The Royal Windsor Horse Show (RWHS), is one of the grandest and long running equestrian events on the planet. The four-day extravaganza offers something for every horse lover, with top class international competition, driving events and showing, military display teams from around the globe, plus gymkhana games, endurance racing and the finest selection of UK show horses.
Launched in 1943, the event has been held annually since then, (barring war and COVID). As the only UK show to offer international competitions in showjumping, dressage, driving and endurance, the event sees the world’s finest competitors descend from around the globe to participate.
The show always attracts a VIP crowd and this year was no exception with the royal patron Queen Elizabeth II attending despite declining health, while the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa was also in attendance to watch his son HH Prince Nasser and his team mates compete in the endurance racing.
As strategic partner for the Middle East, Equitrans has been involved in shipping horses to and from, the show since 2010, shipping an average 90 to 125 horses from our region to Royal Windsor Horse Show each and every year.
In 2022, Equitrans shipped a record-breaking 250 horses, plus 20 additional tones of equipment, ornate carriages, horse feed and musical instruments. The vast shipment required five chartered B777s, 25 flying grooms, 90 days of preparation and 40 days quarantine for each horse before departure.
Equitrans co-founder and managing director, David Robson says, “the Royal Windsor Horse Show really is one of my favourite events of the year. The environment is so beautiful and of course the ambience is magical, the tradition, the global reach, it all just comes together in a vast celebration of the horse.”
“I love the pomp, the ceremony and do like to see the Middle East horses present so well, the training, their condition and care, it’s really positive to see they are impressive on a global stage.”
“This 2022 shipment was larger than most years and included display team horses from Oman plus showjumping and endurance horses from Bahrain and the UAE.”
Equitrans organised and oversaw every stage of the shipment, from the 90 days in-country quarantine prior-to-travel to the charter aircraft and arrival at the event, plus, of course the return journey too.”
And, highly successful it was too, with the Bahraini Defence Force showjumping team led by Ghaleb Al Alawi winning Her Majesty The Queen’s Plate International for Services Teams Jumping Competition, with the Ministry of Interior – Kingdom of Bahrain jumping team in second place led by Marwan El Khoury and the Abu Dhabi Police Cavalry in third place.
At the Great Park endurance ride, again Bahrain dominated with a first place for His Highness Sheikh Nasser Bin Hammad Al Khalifa took the coveted 3*first place and Abdulrahman Mohammed Alzayed on Valenciana Larzac in third place.
In the 120km 2*, Mohammed Abdulhamid Al Hashemi came in first place riding Darco La Majorie, with Shahd Waleed Al Ahmed riding Jade FNMS in second place and Nasser Hamad Al Qahtani with Goran El Fayad in third.
Equitrans is really becoming synonymous with shipping the region’s finest competitors. With almost 20 years’ experience, our clients understand we know how to get horses to a competition in the best possible shape and ready to compete. And for this, there really is no shortcuts, it’s about the best possible logistics- things like choosing the airports with the quickest clearing etc. and of course having the very best team of flying grooms to care for the horses throughout the process.”
This shipment was the second largest of all time for Equitrans, with little preparation time. ‘We only had 90 days to make this happen and I’m really pleased with how the team came together to make it such a success. “
If you would like more information on the Equitrans large equine consignments and/or VIP horse charters, please contact the team on: +971 (0) 4 321 1157.