WorldTravelReynolds

Santa on the Ship

CHRISTMAS DAY!  The day we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. A glorious day of celebration for all Christians. Young children see it as a day when Santa Clause arrives with many gifts. It’s also a joyous time of year for family to be together and share the love for Christ and each other just as God wanted it. 

Indoor Arena

I love Christmas and this year was a little hard not being with any family in Texas or Virginia. However, Chuck and I have each other and we celebrated in our own way. This year, we just happen to be in Doha, Qatar. When looking at excursions, I found an excursion to see the Al Saqab Arabians. 

Outdoor Arena

Even though it really was just a small part of what Qatar was about, for me, it was perfect! The equestrian center is described as the Hollywood of horses. This is by far the most amazing equestrian center I have ever seen. 

A pat for a good job!

The 900 horses accommodated here have air-conditioned facilities due to the extreme heat in this region in the summer months. They breed, house and train the horses here for show and sale. Although

Time for a bath

I cannot confirm this fact, one of the tourists stated this was similar to a puppy farm in how the horses are just bred and sold. If that is true, the horses are living a good life, unlike puppy mills, before they are sold.

Indoor Stalls for Royal horses

There is also a veterinary hospital on the premises. The multi-million-dollar facility is 10,548,632 square feet or 980,000 square meters. Regardless of how you measure it, that’s HUGE. And the most unique is that it’s in the shape of a horseshoe. Very clever!

Outdoor Walking Facilities

Indoor Automatic Exerciser

We walked through a beautiful indoor, temperature-controlled arena with luxurious seating. It reminded me of the sky boxes at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Lots of luxury. The outdoor arena was just as impressive. 

Time for a swim

There was outdoor seating but also indoor booths for entertaining. We walked about 4 miles just to see a small part of this massive complex but well worth it. Our next stop was to see and interact with the beautiful Arabian horses.

Treadmill

Whirlpool

There were a few that we were not allowed to see due to their royalty status. They belonged to the King of Qatar. Our first visit was the high blood lined breeds. They were in a facility with beautiful stalls that just screamed money.

Chuck getting kisses?

Look at that baby! These are the original stalls from the 1800s

We stopped for a while and ooh’d and aah’d over the beautiful stallions. They were so friendly and talked to us the whole time we were there. I think they loved the attention! Next door we found the pregnant mares with the same beautiful home.

They shave the horses to get the outer coat off.

He was so sweet!

We did find out that the bluegrass hay was brought in from Kentucky. Hard to imagine. However Texas A&M has one of the 8 USA universities located in Qatar so it’s feasible! 

The facility was built on the land where the original stucco type barns were located.

Some of these are still in use for the young foals around 6 months to 1 year old when they are weaned from their mothers. We spent some time with a few of the babies. Didn’t see any new ones. These were around 9 months – 1 year old.

Check out the horseshoe shape

They were so cute and one or two were friendly. Others were a little more skittish. 

We were then taken to the exercise and therapy building. All I can say is WOW! My dad would have been in awe! The horse walkers were enclosed, and the horses separated by free-flowing bars and the speed would just touch the horses on the behind and they would know to speed up.

Statues in front of the complex

It looked like a carousel with live horses! The swimming pool was awesome. The horses would swim from one end to another while on a lead. After a workout on those muscles they were put into a spa made for one horse. This is a horse’s heaven for sure!

Chuck said this building looked like a rocket or bullet!

They had a treadmill which inclines to work the horses muscles even more.  The facility also has accommodations for the staff working at the stables caring for the horses and the grounds. It was a great visit and so glad we came. I think Chuck even enjoyed the horses as well. I know he was impressed with the facility. 

Sadly, we had to leave. Our tour guide took us on a trip around the city and gave us some information about Qatar. She was really good and knew her stuff!  Qatar is the only country that borders Saudi Arabia and is 12 Square Kilometers in size/4,600 Square miles. It’s a small country but very packed with tall hotels and buildings! It is similar to downtown Dubai in regard to skyscrapers.

This is a drape of the flag over a building. From afar, Chuck and I thought it was pretty cool that they had a huge stocking hanging. Oops!

There are 7 million people in Qatar and 1/2 of those are living in the town of Doha but only 400,000 people are actually Qatari. There are many different nationalities from 80 different countries living and working in Qatar. The rich part of Qatar started out with pearling, fishing and is now from Natural Gas. Today there is about 80-90% natural gas resources and 10-20% oil.

The Kings are called Emirs of Qatar, which began in 1971. Prior to that they were Hakims. The Emirs were a father and son. The son, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani took over reign in 2013 when his father was aging and no longer able to make the decisions necessary. He died at the age of 102.

Everything is beautiful and green.

They do not have a parliament or congress, but the King does have 35 men that assist in his daily duties and decision making. 

While we are celebrating Christmas, Qatar celebrates National Day on December 18th. National Day is a national commemoration of Qatar’s unification in 1878.

It is celebrated yearly and although the many Christians living here can buy Christmas decorations in December, they cannot purchase them after December 17th. No Christmas celebrations can be held openly after that date either. They can have private celebrations in hotels and home but nowhere else. There is a religious complex where non-muslims can go to worship.

One of the many mosques within a mile of each other.

Healthcare is approximately 25 USD per year. They may have to pay a little for an emergency room visit but very little. The hospitals are separate facilities. Men in one. Women and Children in another.  They are currently preparing for the World Cup 2022. Many buildings are under construction and more hotels being built. The stadium is very impressive! So many people are expected, they are building a tram to be able to transport so many. They also have underground trains very new to the country. 

The Kings face is everywhere!

This part is interesting: When a man and woman want to marry, they must visit the mosque for a blessing first. They then visit the government offices for approval for money for housing. Not a loan. The government will also pay up to 300,000 Qatar Rial/money which is about $82,000 USD for the wedding. The reason for this is there are about 500 guests and the bride and groom hand out gifts to the guests. I think they got that backwards!

Housing for the workers at the Al Shaqab

The man can have up to 4 wives, but it can be very expensive because the wives get the same share as the other wives and they live in their own homes. They do not have to share with the other wives. The wives are also provided with a driver, a cook and a nanny. All paid for by the government as long as you are a Qatari. This is a man or woman born to a true Qatari.

Flag on the right is the Qatar flag.

You cannot obtain any of these benefits if you are born here but not to a Qatari. If a foreign woman marries a Qatari she can have the benefits as long as they are married. If they divorce or he dies, she loses the benefits. Because of the expense, the men here typically only have one wife. Men wear white clothing and headdresses, women wear black.

Stadium being built for the World Cup 2022

After our exciting trip to see the horses we made our way to the restaurant, Windjammer to eat and say hello to some of the staff. After 25 + days, you become a regular and everyone knows your name.

The main mosque. The two windows at the top resemble a woman’s eyes behind her burqa.

Our greeter in the dining room was dressed as Santa Clause. He was so funny with his accent. Chuck joked about sitting on his lap and he pulled up a chair and made Chuck sit on his knee. It was hilarious. They always make us feel welcome and have a great time!

Qatar skyline