On the outskirts of Abu Dhabi a talented young Emirati horse trainer is following in the giant footsteps of his father.
Sultan Ali Al Ameri, 18, has established himself as a trainer in the mould of his internationally renowned father Ali Al Ameri, who is known in equestrian circles simply as "The Horsemaster".
"Horses are our life," the younger Mr Al Ameri says at Raha Ranch, the family farm in Al Wathba, about 45 minutes' drive from the capital.
"We work on horse-breaking, getting race horses in and out of gates, loading them on to trailers," he explains as Tayeb, a 9-year-old Arabian stallion, listens to his every command. These include orders to follow, remain in one place, trot in a circle, and rear up on hind legs.
"You either have it or you don't," says Mr Al Ameri of the talent he has inherited from his father.
He and his father have tried to teach others their skills, but their talent remains unique.
"My dad is self-taught and is a natural, and I have learnt everything from him," he says.
His father had worked with camels in Al Ain, where he showed an uncanny knack for calming and controlling restless bulls.
"When he joined the Army royal guard, he found he could do the same with horses and began training them full-time when he retired," Sultan adds.
He, his father and his older brother, Suhail, a trick-riding specialist, have demonstrated their skills in shows opening events such as the Dubai World Cup, Asian Games, and the National Day musical Zayed and the Dream.
"We even had a horse walk up to the royal box and bow to them without us being in the picture," he says.
The family business includes working with TV stars, human as well as horse. "We have worked on the set of The Young Black Stallion, shot a commercial for Mountain Dew where I ride a horse backwards, and helped Martin Clunes [the English actor/comedian] on his TV series Horsepower."
Sultan left school in Grade 9 to concentrate on horse training full time. "I am much happier now I am focused on this, I always knew this is what I wanted to do."
He spends most of his day training horses. Any spare time goes on playing lead guitar in his alt-rock band Daisy Grim, which has appeared at the Melody House in Dubai and on the radio station Dubai Eye.
Asked if he would consider fusing the two talents, Sultan says: "Why not, it would be interesting to bring the two together."
His mother Tracey Perkins, is English and moved to the UAE 23 years ago and met his father through the horse business. She fully supports Sultan's passion.
"Sultan is extremely talented and if he decides to stay on the path he's on now he will go very far," she says.
She noted that her son began riding at the age of 6 months. "As soon as he could sit we had him riding a horse. "
While Sultan has been riding for most of his life, he took a two-year break as a child. "When he was seven he had a bad spill off one of the ponies he was riding," his mother recalls. "We never forced him to ride, and a couple of years later he asked for his pony back and has never looked back since."
Sultan believes it is important for Emiratis to keep a close connection to this aspect of their heritage. "It was essential for Bedouins to have a trained camel or horse as you wouldn't want your mode of transport taking off and leaving you in the middle of the desert without food and water."
Like his father, Sultan's talents are not limited to horses - he has even trained George Bush, the Raha Ranch goat.
"I taught him to charge me and at the last second I jump over him before our heads crash into each other."
tsubaihi@thenational.ae
The specs
Engine: 2.5-litre, turbocharged 5-cylinder
Transmission: seven-speed auto
Power: 400hp
Torque: 500Nm
Price: Dh300,000 (estimate)
On sale: 2022
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
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MO
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Results:
Men's 100m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 15 sec; 2. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 15.40; 3. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 15.75. Men's 400m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 50.56; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 50.94; 3. Henry Manni (FIN) 52.24.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Overview
Cricket World Cup League Two: Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
