Destination KSA - Your Guide to Saudi

Destination KSA - Your Guide to Saudi

Our Neigh-borhood Animal

Our Neigh-borhood Animal

Arabian horses rewriting world history.


The Arabian Peninsula is known for its beautiful Arabian horse breed, and a discovery in 2010 deepened the relationship between the region and horses.

An archeological site belonging to the Al Maqar civilization was discovered, with pieces that reflect the culture and lifestyle of the people who inhabited the land around 9,000 BC. The most valuable piece is a model of a horse’s head that rewrote history.

Before its discovery, it was believed that the domestication of horses first took place in Asia around 4,000 BC. The rein carvings on the head told archeologists that the domestication of horses began at least 4,000 years earlier than previously thought, right here in the Arabian Peninsula.05-ds-april-2017-64-79-7

Legends and poems have been passed down for centuries celebrating the beauty of horses and talents of riders. Today, it might seem like modern cities left no room for interacting with these magnificent creatures. However, such a deep rooted cultural practice cannot be removed so easily. Within Sharqiya’s cities and among its fast highways are stables that offer lessons and training from basic riding to show jumping and dressage. Below are a few horse riding stables you can visit:

Horse riding is not just a deep rooted cultural sport; its benefits on health and wellbeing are tremendous. It has a positive impact on your posture, core, back and abdominal muscles. It’s an isometric exercise, where you use certain muscles to stay in the same position.05-ds-april-2017-64-79-8

It is also a mental exercise as much as a physical one, as you coordinate, balance and align yourself with the horse’s movement. Through this, you learn about yourself, and your confidence grows as you form a relationship with the animal, making it a beneficial sport for youth and child development.

Horse riding can be its own form of therapy, known as Equine-Assisted Therapy (EAT), where it’s used to help individuals with ADD, anxiety, autism, dementia, depression, trauma, behavior issues and other mental health issues. The reason for the horse’s positive impact on human emotions and development is that they reflect human emotions and respond to them.

With such benefits, we might soon find the sport back in the mainstream in the region.


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