2009 WAHO Conference Diary

By Marg Martin
Published in April, 2009 - Vol. 47, No. 2

World Arabian Horse Organization Conference
Jan 30th - Feb 5th, 2009, Muscat, Oman

Marg Martin (right) with a rider and his camel.

Jan 23, 2009 Left Calgary (-30ºC), arriving in Muscat on the 24th at 11pm to a temperature of 27ºC. My childhood friend Kaye and her husband Rod were there to greet me at the airport, as well as an official WAHO greeter, I was surprised to find out. Rod is working on a project for Tethys Oil Ltd (Oman), and Kaye joined him there last year in September.

Jan 25, 2009 Kaye and I left for Sri Lanka, returning on the 29th. Temperature there was close to 40ºC; along with up to 85% humidity it was a shock to my system! But that is another story and adventure.

One of two Arabians welcoming us to Salala.

Jan 29, 2009 Arrived back in Muscat and was greeted by a full welcoming committee from WAHO and the Royal Court Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman. There were cameras and video cameras everywhere, most of the time face-to-face with you as you filled out the forms. Of course during this time there was trouble with my Visa since I had come and left again. It was a long wait – one of the young Omani men tried to calm me by saying that everything takes longer here, but all shall be well. Kaye was off in another area of the airport wondering what had happened. Over an hour later we are reunited and I’m off to Kaye’s home, which I use as a base (along with the conference hotel) during my time here.

Stables of Said al-Shanfari

Jan 30, 2009 Rod thought we should take a drive out to the Al Bandar Hotel at Shangri-La’s Barr Jissah Resort, where the conference would be held. It was quite the drive from Muscat; one side of the road mountains, the other the Arabian Sea. The resort, a very large complex, was the color of sand so it blended in well with the mountains close by.

A welcome desk was set up in the lobby with two young girls as our welcome to WAHO, but they were able to understand very little English. Finally someone came along and told us to go downstairs. It was nice to be able to put faces to the emails I had received. We were given our welcome bags containing visitor info about Oman, a WAHO t-shirt and a lovely decorated box containing a frankincense burner and some frankincense. They also handed to me what I thought was a briefcase but I’m behind times – it’s a case for your laptop, embossed with the WAHO and Royal Courts emblems.
Then I was told someone wished to meet me, and I was taken over to a group of Omani men in crisp white dress belted with intricately carved Khanjar daggers. A member of the Royal Court greeted me with a welcome to Oman and said he wished to give me a gift. To my awe and speechless self – a velvet box was opened displaying a handcrafted silver necklace, a ring, and a very decorated piece to wear in the middle of your forehead. Of course press cameras were snapping; we soon found they would be always present during the conference. The gift I received was handed out to all the ladies and the gentlemen received a gift box containing a silver Khanjar dagger, but only a few had the Royal Court personally present them.

Back in the lobby we enjoyed Omani coffee served with dates, a hospitality shown to us at every hotel we visited. Not being a coffee drinker, I found I was hooked on this coffee, richly infused with cardamom and saffron.

We enjoyed a day of rest along with seeing more of Muscat. I soon discovered Oman to be one of the cleanest countries I have traveled in – while traveling on a highway through the mountains around 6:30am later in the trip, we passed a man with a broom and plastic bag picking up litter! Roads were made attractive with flower beds and hedges were manicured without a stem out of place. There are no square corners in their roads but many roundabouts instead. They use the centers for many interesting displays. It’s a good thing I wasn’t driving as I would have been in a lot of accidents with my gaping at all the sights.

Frankinscence tree.

Feb 1, 2009 We took a day cruise on the Royal Yacht Fulk Al Salamah to dolphin watch. It wasn’t quite as exciting as it sounds; no dolphins were spotted and the Royal Yacht is the Sultan Qaboos Bin Said’s old yacht, not the slick-looking new yacht he also had in the harbor. But it was a lovely day for our calm cruise along the coast and we had a view of our conference hotel from the sea. Lunch time saw a hangar open up to long lines of silver containers with an unbelievable selection of food.
I had hooked up with an Australian couple, Pam Roydhouse and her husband. Pam had also had both her hips replaced, and her hubby was a good sport in looking after his two gals. Pam had been to Calgary for the WAHO Conference in 1982, and gone with Mike and Barb Green to take part in the post-conference tours. But before they could take in any stops, they were involved in a serious accident. Unfortunately I had no news of the Greens for her.

