Abdullah Humaid Al Muhairi will be representing the UAE at the Gothenburg Horse Show for the Longines Jumping FEI World Cup™ Final, which kicks off today. Here, he speaks exclusively to Sport360 about representing his country, dealing with pressure, and his Olympic dreams.

Preparation has been going very well ahead of the Longines Jumping FEI World Cup Final, I just came back from a show in Paris, so that’ the best training – to be in competition. I have to change some things when I’m riding outside of the UAE. The Longines Jumping FEI World Cup Finalitself is indoors so I have to get used to the smaller arena and make sure the horse is comfortable. The weather is obviously colder in Sweden than the UAE so you have to make sure your horse is able to cope with the conditions. As a rider you have to wear additional clothing and have more blankets for the horses. They can take some getting used to that. Typically it takes about 10 days for a horse to get used to the conditions in Europe.

There is pressure because you’re competing against the best in the world and of course it’s an honour to represent your country, but you want to make sure you’re doing it in the right way, and showing the world that the UAE riders are capable of competing with the best. We’re lucky because we’ve had a lot of international shows in the UAE and the level is very high, the UAE Equestrian and Racing Federation have been doing a great job in building the sport.Things have been getting much easier because we’re jumping a lot more frequently, which means the horses are getting better and better.

Victory is the dream at the Longines Jumping FEI World Cup Final, it would be a brilliant achievement and it would do a lot for the sport back home, we’re going the right way, and this is going to be a great experience. It’s not easy to get into the sport, it takes a long time and you have to look after yourself and your diet. Not only that you have to look after your horse the same way, you need to be very patient.

We have a goal in the UAE to qualify for the Olympics and we have a plan with our trainers and hopefully if we do we can get a medal. It’s step by step at the moment but it’s becoming more and more realistic. The horses are good and the team is determined to make it happen, starting this week.