Opening Ceremony, World Endurance championship

Dubai is hosting  the biggest ever equestrian endurance event when the FEI Endurance World Championship gets underway in  the purpose-built Dubai Endurance City.  Participating in the event are 183 horses representing 41 countries.

The opening ceremony was impressive.  The horses and riders take on the six-stage, 160km race across the UAE's punishing desert terrain tomorrow. The awards presentation will be on Saturday.

Speaking to the media, General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Minister of Defence, said: "This is a sport that is growing very fast and this week it is our pleasure to stage the biggest gathering ever in endurance history. All Arab horses come from the Arabian Peninsula and I am happy to welcome them home." "Win or lose isn't really important as long as you participate that's the main thing," added Shaikh Mohammad, who trained for the event yesterday alongside Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain of Jordan, herself one of six riders representing Jordan. "We are all here this week as an endurance family."

This year's event will be the second of its kind in the UAE the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan played an integral role in fostering the sport's growth in the UAE with the 1998 Championship subsequently designated as the biggest event of its kind in the Guinness Book of World Records.