Camel Racing and Beauty - Essay Example

Camel Racing and Beauty” Registration: Module Leader: Workshop Due Introduction Camel racing is being practiced in various locations across the United Arab Emirates, with the preeminent ones being the ones being held in Abu Dhabi, the nation’s capital and Dubai, the commercial district of the country. Camels have been an intricate part of Arabian culture, and this has stretched for all their history and heritage. The camel was the mode of transport for the desert dwellers before the discovery of oil in the country, yet a glance at the country reveals a country full of top of the range vehicles. In the UAE, they perceive the camel racing as an important connection to the country’s connection to the Bedouin heritage (Nomadic Arab of the desert). These animals have been referred to as the ships of the desert, they have an irrefutable place of importance in the annals of the UAE history, and in fact, a camel fossil drawing estimated to be more than seven thousand was found on an island near Abu Dhabi. Nonetheless, writers have been quick to point out that the present camel racing tradition differs from the past, as the present traditional racing have been marked by a very fast form of camel racing, yet in the past camel racing was only practiced during weddings and special festivals. The beauty of camel training is that a camel must be trained for very many years for them to maintain an ungainly pace for a competition. At full speed, the legs of the camel kick in all manner of directions, a funny way of leaping that is very common for the animal. Value of Camel Racing as Sport Sports are an important part of human interaction through ages, and it has formed one of the best forms of bonding. Sports have grown in leaps and bounds over the years to occupy the highest echelon in the society. Currently superstars in sports such as racing, football, basketball and others receive some of the highest income in the society. For instance, the amount top football players earn in Europe per week is more than the amount that the amount leaders of nations earn inform of income per month, and this means that Lionel Messi, the diminutive Argentine football great who plies his trade in Barcelona, Spain earns more than Obama per month. Similarly, sport occupies a very important place in the UAE, and in this region, big money sponsorships and top of the end events occur in every occasion from that range from football, cricket, golf, f1, and amongst others. However, unlike other types of sports, camel racing is very much a part of the Arabia culture without undue external influence that is common in other sports. This is a local people’s sport, as it has been linked to the Arabian people from as early as the seventh century. Camels are perceived as beautiful magnificent creatures, and the races are seen as a unifying activity, and the sport are always seen as a way of drawing people from all backgrounds. Over the years, camel racing as a sports activity has continued to grow in terms of organization, as the president of the UAE and the emir of Abu Dhabi oversaw, Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan oversaw the construction of many racetracks. The continued competitiveness of the races has coincided with the ballooning of the prize money, and many camel owners resorted to the use of lightweight children as children, and later reverted to robots. Several writers estimated that there were as much as 40, 000 children who were working as jockeys in the early 1990s across the Arabian Peninsula. The horror of children participants shall be a discussion on the subsequent section, even though the practice was banned for more than ten years. The horrors were worrisome as the camels stood almost at more than seven feet tall and reached top speeds of 64 kilometers an hour. The Emirati Camel Racing Federation in line with international labor organizations forbade the use of jockeys under the age of fourteen, or those weighing less than forty five kilos (Jarvie 2006, p.202). To reiterate an earlier point, the robots became the perfect substitute for the children jockeys, although earlier models were cumbersome and heavy, and the camels did not perform perfectly with them on their backs, besides they proved difficult in obtaining. Nevertheless, newer models have become more localized in production, and they can easily be bought in stores throughout the country. The dewalt power drill forms the nerve centre of the modern robot jockey, and they cost an average of 2000 dirham in Dubai, the Gulf’s commercial capital. Race Day The area behind the place where camels start their racetrack is a gathering point for a mirage of people with different characters, with the majority dressed in robes, some in slacks and other are pertinently on their talkies conversing with their robots, or it seems like they are doing just that. On the field of the racetrack, there are owners, handlers, training riders, and trainers who are steeped in deep conversation with their favorite animals and robots, and it is very rare to spot a fan or a tourist on the terraces. It is not uncommon to find empty stands even at the grandstand at the Al Wathba, the most famous of the entire camel racetrack in the UAE. In addition, and unlike horse-racing, which is common in the UK, the government of the UAE bans betting on camel racing, and most writers have pointed out that this is one of the major reasons that is driving down the number of fans and tourists on the terraces. Most people throughout the country are only content with watching the races in the comfort of their living rooms, unless there is a specific big race that attracts a very grand price of about a million Dirham and above. Despite the low attendance of these races in the racetrack across the gulf countries, the sport is followed passionately by people throughout the region, and a mere ownership of a camel in the region is an honor, besides owning a camel attracts a certain percentage of tax (Nauright and Parrish 2012, p.284). Shopping for a camel at an auction demands a careful piece of research, and the selling price of a camel can go from about $2700 to as high as $815000, in which the latter may be compared to a thoroughbred. The costs of feeding and housing of the camels has been on the rise, with the amount estimated to about$275. The regiment for the horses and their trainers is a common narrative thatinvolves waking up at 4 O’clock in the forming and then feeding the camels, and the desert ships begin their walk to the training fields and by 6 O’clock, they commence their training schedules until 9 O’clock in the morning. After the frenzy of waking and training, the camels are moved back to their barns, where they eat and sleep until the mid afternoon, which is followed by another training session, feeds and then sleep after 5 O’clock in the evening. On the day of the race, the ships of the deserts line with each facing the other by the side, behind the starting line, awaiting the race in a kneeling posture, while at the same time their trainers saddle them with the machine jockeys, rechecking the whips and the walkie-talkies. The distance the camels will race is virtually dependent on the age of the camels, and unlike the activity at an equine race track, camel racing is seen unending. There are no breaks and no lulls between racing periods, and no sooner