Dubai: A new YouTube series has launched based on the memoir penned by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and the Ruler of Dubai.
The series, which launched on Sheikh Mohammed’s immensely popular YouTube channel, is based on his memoir, ‘My Story: 50 Memories from 50 Years of Service’.
In the first episode that released on June 1, titled ‘My First Horse’, the 6.54-minute reel gives viewers an insight into Sheikh Mohammed’s love for horses by narrating the story of his very first companion, Umm Halaj. The episode tells us how he treated the injured horse and got her ready for the first race and the valuable lesson he learned in the process.
Narrated in Arabic, with English subtitles, the clips are a combination of reenactments and real footage captured of Sheikh Mohammed.
The first-person account sees a young prince describe his early childhood, stating that when his mother would wake up at night and couldn’t find him in bed, she often knew he would be down at the stables with his horses.
One day his father, the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, told his son he wanted to organise a horse race in Dubai, which would be open to all the tribes and he wanted Sheikh Mohammed to participate as well.
The young prince was asked to pick a horse from his father’s stud farm to train for the race. While walking through the stable, he noticed an injured pony that had never raced before. Sheikh Mohammed saw the potential in Umm Halaj and decided she was the one he wanted as part of the tournament. The young prince asked him mother Sheikh Latifa to examine the injured horse, who responded willingly to her care.
Sheikh Mohammed calls it the most important project of his young life and had four months to train the horse and get her ready for the race. The young prince diligently treated her with medication daily and her health started to improve in three months.
As the two continued to bond, Sheikh Mohammed describes that his passion and love for horses has also taught him a valuable lesson in commitment, perseverance and success that he continues to carry with him in life.
No date has been provided on when the next episode will air.
