This Festival is a celebration of the Arabian Horse and has been put into operation to uphold and develop the equestrian disciplines in which this extraordinary animal competes. This quality and horse lover ‘paradise’ is held under the patronage of His Royal Highness, Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Bin AbdulAziz Al Saud. When you speak about Prince Sultan, you speak about an irreplaceable Chevalier. He is a strong and unique personality. He is a myth, he is indeed the real Arabian myth. He is not only Sultan Alkahir (Sultan of Charity); Prince Khaled is also an unparalleled political leader, Sultan of generosity for the entire humankind and his beloved nation. His stud farm is one of the best equipped in the whole of the Gulf area. Stretching over more than 400 hectares, the center has a fully equipped internal equine clinic in which the experienced and well trained staff has obtained a considerable number of medical successes, ranging from reproduction to embryo management methods. This state-of-the-art hospital with highly specialized staff is available also to breeders. Prince Khaled’s boundless passion for the Arabian horse, which has ‘contaminated’ the entire Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, made it possible for such an international event to be held also this year, opening its doors last January in the headquarters of His Highness’s farms in Tebrak city, west of Riyadh. Prince Khaled’s main goal is to buttress the Arabian horse with increasingly more dynamism and turn this into one of the most popular rendezvous throughout the show season. The Festival managed to capture the interest of all the experts and specialists of the breeding industry, who all gathered to witness a very well-organized show with a significant attendance of spectators. As many as 19 countries took part with 450 horses entered in the Festival events. There came a lofty number of guests from all over the world, who flocked there thanks to the bigheartedness of Prince Khaled who spared no expenses in making this competition etched in everybody’s mind and very successful. The response from breeders was superlative, including many horsewomen, who had to make some minor changes but most of them appreciated the invitation and realized that Saudi Arabia is beyond doubt a magic land that is unquestionably worth discovering. Shuttle buses were available to guests for the transfers. During these journeys they could admire It ended on Friday 27th January at 07:00 pm Asia/Riyadh time (5:00pm - Europe/Rome) with the Championship classes. From the Royal gallery and the guest stands, the view was breathtaking! In the Yearling Fillies category, the victory and the title of Gold Champion medal was awarded to the bay some exclusive landscapes and the desert in its entire splendor, with lights that, depending on the time of the day and unlike any other place in the world, constantly changed colors and created a surreal atmosphere. A balmy sun and exceptional daytime and evening temperatures came with the entire show. The Organizing Committee consisted of : HRH Prince Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, President of the event; Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Saud; Prince Nawaf bin Faisal bin Fahd Al Saud; Eng. Abdullah bin Fahd bin Sweilem; Gen. Ayed Al-Jeaid; Eng. Sami Al-Nohait; Mr. Mutlaq bin Mushrif. The Disciplinary Committee was ably comprised of: Mrs. Vivian van Eerten (Netherlands); Mr. Mohammed Hammad (Egypt); Mr. Turki Mohammed Al Mugbel (Saudi Arabia); Mr. Saad Bin Abdullah Al Qassim (Saudi Arabia) and Dr. Gianpaolo Teobaldelli (Italy). There were seven judges for this event: Mrs. Renata Schibler (Switzerland); Mr. Mark Ismer (Germany); Mrs. Marie Wabbes (Belgium); Dr. Abderrazak Hmidani (Morocco); Mr. Regis Huet (France); Mrs. Annette Dixon (United Kingdom) and Mrs. Michaela Weidner (Germany). The role of ring master was given to the entertaining Mr. Philip Jenkins (UK) and his assistant Mr. Waleed Al Haddadi (Saudi Arabia). The Show started on 25th January at 11:00 am Asia/Riyadh