Kurdish Businessman Horses Around With New Venture

[Aslan]

SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region - Rebar Jamal is not just horsing around: The equines he has brought from around the world to a ranch outside Sulaimani City are for sale – some for as much as $35,000.

Jamal’s passion for horses began on a trip to the Netherlands. Seeing the horses made him think he could start a ranch in Kurdistan, and that is just what he did. He bought some horses the same day and shipped them home, where he has built a ranch very similar to the one he saw.

His horses, which roam within a few acres of land near Kani Goran village, several kilometers outside Sulaimani City, come from the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and some Arab countries, and all are trained for riding.

Jamal, who brought his horses on trucks especially designed for transporting the animals, says it took some time at the border before Kurdish authorities allowed his special cargo through.

“We faced no transportation problems in Europe. But when we reached the Ibrahim Khalil border point (on the Turkey-Kurdistan frontier) it took the authorities 21 days to issue entry permission for the horses,” he recalls.

Though he has no education in horse breeding or husbandry and his experience with horses is next to none, Jamal says he has since learned a lot about horses and is confident that his project will someday turn into a lucrative business.

“At first I only tried to introduce some foreign horses to Kurdistan, but when I brought them to the region I sold 15” he says. “So now I am thinking of turning my ranch into a business.”

His father, Jamal Ahmad, says that he has stood by his son’s idea from the start. But he complained that the government stonewalled them several times before it finally let up and gave them the proper licenses.

“We went through a lot until we established this project,” Ahmad told Rudaw. “The government was not supportive and we faced many barriers.”

Jamal is a businessman who owns two trade companies. But he says that his horses are now his true passion, and that nothing can stop him from visiting them for a few hours each day.

Among Jamal’s foreign breeds there are also Kurdish horses, which he sometimes sells to local villagers or towns people who visit his ranch every Friday.

“Their prices vary,” he says. “A Kurdish horse costs between 2 to 7 million Iraqi Dinars ($5,500), Arabic horses cost between 9 to 12 million Iraqi dinars and race horses cost $35,000.”

Jamal finds the weather in Sulaimani perfect for his horses. He has built special, temperature-controlled stables for the extreme climate conditions of the year.

Ari Omer, who is charge of training and grooming Jamal’s horses, says the horses sometimes snap at him. Other times they try to hurt him, but he couldn’t care less.

“Dealing with horses has been my dream since childhood,” he says. Omer says that he learned to deal with horses from his uncle.

“But training these horses is very difficult for me,” he jokes. “Their language is different: They are trained in English!”