My knowledge of the Emirates stud in Sharjah began with a beautiful light silver stallion. At the 2019 Abu Dhabi International Arabian Horse Show, an amazingly beautiful Arabian stallion, seems, 

“swam a white swan” in front of the stands. “He will be a Champion,” flashed through my mind. I began searching for the name in the show catalogue using the handler’s number.

The stallion's name suited him – ES Prince. "I wish I could work with him one day and take his portraits," - flashed through my mind. He captured my attention completely and impressed me greatly,

although at that time I had already seen thousands of the best horses in the world. But this one was somehow special, spiritual, or something, very gentle and noble, stately, silky. In a word, ideal.

Unfortunately, Prince did not become a champion that day, although everything pointed to him being the best. The fact is that the organizers did not prepare the ground in the arena well, and as soon as the young horses stepped onto the poorly leveled sand, many of them twisted their legs. Prince was disqualified for lameness. The organizers began to urgently level the surface of the arena, but for many participants these measures turned out to be too late. 

Prince did not take the title that day, which was clearly destined for him. That was how my acquaintance with one of the most beautiful Arabian horses in the world began. Exactly one year later, in 2020, at a prestigious competition in Abu Dhabi - the 1st Al Shiraa International Arabian Horse Show, organized by the daughter of the UAE President's brother, Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza Al Nahyan, I witnessed the triumph of the brighter and more mature ES Prince.

Of course, I noticed that year after year at every Arabian horse show, the first places were taken by horses whose names began with the abbreviation ES: ES Harir, ES Sarab… But I didn’t know that it was an indicator to the stud farm where these horses were bred.
The letter combination “ES” stands for Emirates Stud (the Arabian horse stud in Sharjah, UAE). I started looking for information about this stud farm, but there was practically none. The stud farm’s website turned out to be quite simple. Social networks were not very informative back then.

I had to collect information bit by bit on the Internet and from friends and colleagues.

I learned that the owner of the Emirates stud is Sheikh Abdullah bin Majid Al Qasimi, a member of the ruling dynasty of Sharjah. A restrained person, who rarely gives interviews. Well educated, effective, demanding. An outstanding horse breeder, owner of racing and show Arabian horses.

In the early 2000s, Sheikh Abdullah was one of the first in the country to talk about the need to import high-quality purebred Arabian horses from abroad, breed them independently and raise new stock in the Emirates. Today it is hard to believe, but in the first stud book of the UAE there were just over three hundred Arabian horses, which is very little. In 2023, the number exceeded 20,000 heads. Today, the United Arab Emirates occupies leading positions in many disciplines of world equestrian sports. 

In the 2000s, the history of the UAE's great successes was just beginning.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Majid Al Qasimi was one of the first (along with other eminent horse riders and horse enthusiasts such as Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the current ruler of Dubai, and his brother the late Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum) to organize an Arabian horse show in the Emirates.

It also turned out that Sheikh Abdullah bin Majid Al Qasimi is the president of the country's first equestrian club (The Sharjah Equestrian and Racing Club, SERC).
The club was founded in 1982 under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, the Emir of Sharjah. The Emir, by the way, is also a passionate lover of Arabian horses. He is Sheikh Abdullah's cousin. It seems that love for horses runs in the blood of this ancient family.

Today, under the tireless leadership of Sheikh Abdullah, the Emirates Stud breeds two types of Arabian horses. 
The first group is the show Arabian horses: ideal in breed type, great conformation. The second group is racing Arabian horses: fast, athletic, of famous and rare sport lines. Representatives of both groups - beautiful and fast-footed - win prestigious competitions, including international ones, year after year. And all this is under the leadership of a man who clearly knows what he is doing.

The invitation I received was preceded by a colorful and informative series of posts about the Emirates Stud. I prepared it myself, looking through thousands of photographs in my archive to select ES horses, checking numbers against names in catalogues. Then I organized the week of ES triumph in my social network.

At the same time, I observed beautiful, strong ES horses at shows, noting that the Owner carefully selected the crosses for his breeding program, that the horses of the Emirates Stud had a recognizable style.

