Dressage in the desert
OF the 4,079 athletes registered with the FEI under Group VII in 2021, just 19 of them – less than 0.5% – were in dressage, compared to 1,895 in showjumping, and 2,220 in endurance. Surprising? Perhaps not. As well as north Africa, Group VII covers much of the Middle East, where jumping, endurance and racing reign supreme. But could this be changing?
Palestinian rider Diana Al Shaer thinks so. Diana, whose father is from Palestine and whose mother is Russian, has been chosen by Group VII chair Sami Alduhami to head up a new FEI committee designed to help develop dressage in the region.
“There are not many dressage riders in the Middle East, but the more we come together, the more we can achieve. Our goal as a committee is to showcase dressage to people in the region to help promote it,” she says.
Diana grew up in Russia, moving to Germany in her early twenties to train and compete in dressage. She initially represented Russia, competing at grand prix since 2010, but a trip to war-torn Palestine in 2014 ignited a connection to the country.
“Visiting the motherland of my father, I felt it was a big part of me, and seeing the situation out there it was like everything went upside down for me,” says Diana. “The trip was touching and heartbreaking, and when shortly
