The Peninsula
Jan Tops has long been associated with Qatar equestrian and has seen the sport grow by leaps and bounds in the last 15 years.
But the Dutch legend, who also coached Qatari riders in the past, feels mastering the equestrian sport and winning accolades at the highest level is a process that takes long time.
“It’s not an easy sport and it takes years to take control of it if you have a right horse,” said Tops, while answering a query related to the Qatari riders, during the launch of 2022 Longines Global Champions Tour and GCL seasons at Longines Arena at Al Shaqab, yesterday.
“The beauty of equestrian sport is that as a rider you can go on for many years but to become a good horse person it takes time. Once you develop those skills and have the right horse, you can excel,” said Tops, who won a team gold at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992.
The Dutchman, who is also the President and Founder of Longines Global Champions Tour and GCL, said Qatar is moving in the right direction in the sport.
“The strategy for Qatar is to pick riders at a young age and train them for the future. The riders haven’t reached the levels to compete at the Grand Prix but new talent is coming,” Tops added.
Qatar won a team gold medal at the Incheon Asian Games in 2014 and qualified in showjumping for first time in the Olympic history at the 2016 Rio Games.
Tops said these achievements prove the growth of equestrian sport in Qatar.
“I think Qatar in the past has been successful in the Olympics and has also won medals in the Asian Games. At the moment, Qatar showjumping is in transition,” he said.
“When I first came here 15 years ago there were hardly any people riding in competitions, now there are 80 odd riders on the waiting list and it’s amazing the way horse sport has risen in Qatar. When I was with the Qatar Equestrian Federation the facilities were coming up, now you see Al Shaqab has a riding academy,” Tops said.
Meanwhile, Omar Al Mannai, Event Director, and Commercial Manager, Al Shaqab, said Al Shaqab provides the best facilities to the riders to help them develop for top-notch events.
“Al Shaqab aspires to develop riders in Qatar. Al Shaqab has an academy for future riders aimed at educating and promoting equestrianism and the love of equestrian sport,” he said.
“We are working on developing the next generation of Qatar riders like those participating in the Qatar Equestrian Tour Longines Hathab. It provides the riders a chance to learn and to get inspired by the world-class riders excelling alongside at the same arenas.”
“One of our aims has been to bring in the private sector. This happens only in Qatar, elsewhere we don’t see organisations helping riders. As a result, today we have riders like Hamad Nasser Al Qadi, Nasser Al Ghazali, and Faleh Suwead Al Ajami taking part in five-star events with their own horses,” Al Mannai said before adding Al Shaqab is in discussion with Tops to launch new events in Qatar.
“We’ve a long history of association with Tops, who’s considered a Guru of the equestrian world. We’ve been in talks with him over the last several days to launch other competitions in the future,” he said.