Too soon our lazy cruise was over and we were back on our buses with the police escort going back to the hotel. The evening took us to the WAHO welcome reception at the Traditional Village at Shangri-La’s Barr Al-Jissah Resort under the stars. The invitation was from Nasr Bin Homood Al-Kindi, Head of Financial Affairs and Supplies, Head of Organizing Committee. Dinner at 7pm turned into dinner around 10pm. Many new attendees from various countries introduced themselves to make the evening not seem so long. There was also a musical program put on by the 1st Royal Band for Music and Folklore.

Khallab, bay stallion born 2000, sired by Kubinec.

Feb 2, 2009 The Official Opening Ceremony began with President Dr. Hans Nagel giving the address. Some WAHO member countries were absent and sent their regrets. The meeting began with the introduction of the Executive Committee along with the 2007-2008 Treasurer’s Report, and a moment of silence in memory of those WAHO members who had passed away since the last conference.

There were 420 participants and 58 countries represented. Each delegate gave a report regarding Arabian horse affairs in their country. I found this very interesting as the reports listed the number of Arabian mares and stallions, activities that their Arabians are used for, and how they are promoting their Arabians. At the top of most of the countries’ activities were racing and endurance riding. I had made friends with the Belize delegate, Christine Tupper, formerly from Mission, BC. Belize was the country with the smallest number of Arabians, only 22. Unfortunately Canada did not have a delegate but did have myself and another couple, Jim and Joyce Summers from Ayr, Ontario, attending.

Major General Sultan Bin Mohammed Al-Na’amani, Secretary General of Royal Court Affairs, invited us to dinner at the Al-Bustan Hotel’s Majan Ballroom where music was performed by the Royal Guard of Oman. It was another great meal and gathering to end the day. This was a very elegant hotel as it had been a former palace.

Feb 3rd WAHO Arabian Horse Festival at the Royal Cavalry.
Photo: Kristen Scherling, Germany.

Feb 3, 2009 Today’s highlights included Hamad Al Belushi speaking on “The History of Arabian Horses in The Sultanate of Oman” and Salim Hamad Al Mahrooqi on “The Untold Story – History of Horses in Arabian,” which caused some controversy with some of the delegates. We also saw the film “The Royal Cavalry in Oman’s New Dawn,” which was about how they have started a very successful youth program for both girls and boys with the cavalry horses.

Then we were bused off with our police escort to the Royal Cavalry in Seeb for the WAHO Arabian Horse Festival. The festival included five horse races with the last race being the WAHO Cup. In between races we were treated to the Military March, a basketball game on horses by the girls, carriage displays, traditional horse dancing, a troika display, a large selection of different breeds, various saddles on display, a sidesaddle riding demonstration, show jumping, equestrian skills displays, the Children’s Mounted Archers, and a harness race display. The young men doing the equestrian skills were unbelievable with the movements and tricks they did at full speed and then some. At the end they came past at a dead gallop, undoing their cinches and taking their saddles off and waving them over their heads. I should add, everything was done at a flat-out speed – at times I am sure we had some runaways! The show closed with a record-breaking twenty-three beautiful grey Arabians pulling a coach. Music during the festival was by the Royal Guard of Oman. This was our first view of the Arabian horses in Oman so it was hard to leave for our next event.

That evening we were off to the Al-Felay Fort Theatre for the Oman Folklore Show and music by the Senior Royal Band under the stars. We enjoyed dinner a short walk away under tents. I must say we had shrimp kabobs with the largest shrimp EVER. Christine said it was like eating lobster.

Feb 4, 2009 Closing day session. We received a report of WAHO’s plans for the next two years. It was announced that the next conference in 2011 would be in Qatar. We watched a presentation of the new Arabian Horse Galleries being constructed at the Kentucky Horse Park’s International Museum of the Horse. This sounds like a place that all lovers of Arabian horses should visit. The day ended with the Gala Dinner and a dance, to music from the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra at the Barr Al Jissah Resort.

Fort Rustaq.

Feb 5, 2009 Our WAHO Conference tour day started in the Al Batinah region with the historic Nakhal and Rustaq Forts. At the fort we were greeted by camel riders, Arabian horse riders and small boys with their donkeys. It was special to walk among these riders as it transported you to a different time. The horse riders seem to delight in getting their mounts to lie down, and the small boys spend quite awhile convincing their donkeys to do the same!

