saudi female horse trainer rides roughshod over kingdom’s sport restrictions on women
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today
Egypt Today, egypt today
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today

Saudi female horse trainer rides roughshod over kingdom’s sport restrictions on women

Egypt Today, egypt today

Egypt Today, egypt today Saudi female horse trainer rides roughshod over kingdom’s sport restrictions on women

Saudi Dana Al Gosaibi training a horse
Jeddah - Arab Today

Dana Al Gosaibi’s passion for horses has been hard to pursue in Saudi Arabia, where conservatives resist women’s involvement in sport.
But the kingdom’s tentative advancement of women’s rights has given the Saudi horse trainer hope that one day she might be able to realise her dream of starting her own business.
Many Saudi women are now taking riding lessons, says Dana, 35, "but it’s so much more difficult for a woman" with social norms seeking to keep them out of the public eye.
She dreams of opening her own stables to focus on "a more gentle" way of training horses than the standard approach in the kingdom.
And change is under way, says Dana, who returned to Saudi Arabia four years ago after more than a decade living abroad.
"I came back and I saw all these women" working as cashiers, in sales and in offices, she says ahead of International Women’s Day on Wednesday.
Since last year, a government plan for social and economic reforms has given more impetus to this trend.
The government wants more women in the workforce as part of the Vision 2030 plan to diversify the country’s oil-based economy, and is trying to expand sports opportunities for everyone.
Saudi Arabia last year appointed a princess to oversee women’s sports in the kingdom.
Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud in February said authorities would begin granting licences for women-only gyms.
"Even [in] sport they’re really encouraging women, which is a very new thing," Dana says, taking heart that the change heralds a more favourable climate for starting her business training horses.
But the horse trainer, who learned her skills in Britain and the United States, says she has faced resistance in her home country.
"There is this very weird belief that a woman shouldn’t ride a horse," Dana says, especially if she is not yet married as "she might lose her virginity".
"It’s amazing how a lot of people believe these things."
Dana, herself unmarried, says she has also struggled to be accepted by other trainers due to her approach to the animals.
Horses have been central to Saudi life for centuries, and the kingdom is famed for its strong desert-bred Arabians from which the racing thoroughbreds are descended.
The traditional way of training horses in Saudi Arabia requires "a lot of force" including spurs and whips, she says.
But Dana prefers to take her time, observing the animal and learning to understand the way it thinks until she "becomes part of the horse’s herd".
"You need to establish a certain relationship and understanding because the horse needs to trust you," she says, whether you are preparing a horse for show jumping or rodeo.
If she were a man, her unorthodox approach would be taken more seriously, she feels.
Women need permission from a male guardian to travel or study, and Saudi Arabia is the world’s only country that does not allow women to drive.
Dana’s solution: "Let women ride horses!"
Women rode during the time of the Prophet Mohammed, she says.
Dana keeps two horses at stables in Jeddah, where her baseball cap, collared T-shirt, trousers and riding boots contrast with the traditional black abaya women wear in public.
An entrenched system of male domination makes change difficult, she says, but progress is happening nonetheless.
"You can’t be stuck forever in these old ways of thinking," she says. "Women are becoming stronger and they have a voice."


Source: The National

egypttoday
egypttoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

saudi female horse trainer rides roughshod over kingdom’s sport restrictions on women saudi female horse trainer rides roughshod over kingdom’s sport restrictions on women



GMT 06:11 2012 Tuesday ,13 March

Nina Dobrev\'s feminine LBD

GMT 09:23 2019 Monday ,19 August

Live an important and happy atmosphere

GMT 16:54 2013 Monday ,16 September

Al-Jazeera\'s Zeidan lectures at AA News Academy

GMT 09:01 2017 Thursday ,01 June

Sisi lauds relations between Egypt, Uruguay

GMT 07:22 2011 Wednesday ,06 July

Karachi Stock Exchange rises

GMT 00:36 2016 Tuesday ,27 December

Abbas condoles with Putin over plane crash victims

GMT 01:00 2012 Saturday ,07 July

Why Can’t All Parents Have More?

GMT 08:05 2017 Tuesday ,29 August

Khalid bin Hamad tournament prizes approved

GMT 10:44 2018 Monday ,15 January

Bitcoin fever hits US real estate market

GMT 08:05 2018 Friday ,12 January

US revamps travel warning system, ranks countries

GMT 08:23 2017 Monday ,06 February

Moroccans Spent MAD 9.4 Billion in Gambling in 2016

GMT 18:50 2018 Wednesday ,10 January

Assad forces killed 85 civilians in Eastern Ghouta: UN

GMT 12:37 2013 Tuesday ,11 June

Chevrolet announces UK launch date for Camaro

GMT 14:25 2016 Saturday ,25 June

Car bomb kills four in Libya's Benghazi

GMT 06:55 2015 Thursday ,26 February

Qatar's emir meets number of US congressmen

GMT 18:25 2016 Thursday ,13 October

129 civilians killed in Aleppo raids, clashes

GMT 11:42 2014 Sunday ,01 June

Mansouri to open Business Forum

GMT 10:46 2012 Sunday ,18 March

Dusty, sandy weather to affect visibility

GMT 15:34 2011 Friday ,18 November

UN :Climate change key driver of extreme weather

GMT 11:13 2014 Wednesday ,03 September

Exhibiton of American classic antique cars
 
 Egypt Today Facebook,egypt today facebook  Egypt Today Twitter,egypt today twitter Egypt Today Rss,egypt today rss  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
egypttoday, Egypttoday, Egypttoday