@iageely
The Saudi girl did not leave the equestrian sport for young people only, but rather broke into the world of horses, and was able to achieve great achievements that many young people could not achieve. The most prominent of these girls was the Saudi knight Alia Al-Hwaiti, who registered herself as the first Saudi knight to enter the horse racing track, after her participation in the championship The International Challenge for Endurance Races, which was hosted by Dubai, became the first Saudi female rider to officially participate in international races, and she achieved seventh place in the Sheikh Rashid bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup out of 90 male and female riders who participated in the race.
Alia Al-Hwaiti, through her recent participation, opened the way for amateur Saudi girls to practice equestrian sport seriously, especially since she had previously participated in several equestrian races on a personal level, but she had not represented Saudi Arabia before, and her relationship with horseback riding dates back to her childhood.
Al-Hwaiti spoke about the female presence in the Kingdom, after winning that title: “I did not follow much the female presence after 2011 in Saudi Arabia, but I remember a group of female jockeys who appeared before that period after the clubs became permitted, and that there are Saudi female trainers, and this is gratifying. Especially since before 1997, there was no Saudi female presence, especially in equestrian, so we are optimistic, and we hope to see the Saudi girl participating in her country and her homeland, and there is no objection to the competitions being female as in the Gulf countries, and from here I see that what Saudi female knights lack is development permanent support.
Alia Al-Hwaiti stressed that she was able to break the restrictions and customs to register herself as the first Saudi female knight, saying: “Equestrianism has been a part of my life since my early childhood. I was the first Saudi horsewoman.
Alia was not the only one in equestrianism. Saudi Arabia, Dalma Mohsen, emerged as the first Saudi female knight to compete in international competitions through the first Youth Olympic Games held in 2010 in Singapore, to win the gold medal by riding a raging horse that she knew only before the race. by one day.
Dalma fell in love with equestrianism because of her mother, the Saudi knight, Arwa Mutabaqani, whose name was registered as the first woman on the list of candidates in the sports federations in the history of sports in the Kingdom. A Saudi woman enters the membership of the Department of Sports Federations through the Saudi Equestrian Federation.
Ibrahim Aqili (Jeddah)