Lunch took place at the Al Nahda resort hotel with background music supplied by a harp player. Then we were off to Wadi Al Abiad Sands for a private owner’s horse parade – WHAT A DAY.

We were told there were fifty Arabians there but I’m sure there were more. To see the riders come before us in a swirl of sand was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We were also treated to a show of horsemanship at break-neck speeds, including a roman rider with his horse running away. This was truly the Desert Horse in the Desert.

Once it was over we were off to the Black Tents and a traditional Bedouin dinner. There was quite a wait to get our string of eight buses, police escorts and two ambulances ready for the trip back to hotel. At each roundabout the police had blocked off traffic and some had very long lines of cars backed up. I imagine the local traffic was glad to see the WAHO tours end.

Feb 5th visit to Wadi Al Abiad Sands-Horse Parade. Photo: Kasten Scherling, Germany.

Feb 6, 2009 Today’s post-conference tour started with a flight from Seeb Airport to Salalah. After a brief rest we were off to The Royal Cavalry Stud Farm to view their horses, mostly French-bred and racing stock. The best was left for last, a dark bay Russian stallion full of Arabian presence – Khallaboman, whose sire is Kubinec.
During the showing we were treated to that lovely Omani coffee and halwa, which is made from sugar, rose water, cardamom and saffron. Riders came out in Native and English tack. Those with their native equipment very graciously gave rides to many of our group but they would not let anyone ride without being led. Too soon we were once again bused off to our hotels.

Feb 5th visit to Wadi Al Abiad Sands-Horse Parade. Photo: Kasten Scherling, Germany.

Feb 7, 2009 Off on a full-day tour but first we had a surprise stop at another Arabian breeder who asked to show us his horses and stables, which were build by a oil man and later bought by Said al-Shanfari, former Minister of Petroleum. He is the only private breeder in Oman. He had a chef (white hat and all) preparing a lunch for us, which included coconuts for us to drink from. While enjoying the food we watched a group of mares frolic in their very green paddock. In checking the stalls as we left, we found that the horses are bedded on banana leaves. We were on our way again to Wadi Sahnoot, a lush green oasis, and drove to visit the “Holy Incense” tree. We then travelled to Wadi Dauqah, a UNESCO National Heritage site famous for their frankincense trees, and Nabi-Ayoub, also known as Job’s Tomb. Nearby were camels including the most adorable babies. Lunch consisted of a picnic at Mughsayl Beach, viewing there the Dragon Rock and famous blowholes.

Feb 5th - Rider at Fort Rustaq.

Feb 9, 2009 Our last day at Salalah before returning to Muscat. The first stop was Al Balid, the Frankincense Land Archaeological Park, an impressive early Islamic excavation site with a museum and botanical garden. The museum was a beautiful building of polished wood and marble. A traditional Dohow boat was on display showing beautiful carved wood.

The next stop was at the old slave-trading port of Mirbat where thousands of Arabian horses were once exported to India, long ago. Carrying on to Samhuran, the former centre of the international frankincense trade, we viewed the ancient ruins of the Queen of Sheba’s palace.

The last stop before our picnic lunch by the sea was Taqa, an ancient port and fishing village and then we were off to the airport for flight to Muscat. Many goodbyes were exchanged along with “see you again in two years!”

Young boys watching all the action with their donkeys.

Feb 10, 2009 At the Seeb airport leaving for home, I spotted another blue WAHO bag, belonging to a gentleman from Bolivia and his 12-year-old daughter. So, more good-byes and see you in two years.

During the conference sessions I enjoyed the company of Sandra Kapetan and MaryAnn and Dick Hatfield from California, along with Sandra’s husband Gene on our tours. We enjoyed reminiscing about the Canadian Arabian National Horse Shows held at Calgary with the Hatfields and Peg Johnson, whose farm was Crown Point Arabians.

I wonder how the lady from Melbourne, Australia found her home when she returned as it was near the terrible fires there. We were told that one of the members from Venezuela had their cattle dying because of a drought. And, I was surprised that Jean from the U.K. had met me before! She was at Calgary for the 1982 WAHO Conference and had attended the post-conference tour to Bruce Riley’s arena, where I had my Arabians on display.

As you can tell this conference has left me with many, many lovely memories along with some special friends.