DOHA: A total of nine showjumping classes will take place during the first international equestrian competition to be held in the Middle East and Asia that is taking place these days in Al Shaqb.
Each class will boast a completely different configuration of fences designed to test the skills of horse and rider to the maximum and lead by Venezuelan expert Leopoldo Palacios. The course designer responsible for devising the CSI5 tracks can easily be recognised at horse shows by his signature hat and is one of the most respected and sought-after course designers in the world. He is known for his innovative and technically challenging, but humane and horse-friendly, approach to course design.
This expert has masterminded tracks at the biggest and best venues throughout the world, including the Olympics, the World Cup finals and the Spruce Meadows Masters. After designing the courses at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and working as co-designer at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with Steve Stephens, he became only the second person in history to earn the distinction of designing at two Olympic Games.
A former competitor himself, Palacios participated in national and international events from 1956 to the 1980s and, in 1971 and 1972, he was named Venezuela’s ‘Rider of the Year’. In 1976, Palacios reinvented himself as a course designer and, in 1993, he earned his Official International Course Designer status from the FEI.The Peninsula
