Surprise!

It is a year ago this week that I first came to Jordan on a 'recon' trip to check out the potential assignment here.  That has made me a little nostalgic or reflective.   As I look back through the posts on this blog, I have been thinking about what I have learned.

One thing that really strikes me is that a lot of this blog is devoted to the element of surprise that perpetually lurks around every corner in this part of the world.  In the last 48 hours alone: finding myself in an unanticipated downpour while a full rainbow framed the Roman ruins across the valley; the stairs on the way to work this morning completely collapsed and fallen in as a result of the heavy rainfall -- an amazing thing to see;  this afternoon I was followed home from work at the end of the day by 15 adolescent schoolboys calling and singing all around me at the same time as a senior official was calling me out of the blue to intervene on his behalf on a matter I have nothing to do with.  This is both completely normal and completely bizarre.  Living here, I realize, has restored my capacity for wonder.  I am thankful for that - appropriate for the Thanksgiving season.

But nothing has surprised me lately as much as an event I attended last Friday afternoon.  A horse beauty pageant.

Who knew such things existed?  It was held at the picturesque Royal Stables - outdoors in a lovely wooded valley - and there were actual princesses and upper crust Emiratis and Saudis in attendance.  There was also a fantastically tony panel of posh European judges sitting seriously over score sheets.  Secretly, I suspect that the judges were all younger sisters or second cousins of minor European noble families... Younger brother of a belgian prince, a disgraced cousin of the Thun & Taxis family... that kind of thing...fodder for Hello!  magazine.  Who else becomes a judge at a horse beauty pageant?

In case you are picturing a show jumping or dressage competition in your head, think again.  This was all about the pure beauty of Arabian horses - not performing tricks with humans - just being horses in their naked glory.  There they were, free of bridles or saddles, romping around a big paddock.  It was a little bit like the film "Best in Show" about dog shows, only bigger and less orchestrated.

Of course, I became fascinated by the award categories and the criteria by which the horses were being judged.  There were competitions for "best female head"  and "best male head".    There were age categories - Stallions born 2000 or before... Stallions born between 2001 - 2003...  who were run around the ring on a loose halter with a human alongside.  And there was my favourite category: the "Liberty" class where a horse was let loose and encouraged/goaded into running around for 5 minutes.   For me it was the show-stopper - like the Evening Gown competition in Miss Universe.   I learned by studying the competition booklet, that these horses are judged on the beauty of their: head and neck; body and top line; legs; movement.  No requirement to answer a skill-testing question.

Here's the thing:  as surprising as this event was to me, I came away with a whole new appreciation for horse beauty.  My god, these horses were gorgeous.  I can understand why a person would become obsessed, start a stable, spend her time trying to breed this beauty.  Seeing these creatures run around tapped into some kind of really deep-seated definition of strength and freedom and mythology.  A field full of Pegasuses.

I had sort of hoped I might meet a very handsome, unmarried, (Oxford-educated) Emir or Sheikh.  But that didn't happen this time.  Have to wait for the next Equestrian Foundation event...