Grace Rides Again

One of Grace's favorite activities has been horseback riding, but we have not been able to take her riding in the past couple years due to crazy schedules, lack of funds, or both.  But, one of our new CCF friends is retired General Zohair who happens to have a son named Karim.  Karim is a national champion in equestrian jumping and Zohair and Karim teamed up to give Grace quite an experience yesterday.

Zohair had us meet him in Heliopolis and presented Grace with one of Karim's "thousands" of trophies--Zohair had asked Karim for permission and the reply was reportedly, "With pleasure."  Zohair then gave us a tour of this part of Cairo that we had not yet seen.  Heliopolis was built near the same time as Maadi, but it was constructed out in the dessert as opposed to the green, fertile area near the Nile.  The Belgian who designed Heliopolis was a much better planner and demonstrated greater foresight than the planners of Maadi.  The streets in Heliopolis, as well as the sidewalks, are much wider and make navigating through the city a bit easier--of course, for Egyptians, this also means that you can just squeeze that many more cars side by side on the roadway!

Zohair took us to the stables and riding club where Karim keeps his horses; this was quite a nice place with a cafe'/restaurant overlooking the corral.  Karim came and was very gracious and invited Grace to ride his horse; (Zohair said this was quite an honor because NO ONE rides Karim's horse except for Karim).   Grace needed help to get upon this much taller horse, but once up in the saddle, she was able to move quite comfortably on this mammoth animal.  She may have been a bit too comfortable and confident--Karim encouraged her to pick up the pace, and as she did her slick Converse and tiny frame became separated from the different stirrups and saddle than she had been accustomed.  She was able to bring the horse, or the horse brought himself, to a slower pace as she gently slid off the side and into the dirt.  She got back up and Karim had one of the stablehands give her some pointers on riding in this type of saddle and stirrups.

We knew she enjoyed herself because she stopped only when she couldn't stand the pain any longer--not coming properly dressed for the ride, the Converse she was wearing did not protect her foot and shin from the stirrup.  As a result, her ankle/shin was bruised and quite swollen within the hour.

But the bruises and trophy were not the only prizes she keeps from this unique memory.  She has also made a nice pair of friends in Zohair and Karim who also know those in charge of the riding club here in Maadi.  They are going to attempt to get Grace an opportunity to ride there as we have opportunity, too.