MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lacalle Pou gave an Uruguayan mare to the Emir of Qatar as a gift and left on Monday: Why is it important?

The prince had expressed to Lacalle the intention of having a Uruguayan horse in his establishment.

This Monday, a Criollo horse that the Uruguayan President, Luis Lacalle Pou, promised to send as a gift to the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, left Uruguay for Qatar. Last February, the South American president offered the animal during his trip to that country for the international fair Expo Dubai.

A peculiar request of the Uruguayan president, Luis Lacalle Pou, reached the ears of the Society of Criollo Horse Breeders of Uruguay (SCCCU) last January.

The head of state, who had made an official visit to Qatar in December 2021, commissioned the selection of a Criollo equine to give as a gift to Al Thani, who demonstrated his interest in horse breeding during his meeting with the Uruguayan statesman.

Her breeders hope she will also be a “talisman” for the Uruguayan football team in the next World Cup, to be held in November, where Uruguay will face the Qatar team in the group stage.

Seven years old, the Moorish mare “Murta” was finally chosen, because, as stated to Efe by the administrator of the Estancia La Invernada, João Antonio Martins, after being designated by the SCCCU, the establishment wanted to bet on a “new” and “tamed” mare.

“We chose this mare because we wanted one that, in addition to being morphologically beautiful, would bring together the most important bloodlines of La Invernada,” said Martins. They explained that this ranch, located in the department (province) of Cerro Largo (east), has been selecting Criollo endurance horses for a century.

La Invernada today has some 600 pedigree horses that year after year participates in national or international endurance competitions, according to its administrator, who said that the stud is “very happy” that Murta will represent the country in Qatar.

He also explained that the mare was prepared to adapt to the stables and sheared especially so as not to suffer the heat during the long flight and arrival in Qatar.