had a group crossed the finish line, than another group bolt to their start towards their own finish line. During the race, there are of soundtracks different places, but the soundtrack from a mix of car horns, with owners encouraging their camels cover the whole place over. In addition, the loud thwacks from the robot whips complement the other sounds that are made when the whips smack against the dromedary beast’s hindquarters. Besides, the camels have been given a different Arabic name that refers to warriors or extremely beautiful women in Arabic culture, for instance, Miyan and amongst other names. After the each race, and their handlers have removed their robots and saddles, the camels are selected, and their equipments are tested after each race to make sure that there were no drugs or artificial compounds that have been used during the race. The leading camels number first to three have their heads and necks rubbed with golden saffron, an important spice that shows honors to the camel and the others are taken back to their waiting area to cool off. Development of Camel Racing in the Arab Peninsula The development of camel racing as a recreational sports activity in the region is quite recent, however the activity was previously incorporated in other Arabic culture that include weddings and other significant ceremonies (Khalaf 2000, p.54). More so the races gained prominence after dollars from oil began to pour into the emirates from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, and that is after the 1962 discovery of oil in the emir of Abu Dhabi. The ruling sheikhs of the Abu Dhabi began offering huge rewards for owners who participated in the events, majorly due thwart any culture change that will result from the high economic growth that will ensue from oil wealth. There are writers who have argued that it is the lucrative prizes given to winners that have kept the sport very popular Nonetheless, the sport has been associated with a very dark past, as the sport encouraged trafficking of children from the East Asia and Africa, who were preferred for their low weights by the camel owners. The children were undernourished, and suffered from injuries as they were young, some even four years of age or less, and they were made to mount the hump of a dromedary that is as tall as seven feet. This illicit trade thrived in the 1970s throughout the 80s and the early 90s, however, a spirited campaign by human rights activists and international communities oversaw the death of this practice and the adoption of the lightweight robots. The use of robot over the small children was revolutionary, as the adoption of the machines saw the fast growth of the industry coinciding with the growth in the popularity of the sport throughout the Arabian Gulf peninsula. However, it should be noted that the growth and development of the robots did just take off, the process was riddled with a lot of trial and errors, although their popularity has gained momentum since the year 2005. Unlike the children Jockeys, camel owners had doubts over their acceptance by the camels, besides the early versions were damn expensive, however, after a Swiss firm took over the production of the robots, the later versions became increasingly cheap and easy to use. There are certain times in the distant past when the robots were sourced for up to $10000, and even could cost more, and controlled by a joystick remote control. Nonetheless, the from a recent prototype, the scientist built a simpler robot, and that the dromedaries only needed a single hit and they would bolt at top speeds, and this robot was locally assembled in the Emirs and Qatar. The development of the sport also took a likely turn as it became more competitive over the year, and a resulting vast improvement in everything from training and breeding of the camels. In fact, higher institutions of learning in the region have been dedicating their research towards the study of camel racing, and the breeds and their performances are closely monitored by departments of veterinary research laboratories throughout the Arabian Peninsula. In the last decades, and through the process of natural selection, the race times of camels have significantly from an estimated time of 20 minutes to 15 minutes for just over 6 mile track. This feat has been thought of as unbelievable and unpractical in the equine races, even though the future for the dromedary racing is still unclear, the time might just move towards 10 minutes for the same distance. The exact figure of the camel racing industry is difficult to estimate, however, industry experts put the figure in the region hundreds of millions of dollars almost rivaling established sports such as football in England. For instance, a top camel that finished tops in the major races in the affluent emirs of Abu Dhabi and Dubai could be priced for upwards of $5 million and the financial rewards could be hundreds of thousands of dollars. The camel ruling enthusiasts led by the ruling sheiks of the gulf have monetized the competition, particularly those from the affluent Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain, and Abu Dhabi. In addition, the same group has established top end laboratories that cater to camel research, for instance the ruling elites in Dubai found the CVRL, which caters for only a hundred top of the class camel breeds that have been developed through selective breeding, and the institute has been the first of its kind to spearhead cloning of a camel. The beauty of the racing season is that it falls in the winter months that range from October to March, and that the races are only held in the mornings on the weekends at the tracks that are nothing of the past, as they are modernized. The weekend races are held in Al Ain, Al Maqam and Al Wathba in UAE, and other racetracks across the country and the wider Gulf region. The breed common in UAE locally known as Mahaliyat is a favorite, however, the Omaniyat breed from Oman and Sudaniyat from Sudan are also used during races. However, the Muhajanat, which is a cross breed of the camels mentioned above is also a star attraction in the stands during races. Conclusion The population of camels in the country is staggering, and has a significant percentage of the total world’s population; however, a good number is sourced from outside the country, particularly in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The best camels that often win races are very pricy and sell for astronomical amounts and yet they costs as much as the values of the camels. In camel racing, the stakes are normally raised, and although the betting is banned by the government, the prices awarded to the winners are usually in abundance, and the events receive a lot of publicity on different media. In the distant past children from the Far East, nations of the Indian subcontinent were continually being used as jockeys; however, in the present robots sourced from Japan have replaced the child jockeys. References Jarvie, G 2006 Sport, culture and society: an introduction. London, Routledge. Khalaf, S. N 2000 Poetics and politics of newly invented traditions in the Gulf: camel racing in the United Arab Emirates. Ethnology : an International Journal of Cultural and Social Anthropology. Nauright, J., & Parrish, C. 2012. Sports around the world history, culture, and practice. Santa Barbara, Calif, ABC-CLIO. Read More