Dubai: Hundreds of horse-riders are crying foul over a move by Dubai Municipality to stop riding lessons and outback hikes at a popular private stable located in the heart of Mushrif Park.
In an 11-page white paper presented to the municipality last week, private riders at the Mushrif Equestrian and Polo Club (MEC) claimed that a recent contract between the municipality's Park Department and MEC has effectively converted a serious riding school into a "circus attraction" by allowing only fun rides. They have also launched an online petition to garner support for the stable (See Save our Stables).
"The new rules not only deny hundreds of residents, students and tourists use of a riding facility which they have cherished for 11 years but also go against the spirit of sports and the horse-loving culture of Dubai," said Martin Kraeter, a Dubai-based lawyer and an active rider at MEC who launched the petition along with many others.
"We are also concerned about the fate of the 41 horses at the stable, 11 of which are part of its livery which will no longer be allowed to run," said Kraeter, who owns one of the horses in the livery.
720 students
He said the riding school at MEC has 720 permanent students who are taught by professional trainers. They learn everything from basic skills, horse grooming and cantering to dressage, show jumping, endurance and polo. In addition, around 1,800 riders go out into the outback, a natural preserve which covers nearly 80 per cent of the park, on group hacks or otherwise.
"This is a special experience which is only available with MEC as all other clubs offering hacks have to go with their groups into the real desert - they have no park preserve like Mushrif Park."
Kraeter said the terms of the municipality's new contract brings an end to all training sessions at the MEC's arenas and prevents private riders from using the outback. "The only activity allowed is a fun ride in a small stretch of land in the cultivated side of the park. Riders can also use a narrow strip outside the fence of the outback that runs adjacent to the Ring Road," he said.
But what is a fun ride? The white paper by the private riders claimed that the answer they received was a "man-guided leading of persons on a horse in a round circle on a rope ..."
"Well, this we offer mainly for young kids up to the age of five or six years as the so called "10 Dirham Ride": A groom puts the kid on a horse or a pony and guides the horse on the rein two or three times in a circle with a diameter of 10 metres or so…" the paper said.
"What shall happen to the successful riding school and its hundreds of students? What shall happen to the park rides?" it said, adding that park rides cannot be seen as fun rides. "We are talking about serious endurance."
Hitting out at the clause on "no hikes in the park outback", the paper said the strip between the inner park fence and the adjacent parking lots and Ring Road where riding will be restricted to is barely five to 15 metres wide with many park visitors using the areas next to the car park for picnics and barbecues. With horses moving in such crammed areas and traffic plying on the Ring Road, accidents would be inevitable, it added.
The paper also raises questions about the future of the club which could even face closure when its main activities are ground to a halt. These activities are currently ongoing as the club is honouring its pre-paid packages, some of which have a balance of 25 lessons. "We are currently working in an interim period of a couple of months," said an MEC staff.
One student, Yasuko Enomoto from Japan, said she comes all the way from Dubai Marina to take lessons at MEC. "I have been learning cantering and jumping. I feel sad that there will be no training as I find this place amazing. I used to go to other stables but none of them was like this.
"There's something about these natural surroundings, the greenery, the trainers and the horses."
A group of Swedish women who had just finished a ride in the outback also expressed their disappointment at the imminent closure of the facility. "They shouldn't be closing down the outback facility," said Elna.
"They should keep the lessons going as a lot of kids want to learn riding," said Annie Hellner.
The 11 staff members of MEC were also concerned about their future. Yaqoub, one of the trainers, said, "I love it here and am just hoping things won't change for me." Aref Al Suwaidi, the stable owner, said he is aware of the riders' complaints. "I am only going by the rules of the new contract which has just been renewed. I hope there is a review."
Attempts by XPRESS to get a comment from Dubai Municipality met with no response.
