This highly coveted event organized by Dubai Equestrian Club, saw the very best of the UAE dressage riders compete internationally, as participating countries were divided into regional groups, with the UAE taking on Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Turkey in FEI Zone 4.
The FEI World Dressage Challenge has been organized under the direction of the National Federations of the participating countries.
For the first time in the history of UAE’s participation in the FEI World Dressage Challenge, the number of participants exceeded the maximum and a balloting system had to be implemented to limit the entries to the 40 allowed.
All competitors are put through the same tests adjudicated by the same ground jury that consists of two FEI-appointed international judges who travel to each country within the group.
This year two new FEI judges come to Dubai, Mr Raphael Saleh from France and Mrs Janine Rorh-Circule from Argentina.
The 2008 FEI World Dressage Challenge saw over 2200 competitors competing from 56 different countries.
The UAE riders produced fantastic results and only served to illustrate that the sport is steadily gaining momentum, with the UAE overall placing in the top 20 worldwide.
The competition featured the Prix St-Georges, Advanced, Elementary, Medium and Junior Preliminary tests.
The Prix St Georges class was won by local stalwart Lynn Al Redha on her impressive stallion Tartan Special scoring 64.63%. This impressive score saw Al Redha gain first place in the FEI Zone 4 and 10th worldwide in this class.
The dynamic duo also took out the Advanced class.
Al Redha commented: "I am very pleased with the result and am amazed at how far dressage in the UAE has come.
"Union Properties has been such a valuable supporter and [Emirates Equestrian Centre] is very grateful for this."
Star rider Tracy Gill took both first and second place on Roma and Worthily respectively in the Elementary class.
Gill and the purpose-bred super-mare Roma placed second overall in the FEI Zone 4, only marginally missing out on first place by a mere 0.02%.
"I am absolutely beaming with my result! Roma is very talented and she has done so well.
"Worthily is proving to be quite capable and seems to enjoy the challenge".
The Medium class was won easily by Janis Jackson on her lovely imported horse Vedo, with a score of 66.29%, which also secured first place in this class in all of FEI Zone 4.
The Junior Preliminary Class was won by Karin Linbom riding Mer Mer, closely followed by Charlotte Drakeley on Cenan Alarch, who although finished with the same percentage was beaten by collective marks.
Overall, the UAE produced impressive results, with the winning rider from each category contributing to the overall first place the team received within the FEI Zone 4 amongst the other four countries and 17th worldwide, the highest placing for UAE to date.