Equestrian between Art and Sport Sciences in Al-Andalos: Bin Hothayl Alandalosy’s Book: Heliat Alforsan and She'ar Alshoja'n as a Model

Abstract

Many researchers and fans are very concerned about equestrian as a very important sport in our present time. Researchers are trying to theorize about this sport according to the given facts of this field of knowledge. They are particularly concerned with the special characteristics of the knight (horse-rider), the horse, and the shape and measurements of the horse track. At the same time, some fans are interested in practicing horse riding for entertainment. When we study the origins of this sport, many researchers might think that ancient Arabs have practiced this sport for fun, entertainment, and fighting. They have also talked about it in their poetry and literature. Researchers have done this without indicating that equestrian as a sport is a science that has its own foundations and rules. For example, ancient Arabs have written a lot about the characteristics of the knight, the horse, and the track. This aspect is almost forgotten in recent studies of equestrian. One of the findings of this paper is that many ancient Arabs have discussed this sport in their literary and poetic books. They have discussed it as a sport science. Accordingly this paper will attempt to prove that ancient Arabs are the pioneers in this field, contrary to what many researchers think about this science, considering it only as a modern science that has nothing to do with the ancient Arabs. The main goal of the present paper is to discuss equestrian in Al-Andalus, enlightened by the book Heliat Alforsan and She'ar Alshoja'n written by Skeikh Ali Bin Abdul-Rahman, known as Bin Hothayl Alandalosy, who considered equestrian as an important science among other sport sciences. He does not provide only a linguistic and poetic theorization of this sport, but also provides all of this within the general context of all sport science. For example, he discusses horse ethics and the different ways of keeping and choosing horses, teaching horse riding, and participating in horse riding competitions. In addition, he supports his discussion with a lot of poetic examples that show how Arabs favor horses, we will compare all of this with the requirements of the modern science that addresses equestrian. The previous mentioned book shows how that ancient Arabs in Al-Andalos have participated in establishing equestrian as a science and how they were able to match between the scientific aspect of this sport and its poetics.