DUBAI (WAM) — The UAE Equestrian and Racing Federation has announced that its four-strong dressage team has passed the vet check and will go on to compete on Tuesday in the team competition and individual qualification.
The UAE will be represented in the team dressage competition for the first time since equestrian sports debuted at the ninth Asian Games in 1982.
Riding for the United Arab Emirates at the 19th Asian Games are Ali Khalfan Al Jahouri on Ecencka, a 14-year-old KWPN mare by Jazz; Mohamed Jassim Al Serkal on Hermes V, an 11-year-old KWPN gelding by Bretton Woods; Natalie Lankester on Cash DXB, a 16-year-old KWPN gelding by Hexagon’s Rubiquil; and Bianca Schütz on Fearless WS, a 9-year-old Westfalen mare by Franziskus.
Back in 2006, the UAE secured team Gold in Endurance, along with individual Gold and Bronze in the same year, as well as an individual Bronze in Show Jumping. Four years later, the UAE’s Show Jumping team secured two silver medals, both team and individual.
On Wednesday, the riders will again take to the area to ride the complex FEI Intermediate I test to qualify for a place in Thursday’s Freestyle, with the best 15 horses from the previous day’s competition competing for a medal.
Organised by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Asian Games bring together the OCA’s 45 member countries to compete in a diverse range of 40 sports, including the three Olympic equestrian disciplines of dressage, show jumping and eventing.
