comfy armchair in the stands, among the other visitors from around the world, the awning above us blocking out the fierce sun, I looked up to see a stunning bay homebred colt being led into the arena to be presented in its class. I looked at those around me and knew they realized too, that after purchasing some of the finest Arabians in the world and creating their own breeding program, Qatar had more than arrived. We were seeing the start of a new era, for here was a colt unbeatable anywhere in the world. The bar had been raised, and not by an insignificant amount. Gazal Al Shaqab had made his debut. And now it’s 2009, and we’re back in Qatar, to witness Gazal’s even more illustrious son, and his own progeny, on his home ground. After a long, especially wet winter in the UK, trudging through the mud soup, layered up to keep warm and seriously beginning to consider that I might need to commission my own ark, it was fabulous to feel that warm rush of air blanket me as I disembarked happily from the plane in Doha, marveling at the totally clear blue sky and welcoming the same relentless sun, which ironically I would soon be cursing as I slopped copious amounts of lotion on arms that changed from glowing white to glowing red within 24 hours.
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