UAE Sets 2026–2027 Equestrian Season Calendar
Butheeb Steps In for World Body
The programme for the UAE's 2026–2027 horse racing and equestrian season has been approved under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court. According to the official programme reported by the Emirates News Agency (WAM), the season brings together endurance, Purebred Arabian horse championships, show jumping, dressage and flat racing across five Emirates venues between October 2026 and March 2027.
The Emirates Racing Authority's 2026–2027 calendar runs from October 22, 2026 to March 27, 2027, covering 64 meetings across five racecourses: Meydan Racecourse (17), Abu Dhabi (16), Al Ain (14), Jebel Ali (11) and Sharjah (6). The Gr.1 UAE President Cup (PA) is scheduled for Abu Dhabi on December 12, 2026, with prize money of US$2,178,056 (AED8,000,000). Meydan Racecourse closes the season with the Gr.1 Dubai World Cup on March 27, 2027, worth US$12,000,000. Together these fixtures give the racing calendar its structure, spreading meetings across five venues over five months and giving each racecourse a distinct share of the season's programme.
Endurance carries one of the season's most significant late additions. The FEI Endurance World Championship for Seniors is scheduled at Butheeb International Endurance Village on December 19, 2026, within an event window running December 14–20. The championship's placement on the calendar makes it one of the highest-profile fixtures of the entire season, drawing together the sport's senior competitors at a venue with an established history of hosting major endurance events.
Butheeb was not the championship's original host. The Royal Commission for AlUla, Saudi Arabia, withdrew as host in late June 2026 because of the regional geopolitical situation, prompting the FEI to reopen bidding for the venue. The withdrawal left organisers with a narrow window to identify and confirm an alternative location capable of meeting the championship's requirements at short notice.
The FEI Board confirmed Butheeb as the replacement host on 28 July 2026, roughly a month before the championship window opens. It will be the second time the venue has staged a World Championship, following the 2022 FEI Endurance World Championship held there. The turnaround between confirmation and competition left organisers a relatively compressed period to prepare, though the venue's prior hosting experience was seen as a mitigating factor.
Butheeb, in Al Khatim around an hour from Abu Dhabi, has hosted approximately 180 FEI and 360 national endurance events since 2004, a record that shaped the FEI's decision to redirect the championship there at short notice. That volume of hosting experience, built up over two decades, gave the venue a depth of operational history few alternatives could match.
Al Wathba Anchors Domestic Endurance
The Emirates International Endurance Village at Al Wathba hosts the domestic endurance programme feeding into the wider season. The Union Day Cup, run over 120km, opens the schedule on November 29, 2026, ahead of a run of races through the winter months. That opening fixture sets the tone for a domestic calendar that continues steadily through the winter, building toward the season's marquee endurance events.
The UAE President's Endurance Cup, contested over 160km, follows on January 31, 2027. Ladies' endurance features prominently across the calendar, including the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak for Private Owners – Ladies Endurance Cup and the Sheikha Fatima bint Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Ladies Endurance Cup, with further major competition scheduled during the Abu Dhabi Festival in March 2027. These fixtures underline the extent to which ladies' endurance is woven throughout the domestic calendar rather than confined to a single event.
National Championships Open the Autumn
Purebred Arabian showing opens the season's autumn programme. The Emirates Arabian Horse Society (EAHS) stages the EAHS National Arabian Horse Championship on October 27–28, 2026, followed immediately by the UAE National Arabian Horse Championship from October 30 to November 2, 2026. The back-to-back scheduling of these two championships gives the autumn showing programme an early concentration of high-level competition.
The EAHS National Championship – Al Dhafra runs December 25–27, 2026, before the Abu Dhabi International Arabian Horse Championship closes the showing calendar internationally from February 18–21, 2027. Between these fixtures, the showing calendar spans autumn through winter into February, giving Purebred Arabian competition a presence across nearly the entire season.
Show jumping and dressage complete the wider programme. Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club stages a local show jumping championship in October 2026, ahead of the FEI Jumping World Cup from January 6–10, 2027, and the UAE President's Cup Showjumping from January 13–17, 2027. International dressage arrives in February 2027, when the Longines League of Nations runs February 10–14 in Abu Dhabi. Taken together, these disciplines round out a season that runs from October to March, combining domestic and international competition across racing, endurance, showing, show jumping and dressage.