Photos: Khartoum’s Equestrian Club Struggles amid Sudan upheaval

In Sudan’s capital city Khartoum, the Equestrian and Racing Club has given upper-crust Sudanese the chance to learn horse riding and watch horse racing in a shady compound set apart from the surrounding urban bustle. But now the club has had to cut back activities since popular unrest erupted in December and led to the fall of autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in April, dampening high society life. ...read more

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Updated on Aug 11, 2019 04:24 PM IST

A worker feeds a horse at a private stable at the Equestrian Club, in Khartoum, Sudan. For decades the Equestrian and Racing Club has given upper-crust Sudanese the chance to learn horse riding and watch horse racing in a shady compound set apart from the surrounding urban bustle of the capital Khartoum. But the club has had to cut back activities since popular unrest erupted in December and led to the fall of autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in April, dampening high society life. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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Men ride horses on the race track at the Equestrian Club compound in Khartoum. Horse races were halted and attendance at equestrian classes dwindled after protests broke out in the dusty streets of Khartoum, with the loss of scores of lives as security forces cracked down. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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Sudanese horse riders take part in a class at the Equestrian Club in Khartoum. “The main problem is that people don’t have enough cash (for the club), they’re keeping it to live on, not to bring children to ride horses,” said Rafat Awad, the club’s treasurer. “You see the situation in our country, people dying. You can’t just go and race. Some people are sad, some are angry, some still waging revolution, so we found it wasn’t right to stage competitions.” (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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Einas, 18, touches the horse she rides at a riding class, at the Equestrian Club, in Khartoum. Einas has been riding for a year and her father is a race horse rider. "If your family members are interested, it's easier than if you start on your own," Einas said about being a female horse rider. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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A young man who lives and works at the stables sits on a bed outside his room, at the Equestrian Club, in Khartoum. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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A Sudanese man trains a horse at the Equestrian Club in Khartoum. The club was founded in 1908 under British colonial rule but betting on horse races ended in 1983 when sharia (Islamic law) took effect. Before being halted, horse races were run through sponsorships and some 200 horses are kept in the club’s stables. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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Souvenirs lie on shelves at the Equestrian Club, in Khartoum. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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Einas (R), 18, and her friends wait to ride horses at the Equestrian Club in Khartoum. Some female club members describe how they’ve had to overcome disapproval of women participating in sport widespread in strictly Islamic Sudan. “If your family members are interested, it’s easier than if you start on your own,” said Einas, 18, who has been riding for one year. Her father has race horses and has won competitions. She said that in Sudan, however, racing was mainly a man’s sport while women often practiced show-jumping. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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Children wash a horse before riding classes at the stables of the Equestrian Club. Around two dozen people, including children, come for riding classes in the evenings, after the searing daytime heat eases, often watched by their families. Lessons are offered daily except Friday, the Muslim holy day, for 1,400 Sudanese pounds (nearly $20) a month - a sum beyond the means of most Sudanese, let alone the cost of buying and keeping a horse at the club. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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Rayan (L), 24, has been riding for 13 years. She was a gymnast and had a show at the club, where she saw horses and decided she wanted to ride. Sagda, a journalist and club member who had been riding for 11 years, said: “My mum brought me here, my family don’t mind that I’m a woman riding. “It can be a bit hard - some people disapprove at how we are dressed,” she added, alluding to tight-fitting equestrian garb. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)