Best riders of the world go to CHI Al Shaqab in Doha

Best riders of the world go to CHI Al Shaqab in Doha

This weekend in Doha the CHI Al Shaqab will take place. The prestigious competition will see top-ranking local, regional and international riders compete in Show Jumping CSI 5*and 3*, Dressage CDI 5*, and Para-Dressage CPEDI 3* at Al Shaqab’s impressive grounds. All horses had their flights on Sunday or Monday and already arrived safely.


Top ranked riders will be competing at CHI AL SHAQAB including Sheikh Ali Al Thani who represented Qatar and was placed sixth in show-jumping at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He also carried Qatar’s flag in the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremony.



Other top-ranked riders who will be competing in the show-jumping events include world number one Daniel Deusser (Germany), who finished second in last year’s Grand Prix at CHI AL SHAQAB; second-ranked Christian Ahlmann (Germany), who finished third in the 2016 Grand Prix; and Simon Delestre (France), currently ranked fifth in the world.


Patrik Kittel (Sweden) won both the Grand Prix and the Freestyle test at AL SHAQAB last year, and he’ll look to repeat the feat in 2017. Other dressage riders to watch include Carl Hester (United Kingdom), the world’s number five, and Inessa Merkulova (Russia), ranked sixth. Several riders will be defending their 2016 crowns in para-dressage, including 1b winner Nicole Den Dulk (Netherlands), II winner Rixt van der Horst (Netherlands), and Philippa Johnson-Dwyer (South Africa), who won the III.