Crazy Horses is the impossibly funky one from the O dogs that goes - cray-zee hore-ses (wahhhhhrrrr, whar) thanks to Donny's insane keyboard sound. Why's it so great? Guitars, that wahhhhrrr hook, and maybe cos they kept Donny well away from the vocals. Here it is in all of its seventies glory:
But I digress.
Jacky and I were personally invited by the Emir to attend a horse show (he says giday by the way). We couldn't turn him down. As Jacky said when I showed her the invitation that was also printed in the paper - "I don't care if we have to walk to it - we're going". It would have been rude to do otherwise; to say nothing of the state of our marriage if we didn't go - you'll remember that Jacky is quite fond of horses. Like Richard Branson is quite fond of making money, like Hugh Hefner is quite fond of young buxom blonde babes who take their kit off. You get the idea.
So we went. Unfortunately due to some administrative error the Emir's lackeys mucked up the seating arrangements and we had to sit with the rest of the plebs (he was very apologetic and we laughed about it afterwards). Never-the-less we had a groovy time - yes okay - I admit it - it wasn't too unbearable.
We started with a tour of the equestrian centre in Doha. What a magnificent facility. My pictures will show the small stable block at the front gate, the indoor arena and the main outdoor arena, but this is a vast complex with racetracks and masses of stabling for both the stable hands and horses (not sure which gets the best treatment!). I have nothing to compare it to.
The first event of the night was awards for top Arabian yearling colts. The Emir, we noticed, owns quite a lot of them - including the winner in this class (wow - what a surprise). Here they are with the winner and the modest little indoor stadium in the background as the lead off picture.
We had a quick gander in the stables. Jacky was impressed that each horse had it's own recipe for feedtime. I was impressed that Jacky only wanted to take two of the horses home. She's not greedy.
The show also included other classes of horses and drive-bys by various military types on horses - here's a sample for the horse junkies amongst you. The arena pic before we got underway is up first. The Emir's on one of the gold chairs in that VIP section. Sorry some are a bit blurry - but they give you the idea.
The final part of the evening was a show by a couple of French showmen who entertained us with some fairly amazing routines. They dimmed the lights for this bit so the photos are not as sharp. I've included them anyway to give an idea of what went on. The band in the background was also brilliant - a French/Spanish combo that cranked out a musical backdrop. All very amazing and world class (and free - the Emir's shout!)
A great show; a merry time was had by all.
Love and peace - Wozza
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