SHOWJUMPING – The secrets to success in the popular equestrian sport of showjumping came under the spotlight last night in a special lecture delivered by Bahrain’s world champion showjumper Sami Ghazwan.
More than 50 showjumping enthusiasts of various skill levels gathered at Spire Hub in Seef to hear from Ghazwan, who was the individual title-winner at the 2025 CISM World Military Equestrian Championship and who boasts an incredible collection of more than 500 trophies won from competitions around the world.
Supported by the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef), his lecture aimed to provide modern and advanced scientific content that contribute to a rider’s growth, especially for youngsters, while also further developing the capabilities of new trainers.
“I’ve been in this field for over 40 years; I am a qualified coach, and my family has a background in horseriding for maybe over 150 years, so I’ve decided to do something and help people learn more about the sport,” Ghazwan told the GDN on the sidelines of yesterday’s lecture.
“I have travelled and competed all over the world, so I wanted to share everything I’ve learned with others, especially the information that is not yet available here.”
Ghazwan praised His Majesty King Hamad’s humanitarian works and youth affairs representative, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports chairman, and Bahrain Royal Endurance Team captain Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa – himself a world champion rider – for being an inspiration in his quest to help boost the development of Bahraini showjumping.
“I have come to a point where I want to do something for my country,” expressed Ghazwan.
“As a Bahraini, my country has supported me, and I want to follow in the path of His Highness Shaikh Nasser, who has been helping in all aspects of horseriding.”
“He’s been doing so much, and as our leader, we want to follow in his path.”
Ghazwan is hopeful that events such as his lecture will assist in the continuous building of a strong foundation for showjumping in Bahrain, which would eventually lead to even bigger things for the sport in the future.
“First of all, before we look far ahead, it is most important to prepare our riders and coaches with a solid base, and once we have this, maybe the federation can do other big things such as host international showjumping competitions in the kingdom,” Ghazwan said.
“Bahrain has the only purebred Arabian lines in the world, so we are special in this field.”
Ghazwan stressed on the need for Bahrain’s riders to learn about the importance of year-round training – both mental and physical – along with the proper horse care, and not just preparing the rider and horse in the weeks leading up to a competition.
He also spoke about various other topics such as setting the pace and controlling obstacles, maneuvering a course and understanding the language of an arena, accurately calculating steps, and competition techniques and how to avoid mistakes, among others.
“Showjumping is a very deep sport that has got so many rules and calculations to it,” Ghazwan explained.
“As a rider, if you don’t know these basics, it will be difficult to get involved.”
“So, a friend of mine, Dawood Salman, came to me and said that we can do something now in the summer while it is too hot to ride, so we decided on conducting this lecture where we can fill in any gaps for riders and talk about showjumping and all the things that come with it.”
“This is also my expertise, and in helping riders in Bahrain learn more about our sport, hopefully one day the federation will see how many good riders and coaches we have, and we can go further and organise all kinds of major international events.
“We want to do something for the country, and I’m sure at some point we will reach a very high level in showjumping.”
Ghazwan conveyed his delight with the tremendous response last night’s lecture received from Bahrain’s showjumping community.
“We were planning on having 20 riders to begin with, but when we opened our registration and put the invitation out, we got more than 50 responses, so there is an urge from many to learn more about our sport,” Ghazwan highlighted.
Ghazwan thanked Breef and Breef’s showjumping committee, headed by Breef board member Shaikh Abdulla bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, for backing last night’s lecture.
“Breef have supported us and are now waiting to see the outcome, and maybe we can do a much bigger lecture and invite even more people like myself from around the world and the GCC to come and join us,” he said.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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