time (9:00am - Europe/ Rome) featuring the Yearling to three-year-old fillies and colts. It went on Thursday with mares and stallions aged four to 10-years and over, as well as exciting specialty classes exclusively for Desert Bred Fillies, Colts, Mares and Stallions. GHADEER AM (AJ MARDAN × GHAZALAT AL MOHAMADIA) bred and owned by AL MOHAMADIA STUD / HH PRINCE ABDULLAH BIN FAHAD AL SAUD. Silver medal for the bay BADAWIA AL MUAWD (EMERALD J × MISTILLL AL MUAWD) bred by the SONS OF ABDULLAH BIN MOHAMMED AL SUBAIE - AL MUAWD STUD and owned by AL MUAWD STUD/ BADAWIA ENTERPRISE/JEFF SLOAN. Bronze medal for the bay DHAI ALSAKAB (EMERALD J × WA PPRISCILLA) bred and owned by ABDUL AZIZ BIN IBRAHIM AL BARGASH - AL SAKAB STABLES. In the Yearling Colts category, the victory and the title of Gold champion was assigned to the bay GENERAL (EMERALD J × E.S. MAHBUBA) bred and owned by the SONS OF ABDULLAH BIN MOHAMMED AL SUBAIE - AL MUAWD STUD. Silver medal for the bay RAAD ALSAYED (EKS ALIHANDRO × NUZYRMA DINN SA) bred and owned by KHALID BIN SAID BIN ABDULLAH AL SAYED - AL SAYED STUD. Bronze medal for the grey SULTAN ALENAYA (EMERALD J × AMMONA) bred and owned by TARIG BIN MOHAMMED E ENAYA -ENAYA STUD. The title of Champion Junior Filly was awarded to the beautiful grey MAYAR Iv (KANZ AL BIDAYER × ABHA QAWATEN) bred by ALI BIN HUSSAIN BIN ALI SMAA and owned by the SONS OF ABDULLAH BIN MOHAMMED AL SUBAIE - AL MUAWD STUD. Silver medal for the grey AJA CARRERA (ZT MARWTEYN × AJA CARINA) bred by MR & MRS M HICKFORD and owned by AJMAN STUD. Bronze medal for the chestnut BOURHANI SHARIFA (AJMAN MONISCIONE × PSYNESICA) bred by HANNELORE BOURDEAUX and owned by the SONS OF ABDULLAH BIN MOHAMMED AL SUBAIE - AL MUAWD STUD. The Champion Junior Colt title went to gorgeous bay EOS APOLLO (LAWRENCE EL GAZAL × ANNOUN EL WUOTAN) bred by KATHRIN HAMPE- KLINGEBIEL and owned by FAISAL I ALIBRAHIM. Silver medal winner the bay GABEL ATHBAH (EKS ALIHANDRO × MEQBILAT ATHBAH) bred by ATHBAH STUD and owned by H.R.H.P. ABDULAZIZ BIN AHMED BIN ABDULAZIZ AL SAUD. Bronze medal winner the handsome grey AJ BTTAL (KANZ AL BIDAYER × EAGLERIDGE PASSIONATA) bred and owned by AJMAN STUD. The beautiful ethereal grey NORMA (GAZAL AL SHAQAB × NINA) bred by SK MICHALOW and owned by the SONS OF ABDULLAH BIN MOHAMMED AL SUBAIE - AL MUAWD STUD won the title of Champion Senior Mare. Silver medal winner the bay OFW ANA (DA VALENTINO × HAFATI JULIANNA) bred by HAROLD OR DOLLY ORR and owned by HAMAD BIN MOHAMMED BIN SULIMAN AL RAJHI - AL RAJHIA STUD. Bronze medal winner the bay ABHA PALMA (MARWAN AL SHAQAB × ABHA GHAZALI) bred and owned by AL MOHAMADIA STUD / HH PRINCE ABDULLAH BIN FAHAD AL SAUD. Gold Champion Senior Stallion was the unrivalled bay EMERALD J (QR MARC × EMANDORIA) bred by BVBA CHRISTINE JAMAR and owned by the SONS OF ABDULLAH BIN MOHAMMED AL SUBAIE - AL MUAWD STUD. Silver medal winner the bay MANSOUR AL JALAWIYAH (EMERALD J × GYPSY LOVE NA) bred by HH PRINCE TURKI BIN FAHAD BIN MASHARI AL SAUD - AL JALAWIYAH STUD and owned by HH PRINCE SALMAN BIN FAISAL & HH PRINCE SULTAN BIN FAISAL BIN SALMAN AL SAUD. Bronze medal winner the grey (GIRLAN-BEY PESAL × GRACJA- BIS) bred by MICHAL BOGAJEWICZ and owned by MOHAMMED BIN ABDULLAH BIN MOHAMMED AL MANEA - AL WASHEM STUD. Prince Sultan Arabian Horse Festival definitely lived up to the expectations and was truly beyond belief! We would like to congratulate and eulogize the Organization, Makshaff Services Ltd. led by the event manager Salah Al Ali who worked hard on this exceptional event. The Saudi TV made a live broadcast of the show, which was attention-grabbing right until the end of the Final Championship. Also this year the show could also be seen live via the Web and Journalists could do very good thanks to a fully operational modern media center. The Festival was a true gala for Arabian horse enthusiasts – an international event on a grand scale like never before. Thus us in the Arabian Horse Magazine team highly recommend you not to miss out its next edition in year 2018 again in the genuine homeland of the Arabian horse!