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28 March 2024

Meydan Equine Education Programme is up and running

Oasis 1 trainer Musabah Al Muhairi (left) introduces students from Jumeirah Baccalaureate School to a horse from his stable. (SUPPLIED)

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By Staff

Dubai Racing Club and Meydan Racecourse have teamed up with schools across Dubai as part of a new Meydan Equine Education Programme to teach youngsters about the history and heritage of horses in the UAE and the modern sport of horseracing at Meydan.

The programme consists of a series of classroom-based math, science, art and comprehension modules, created for Dubai Racing Club by education development company, Bon Education. The curriculum focuses on the origins and role of the horse in the Middle East, its influence in the region’s art and literature and the basics of horseracing.

At the completion of the theory module students will have the chance to meet the equine stars of the racetrack on a half-day tour of Meydan Racecourse, the home of the US$10m Dubai World Cup.

The youngsters will see a racehorse being groomed, tacked up and washed down, learn about the feeding, shoeing and general care of a high-performance horse and have the chance to compare the similarities and differences between a racing Thoroughbred and Purebred Arabian.

Students will then view the jockeys’ weighing and dressing rooms, have the opportunity to handle the equipment that jockeys use during races and learn about handicapping and the racenight schedule for horses and horsemen.

The tour will end at the Meydan IMAX with the viewing of a specially-developed short film, Flight Without Wings.

The students, aged between eight and 11, will then be invited to take part in a competition to produce the best short story, poem or artwork, based on what they learned during the module and the Meydan Racecourse tour.

Students from Jumeirah Baccalaureate School, one of a number of Taaleem administrated schools participating in the scheme, visited Meydan on Sunday morning.

Grade 5 teacher, Beryl Nicholson said that the youngsters had been excited to visit a working racing stable.

“We found that the students who participated were very interested in learning about horses and the trip to Meydan has been the highlight at the end of the module,” she said. “I have a natural interest in horses anyway, so I was very pleased to hear about the programme and I think that as the horse plays such an important role in the history of this country it is great that youngsters are made aware of it. On the tour they see the horses in the stable and are able to touch and feed them and ask any questions that they may have.

“With our Emirati students, the horse is so deep in their culture that it’s important for them to be able to come here and explore that side of their heritage. For teachers, this programme gives us plenty of scope for creative follow-up activities which we can develop in the classroom ourselves. For example, we will produce a film from the images that we have taken this morning and look at creative writing activities.”

Frank Gabriel, CEO of Dubai Racing Club, said the scheme was likely to be expanded in future years.

“The Meydan Equine Education Programme is in its first year and we hope to see it grow into an annual scheme to take place after the conclusion of our racing season,” he said.

“We have seven schools participating during April and May and we are planning to roll it out to more schools next year. Equestrianism, horseracing and the origins of the horse are tightly woven into the heritage of Dubai and the UAE and it is this aspect of the culture that we wish to highlight to future generations.”

For more information about the Meydan Equine Education Programme, or to request for your school to be included in next year’s scheme, contact Dubai Racing Club’s media relations department via Tony Terry at tony.terry@meydan.ae or Sarah Tregoning at sarah.tregoning@meydan.ae.