AL RAYYAN — COMING BACK TO LIFE
On a breezy, sunny day in Doha in February, Sheikh Hamad bin Ali Al Thani was sitting outside the Al Rayyan Majlis recounting the events of the past three years. In the adjacent paddock one of the mares, the lovely bay Rubi Al Rayyan (Fares Al Rayyan x NK Rubba), left her friends and her lunch to come and stand near Sheikh Hamad. There she remained for the next hour, nuzzling and gazing at him. It was obvious that the love flowed both ways.
There was a time, in late 2014, when all was not so tranquil at this famed Egyptian Arabian farm. That’s when Sheikh Hamad was summoned. “Sheikh Joaan called me one day and asked me to visit him,” recounts Sheikh Hamad. “When I went to his office, he told me that his father, His Highness The Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, had purchased Al Rayyan and
