JEDDAH: Hundreds of purebred Arabian horses are to be paraded near Riyadh as owners vie to have theirs judged the most beautiful. The 11th Championship for Purebred Arabian Horse Beauty starts on Oct. 27 at the Almortajaz Equestrian Center in Malham, north of the capital, under the patronage of Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar. The three-day event, supervised by the King Abdulaziz Arabian Horse Center, will include around 350 horses and is considered one of the most important in the Kingdom. Organizers said that the center maintains the highest international standards on horse safety. Saudi Arabia meanwhile retained its status as the leading producer of Arabian horses, with 5,246 born last year. The country’s top position, which it has held since 2016, was announced at the convention of the World Arabian Horse Organization in Jordan last week. More than 30 of the organization’s members attended the meeting, held in the presence of Abdulaziz Al-Moqbel and Ahmed Al-Saneh, the director general and the director of registration respectively of the King Abdulaziz Arabian Horse Center. The convention discussed developing the registration system for Arabian horses and the issuing of documents and genealogy records. Annual reports on Arabian horses’ registration for the WAHO member states were also reviewed. Al-Moqbel expressed his gratitude to the Saudi leadership for its support of the purebred Arabian horses’ sector. He added that efforts are ongoing to develop fertile land to produce more animals.