UAE jumper Abdullah Humaid Al Muhairi: 'I wasn't really expecting to win a medal'

Abdullah Humaid Al Muhairi’s equestrian journey began over four decades ago.

His father owned racehorses, and from a young age Al Muhairi found himself doing flat races, and even winning a few. He then got taller and was no longer suited to it, so he switched to dressage.

After taking part in a few dressage shows, he was encouraged by an Irish trainer to give showjumping a go. He joined the jumping team at what was then the Dubai Equestrian Club.

By age 16, he was representing the UAE in international showjumping events.

“Since then, I really fell in love with showjumping and I haven’t stopped since,” the 52-year-old tells The National while still on his horse, finishing a training session that ran longer than expected.

“I think it's more challenging [than other disciplines]. You can show yourself more if you're really good. You can show your skill. But in racing, you depend more on the horse itself. If you have a good horse, you will win. If you have a bad horse, you will lose. Endurance is almost the same. You have to find a good horse to know the way, how to ride it stage by stage.

“But in the jumping, you have 60 seconds, and you have to show everybody how good you are in the 60 seconds. But before the 60 seconds, you have to work so hard, so long, day and night, until you reach that level.”

In a sport that knows no age, Al Muhairi pulled off one of his biggest achievements earlier this month when he clinched two silver medals in team jumping and individual jumping at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

Riding his nine-year-old bay-coat stallion, Al Muhairi helped the UAE, alongside Omar Al Marzooqi, Sheikha Latifah bint Ahmed bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, and Humaid Al Muhairi, secure second place behind perennial champions Saudi Arabia in the team competition.

Show caption: Sheikha Latifah bint Ahmed bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, Humaid Ab…

In the Individual A competition, featuring fences that are between 1.40m and 1.50m high, Al Muhairi jumped two clear rounds before going a mere 1.05 seconds slower than Qatar’s Faleh Al Ajami in the jump-off to settle for silver.

“Thank God. I was lucky. I wasn't really expecting to have two medals,” said Al Muhairi.

“My target was more in the team competition. This year they have a bit of a different format for the championship. You saw there was Division A and Division B. My horse is only nine years old. This was my first championship with him. Before the Games, we were a little bit up and down.

“I wasn't really expecting to win a medal in the individual. But at the end, I was wrong, and the horse proved that he is a really good horse.”

Al Muhairi bought Hudson de Vains as an eight-year-old last summer and their partnership is fast-becoming a highly successful one.

“I really thought he is a special one. I really believed in him,” said Al Muhairi. “But he was a little bit green for an eight-year-old. The rider who was riding him, she didn't do too much with him. I really had to start again from the beginning to get him to learn my way and my system.

“But in the end, he started to understand my way of riding. Then we did some five-star shows and he jumped two times a clear round. Since then, I was really hoping for so much with him.”

Al Muhairi and his fellow Emirati medallists returned from the Asian Games to a special reception where they were greeted by Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, president of the UAE Olympic Committee.

A conversation during the ceremony struck a chord with Al Muhairi.

“The president was asking, ‘What is the motivation for you to keep going?’ As a rider, after the achievement, I can easily say, ‘OK, enough, I will stop’. But I feel like my life, it's too much [intertwined] with horse riding,” he said.

“I don't see myself outside horse riding, because honestly, I don't like to train people. I have my business; I can do it when I have time. But other than that, I don't know what to do. So, I have to keep riding and enjoy myself, and I'm doing it for pleasure. I did what I did, but I'm not putting any pressure on myself to do more.

“OK, my next target is to qualify for the Olympics, and it's coming very soon [in March]. And hopefully we will do it in Abu Dhabi. So, if we qualify for the Olympics, I will consider riding more horses and concentrate more until Los Angeles 2028. And then maybe I will start to stop.”

Al Muhairi considers Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa as the toughest opposition the UAE will face during Olympic qualification, with just two tickets to LA up for grabs.

While it has yet to be confirmed, Abu Dhabi will likely host the Olympic qualifying event, and Al Muhairi is keen to make the most of home advantage.

“We had a meeting with the trainer. He wants to do two Nation Cups as a preparation before the Olympic qualification. So, League of Nations will be a good preparation for us because it's really tough. It's the best 10 teams on the planet in jumping. And then before that, we have a four-star Nation Cup in Sharjah,” he explained.

“Also, this is if he wants to try something new or if he wants to put a new member in the team or a new horse. So at least like there is not so much pressure before the Olympics so we can try some other stuff.

“I think this year will be very hard for all the teams to qualify. So that's why it's good if we have it in our country so that our horses are used to the environment and the rings. So we are really hoping to qualify.”