10 international judges administer the Dubai International Arabian Horse Championship competitions

On Sunday, the Organizing Committee of the Dubai International Arabian Horse Championship held the draw to select the judges for the twenty-third edition of the tournament, which is scheduled to be held from the third to the fifth of next April, at the Dubai Exhibition Center in Expo City Dubai, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, with prizes totaling four million dollars.

The drawing ceremony took place in Al Ain Hall in the Dubai World Trade Center, during a press conference, in the presence of the tournament director and member of the Supreme Organizing Committee Qusay Mohammed Obaidullah, the executive director of the Dubai International Arabian Horse Championship, Adel Al Falasi, the vice president of event services at DXB Live, Abdullah Lootah, and the assistant director at DXB Live, Ahmed Saleh Al Abdouli.

The lottery resulted in the selection of 10 main judges accredited by the European Thoroughbred Arabian Horse Competitions Organization (ECAHO), namely: Tamás Rombauer (Hungary), Eric Geyer (France), Jonas Salzmann and Michaela Weidner (Germany), Robbie den Hartog (Netherlands), Gianmarco Aragno (Italy), Irina Stilger (Russian Federation), Willie Brown (South Africa), Terry Holmes, and Joe Polo (United States). Two reserve referees: Elias Faraj (Kingdom of Bahrain) and Claudia Darius (Germany).

Qusay Muhammad Obaidullah confirmed that the Dubai International Arabian Horse Championship is one of the most prominent and important beauty championships for purebred Arabian horses in the world, noting that it attracts an elite group of the best qualified horses from various continents, according to a qualification system approved by the European Organization for Purebred Arabian Horse Competitions (ECAHO).

He explained to “Emirates Today” that participation in the tournament requires horses to achieve advanced positions in approved tournaments, including the “Title” championships and Class A championships, in addition to the Las Vegas and Brazilian championships, or to achieve advanced positions in approved national and local championships and category (B) and (C) championships in various countries of the world, in addition to the requirement of winning first place in the Abu Dhabi Championship of the Emirates Arabian Horse Association.

He added that the organizing committee expects between 150 and 160 horses to participate in the new edition of the tournament, explaining that the approved requirements aim to enhance the strength of the artistic competition. He said: “In selecting the participating horses, we focus on the technical quality and level of competition more than on the number of entries, which gives the tournament greater weight on the competitive level.”

Obaidullah touched on the mechanism for selecting the winners of the tournament, explaining that the arbitration system is based on calculating points, where horses are evaluated with grades from 1 to 20 in the elements of type, head, body, and limbs, with the highest and lowest grade in each category excluded, in a way that ensures the highest standards of fairness and transparency. In the event of a tie, the highest score in the type element is referred to, then the movement, before resorting to a vote by one of the judges if the tie persists.

He pointed out that the horses that finish in the first three places in each category qualify to participate in the final tournaments, as the horse nominated for the gold medal gets four points, the silver gets two points, and the bronze gets one point, provided that a tie in the final tournaments is decided according to the total number of points.