Abu Dhabi: Show jumping is not just about being a world class rider on a top notch horse. It is also about patience, years of perseverance and the unspoken bond between horse and human.
And who better to know that than Khalid Al Eid, Saudi Arabia’s and the region’s first Olympic individual medallist in show jumping.
When Khalid won a bronze medal in Sydney on Khashm al-Aan, the world stood back and took notice and it became the corner stone for the sport here in the region.
Since then four Olympics have gone by but Khalid is yet to get another opportunity to have a shot at the medal again.
The agony is limitless as he has repeatedly qualified for the Games but somehow failed to make that final journey.
“To go to an Olympics or World Championships you need a good horse and not just the experience,” says Khalid, who is here in the capital to take part in the Al Shira’aa Horse Show being held at Al Forsan International Sports Resort.
Khaled, however, has continued to win laurels for Saudi in regional showpiece events. In the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, Khalid was in top form on Presley Boy and the Saudi team won the team show jumping gold medal. This was his second gold at the Asian Games for he had won the team gold at Doha 2006 as well.
Khalid has participated in several Arab Games, winning many team as well as individual gold medals — notably in 2011 where the team won the gold medal in the Pan Arab Games in Doha.
“I had to pull out at the last minute from the Olympics three times as I didn’t have a quality horse. It takes a long time to shape up a horse for show jumping. I had other horses but all got injured and I missed out,” reveals Khalid, who is still trying to find a horse that can match Khashm al-Aan’s calibre.
“I have two horses here, Valuta a 12-year-old mare and Plus an eight-year-old stallion. However, they need time to make it big at the Olympic level,” says Khalid, who admitted that missing out on the London Games was heartbreaking.
“Missing out on London was way too disappointing. I was second then on the Global Tour and the horse got injured just a month before the event. In Rio, Saudi didn’t qualify and Qatar made it,” said Khalid, who recalled how the sport grew after his medal winning performance at Sydney.
“That medal was not only for Saudi but for the entire region. The sport was taken seriously after that and in Saudi, we had good programmes for show jumping. We got good funding to buy horses but now that is all gone. We don’t have those horses anymore and ones we have now, needs time,” Khalid, who hailed the on-going Al Shira’aa Horse Show as a huge boost for developing the sport in the region, added.
“It’s been a while since a competition like this has been organised in the region and that’s a good sign. I jump in the small class and my second horse jumped in the big class but I don’t think I will go for the Grand Prix this time,” revealed Khalid, who will be competing in the low categories here at Al Forsan.
“I’m not looking to qualify for the World Equestrian Games from here. I’m giving the bigger class a skip as I have the horse only to perform at that level for the moment.”
