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UAE champions
UAE riders have won seven gold titles in six World Championships: four in the individual race and three in the team competition. First place was the goal, and it was achieved with merit.
The roll
Led the UAE riders to two team titles
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, led the UAE riders to many achievements in the World Endurance Championship at team level, alongside his own title at Euston Park in England in 2012, over 160 km, in a time that remains the championship record.
Stole the spotlight with the finest victory
His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, stole the spotlight with a remarkable victory when he was crowned world endurance champion and won the individual gold in the race held in the French province of Normandy, within the World Equestrian Games "Normandy 2014".
His Highness rode Yamamah to the title over 160 km in a time of 8:08:28, despite the challenges he faced: rainy weather that affected the ground of the tracks, and the exit of the four other members of the UAE team from the race.
Outperformed the giants in Jerez
His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum recorded the UAE's first gold in the World Endurance Championship when he won the world title in 2002 in Jerez, Spain, writing his name into the history of the championship twice over: as the youngest rider to win the title, and as the first Arab rider crowned with the gold medal.
Riding Bowman, His Highness recorded 9:19:29 at an average speed of 17.09 km/h, ahead of Italy's Antonio Rossi on Raggio di Sole in 9:35:23 and France's Sunny Demedy on Vive de Bagnasse in 9:38:47.
The golden rider of the great occasions
Salem Hamad Malhouf Al Ketbi added the UAE's fourth individual world title at the 17th edition in Pisa, Italy, in 2021, and rode at Butheeb in 2023 as the defending champion, raising the banner of keeping the title on home ground.
The world title was a dream he worked for through continuous competition in the UAE season, qualifying for the international events and performing at the highest level. He gave the UAE the first edition of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup in February 2019 and won the King of Bahrain Cup over 120 km, and he has won the highest titles both with the UAE team and with the M7 stables.
Home ground
The UAE's first World Championship, in December 1998, set a record for the number of participants, 162 riders, recorded at the time in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest equestrian event in the world, and marked a turning point in the sport: a technological precedent, with modern technology and computers used to manage the championship. New Zealand took the team title, the United States second and Australia the bronze, and the veteran American rider Valerie Kanavy won the individual gold. The success of 1998 was a main reason for the UAE hosting the tenth edition in January 2005.
Eleven countries have hosted the World Endurance Championship since 1986, moving between America, Europe and Asia. The United States has hosted most often, in 1988, 1996, 2010 and 2018, the last of which was abandoned because of bad weather; Butheeb 2026 is the UAE's fourth.
