RE: Where does the UAE stand?

["Maryanne Stroud Gabbani" <maryanne@ratbusters.net>]

Hmmmmm, yes. Interesting question. When I first got Dorika about 12 years
ago and rode in Alexandria, I was the only woman rider at the club. Sort of
bothered my husband that all my buddies were a bunch of guys who were
doctors, dentists, and so on, but he got used to it....especially once he
tried riding Dory. I mean, Arab husbands tend to be a tad concerned about
territory and all, but how much can you really do if you are holding the
reins of a nutso Arab mare???? Sorry, this is a family list.

Now, here, we have a better and better level of women competitors. Many of
them, granted, are foreigners or products of mixed marriages, but the level
increases. Having come from the US and Canada where most horse-freaks are
female, it is odd to me that the girls so often don't have this bug here. On
the other hand, to be fair, Egypt does probably have a higher proportion of
women engineers, doctors and lawyers than many Western nations. The
pennisula and Gulf are a different story. I wouldn't live there for love or
money. I would not have been able to take care of my late husband's
businesses or get into rousing fights with rowdy pyramids low-life's that
don't wear watches to timed rides. I hope that they have, at least, separate
rides for the girls...though that only gets me about a 40% approval rating.
There are some serious inequities in those cultures that are not "Islamic"
although labeled so. The prophet's wife was a businesswoman, his boss in
fact initially...and there is nothing to say that girls can't participate. I
have to admit that I've gotten a real kick out of seeing women riders at our
rides in scarves and helmets...now there's a combination!! I ride through
the conservative countryside in tights and long t-shirts and never have so
much as a look, specially as long as I give a respectful greeting as I ride
by. It would be nice to see Endurance World cover some women's events in the
Gulf...how bout it Jen?


Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
Cairo, Egypt
maryanne@ratbusters.net
www.ratbusters.net

On the subject of "daughters".  I've got to admit that I can't
enjoy the Endurance World Magazine because it irks me so bad that
there are SO many women in every photo except those of the
Middle Eastern teams.  Where are their wives? Daughters? The men
are having an awful lot of fun...you can't tell me there aren't
just as many horse crazy girls there as anywhere else.  It's
just wrong.

Angie