Reality exceeded my expectations. The Emirates Arabian Horse Stud is a huge green area, a real oasis, where not only palm trees grow, but also an infinite number of different trees, flowers and grasses, bright bougainvillea bushes. The park has pavilions with gazelles, peacocks. Spacious paddocks with rare black and white antelopes - oryx. And, of course, there are stables with Arabians, both racing and show. The park, which is vast in size, is only a part of Sheikh Abdullah's estate.

First, the wonderful manager of the stud farm, Mrs. Christine, introduced me to the protocol, then gave me a tour of the park, taking me for a ride in a golf cart. We chose the most successful locations for photoshooting. We looked at them at different times of the day. In the morning, afternoon and evening. I tried to select the best locations by light, so that they harmoniously emphasized the beauty of the Champion. And the next day we got to work.

ES Prince turned out to be a surprisingly calm horse. Very obedient in the hands, thoughtful, attentive. There was a feeling that he would also be obedient if he was accidentally released into the wild. Most likely, he would just get up and wait for his owner. Absolutely people-oriented. With amazing eyes - huge and black. Very smart, if you can say that about horses. Soulful.

Indeed, there are few such horses. Arabians are different, especially stallions. Some are indifferent, some are aggressive, some are frankly lazy. Some are sweet, some are shy, some are cheeky. ES Prince is a very gentle boy, completely involved in the work of his retinue. And this only emphasizes his grace and nobility, his pedigree, especially on his mother's side (a straight Egyptian line).

Every show horse has its golden years when it is at its best. I was fortunate to catch ES Prince in his prime. And to be able to capture his subtle beauty and show it to the Arabian horse community.

Prince was always well received by the public.

In the 2021-2022 show season, he was greeted with particular warmth, the excitement was off the charts. With such a wave of interest, given all the achievements, it was expected to receive the news that, following the results of the show season, ES Prince was named as the No. 1 Arabian stallion in the United Arab Emirates, with the highest score of 94 out of 100.

In the Majlis, the eyes ran wide from the golden cups that the Sheikh's racehorses had won. All the tables, steps and shelves were covered with these cups. And there were also many award ribbons and blankets, prize statues that the Sheikh's show horses received year after year.

We are talking about the Emirates. It is +50 degrees in the summer. Horses need to be trained and their shapes checked all year round. For the purpose of comfortable work, the air-conditioned Majlis and the arena are located next to each other. Between them there is a glass wall with built-in sliding doors.

That is, from the Majlis you can go straight into a completely closed, air-conditioned arena.

When the Sheikh invites Arabian horse breeders as guests, it is most often from the Majlis that he shows them his best horses. Trainers bring out the horses, one after another. All participants in the show are comfortable: the arena is cool and there is no scorching sun. The lights are on. And the guests sit in the Majlis on elegant chairs and look at the arena, as if it were a theater stage. They admire the horses' performance, evaluating their condition.

What else is important to tell about Sheikh Abdullah? It is interesting that this person is very generous, reasonable, wise. One could call him shy, but I once watched him secretly on a show before, and I saw that he is a very cheerful and happy person. He often laughs. He is the life of the party, the center of attraction. And yet, the Sheikh is distinguished by internal restraint and internal... probably, modesty. This person can talk a lot about his successes, but he does not. And the successes are really significant.

For example, the Emirates Stud Arabian stallion ES Ajeeb is one of the most outstanding racehorses in the UAE, having won at all five racecourses in the country. Or, for example, the Arabian stallion ES Harir, who became the gold world champion in 2018 and the platinum world champion in 2022 – this is the highest possible result in a show career. The ES Stud has a number of show stallions and excellent Arabian mares that have become gold, silver and bronze champions of the most prestigious international shows.

Most likely, there were many horses with the ES abbreviation before I came to the horse industry, that is, before 2015. Unfortunately, I did not see them (the career of show horses is short, new ones quickly take their place). And there are very few of their photos on the Internet.

I would like to keep so many photos and video sketches with the wonderful ES Arabian horses as possible. Including this article, which I dedicate to the Emirates Stud.