Well, they say when in Abu Dhabi…you ride the desert. We rode the desert. After a long week of media excursions we broke lose from the group and joined our new friend Sam Cavallo from Equestrienne Magazine based out of Australia on a little jaunt into the Emirati desert of Al Wathba in Abu Dhabi.

Our Arabian adventure, and when we say Arabian we mean horses, started at sunrise.  We hopped into a cab and drove deep into the desert on our trek to EBDAA Stables. For those who have never been to the UAE (United Arab Emirates) it is a country made up of 7 Emirates or states, Abu Dhabi being the richest which is filled with tradition, art, architecture and the love for horses.  Whether it be show jumping, endurance or flat racing  there isn’t a time when you can’t find horses on your television. It’s also one of the safest cities we’ve ever been to. We never once felt threatened or uncomfortable. Well, except maybe at the airport when customs officers confiscated the drone in our camera pack. Other than that one incident ( as we all know airports can be stressful when coming to a new country)  we deeply enjoyed our stay and the drone was returned upon departure.

Alright,  back to our 40 minute drive into the desert. As the sun slowly rose we watched out the windows, taking in the scenes as they briskly flew by.  At one point, I found myself screaming “Camels!” as we passed a truck filled with them heading to the races in Al Wathba. Camel racing and Equine Endurance Racing are huge active sports here. We sat there as we passed miles of what could only be race tracks in the sand with white fencing as far as your eyes could see. We were told later by our gracious host and owner of the EBDAA stable, Hammad, that some of the tracks are vacant as a large endurance park was built a few clicks away that better suited the sport.  That is one thing you will see in Abu Dhabi, opulent and beautiful structures, palaces or monuments if you will, built to accommodate in the grandest fashion and some which stay in commission and others go vacant.

At the lovely EBDAA stable, we were greeted at the gate and made to feel comfortable right away. Our horses were saddled and ready for our leisurely trek through the desert. The horses, all Arabian in breed, were built for the terrain and endurance. All our mounts were sound, healthy and easy to navigate. The saddles were extremely comfortable. As we rode deeper into the dunes our host told us a bit about the history of endurance and how the lands are gradually changing around them. His cultural and equine insight, as an endurance racer himself, was interesting and made for a trek that proved educational as well.  EBDAA offers rides and cultural happenings for all levels of riders. On this outting we were more interested in learning about the horse culture and documenting our ride so we opted out of the “hands in the air gallop” that you often see on instagram 🙂 Instead, we settled in, got to know our host better and absorbed our surroundings realizing, at that moment, that ol’ Wizard of Oz reckoning “we’re not in Kansas anymore”.

Special thank you to EBDAA stables and Hammad for the opportunity to ride with him and the arranging our transport back to our hotel. This was truly an adventure for the books and we would highly recommend it.