FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES FEBRUARY 2014 87
call her a friend.”
After the birth of their twins, Alice was teaching
riding in Paris. Three years later in 2005 Princess Haya
called with a job offer. “She wanted me to spend two
weeks out of every month, except summers, in Dubai,
training five young local Dubai riders,” Alice recounted.
“I have the most accommodating, supportive husband
in the world. Remi said I could never give up that
chance. I started in 2005, so I am now beginning my
ninth season with almost all of the same riders.”
Princess Haya told Alice to dress and act as she
does normally. For the first six months Alice set
standards about being on time, how to dress, teaching
them to get their hands dirty caring for the horses,
setting courses for themselves, and to be proud of
it. “I was empowered to be as strict as necessary to
get results,” Alice said. “They live in a very service-
oriented society. I wanted them to be better horsemen
and not be ashamed to be able to groom their horses,
put on bandages and clean tack. I am sure my level of
discipline was a shock, but results came very quickly,
and the Dubai Team soon became the most respected
team in the region.”
In 2008, Abdulla Al Marri won the World Cup Arab
league, beating even the more experienced Saudi
riders. The Dubai team riders
now buy young horses and
are learning to produce them
themselves. That may be
where Alice’s greatest strength
as a rider and trainer manifests.
The young prospects are eight
and will soon start to jump in
grand prix. Her riders were 18
to 20 and now they are pushing
30. They have students of
their own. “They are carrying
on my system, mixed with
their own accents, just as they
have different personalities,”
Alice said. “I am proud of all
of my riders and what kind
of professionals they have
become. They are also very
good people.”
What goes round, comes
round. Alice’s passion for
horses and work ethic goes
beyond the norm. Her children
ride. Her husband Remi is in his
third year of running the CSIO
5-star horse show in La Baule.
Alice’s Dubai riders continue
to evolve. “I think my biggest
strength is producing horses,”
she said. “I’m not Meredith
or Beezie or McLain, but I’m
comfortable with who I am and
what I do. If my riders go to the
Olympics and become stars in
the horse community in Dubai,
I will be happy if I have made a
lasting influence. If those riders
hand down what they learn
from me, that will be part of my
legacy.”
Alice and her twins at a lunch with Ahmed Falaknaz’s family.
Photo Courtesy of Alice Debany Clerio
