Paris Olympics 'just the beginning' for Moroccan equestrian trailblazer Noor Slaoui

Rider will make history as the first Arab woman to compete in eventing discipline at the Games

When she was just four years old, living in Casablanca, Noor Slaoui would tell her mother: “I’m going to live where my horses are one day.”

“And my mum would say, ‘You’re cute, you know; how are you going to do that?’ So a few too many years later, here am I, and I’m really enjoying that,” the Moroccan rider tells The National.

Now 29, Slaoui does indeed live with her horses on a yard she co-owns with her coach and business partner Deborah Fellous in the Cotswolds, about an hour outside of London. They started the business six years ago, producing horses to resell them or enter them in equestrian events.

It is how Slaoui finances her own riding career, which has now taken her to the Olympic Games in Paris, where she will make history as the first Moroccan or Arab woman to compete in the equestrian discipline of eventing at the Games.

Eventing is considered the triathlon of equestrian sport. A rider competes in three disciplines – dressage, cross-country, and jumping – using the same horse and, at the end of the three days, competitors are ranked based on their cumulative scores across all the events.

“What I love is that you leave no stone unturned. You need to have a horse that can do everything. And as a rider you need to be able to train it and get better in every discipline,” Slaoui said.

“And also I think you need a very special bond with your horse to be able to do that, especially when you go cross-country. You need to trust it 100 per cent, they need to trust you 100 per cent and to me that was very special.”

Slaoui’s passion for horses started from a young age when she would ride mules and go hiking up the mountains in Morocco with her family.

“That’s how I fell in love with the animal, and with the countryside, and with nature. I always had this idea in mind that I wanted to be a professional rider but I didn’t really know how I could do it and if it was even possible,” she said.

After graduating from high school, Slaoui went to the National Riding School in Saumur, France, to study to become a riding instructor. She figured it would be a great entry point to learn more about horses, equestrian sport, and the professional world.

“It was super interesting because it was like military school. So coming from Morocco where I was really surrounded by my family in a small cocoon, then I went there and it was a bit of a shock to me the first two months. But then I absolutely loved it,” she recalls.

Urged by her parents to pursue higher education, Slaoui then attended the University of Warwick to study political science. But that only got her closer to her dream as she happened to land in an area of England that boasted a vibrant eventing scene. On her way to school every day, she would drive past horse shows.

“I had a horse with me that I brought from France, and I read the rule book and I thought, ‘Oh I’m going to give it a go’. So at the beginning I wasn’t successful at all. I kept on being eliminated; my horse disliked water,” she said.

“So I thought, 'OK the best way to learn is to work for other riders and learn from them. To see how they do and get the very basics of horse riding, of becoming professional and competing and horsemanship in general'. So I did that while I was at uni and I learnt a lot from it.”

After graduation, Slaoui had her heart set on representing Morocco at the biggest events. She made a development plan for herself to get there.

She based herself with a professional rider to learn more about the process before meeting Fellous.

“We’ve always had that goal of going to championships. That’s how it all started and six years down the line we are there, we are one month away from the Olympics and I’m super excited about it,” said Slaoui.

The Moroccan started competing at the lower levels at age 19, but it wasn’t until three years ago that she felt her Olympic dream becoming more tangible. She and her horse entered the eight/nine-year-olds Championships at Blenheim Palace, which is at the Olympic level, and it gave her a real taste of the big leagues.

To qualify for the Paris Olympics, Slaoui had to finish in the top two in Group F, which includes riders from Africa and the Middle East. Her ranking was based on her best four events from last year, and after achieving her top-two target, she had to get a confirmation result this season, which she locked down in Ireland in May.

It’s been a long journey, one that has allowed her to make history and break new ground for Arab and North African riders.

“It’s not something you just build a year before the Olympics, it’s a long process. So what really helped us along the way is to have several goals,” said Slaoui.

“At the yard we have about 15 horses. Each one has their own aims depending on their age and level. So we just take it one step at a time to enjoy the journey.

“Of course with each of them, we have an end goal we’d like to get to. But it’s more about enjoying the process to get to it and enjoying the partnership you’re creating with your horse along the way. So I think that’s what really motivated me, and when you reach your goal eventually it’s just the cherry on the cake.”

While Slaoui is the first from her country to make it to this level in eventing, she follows in the footsteps of a other compatriots who have made it to the Olympics in other equestrian disciplines. In Paris this summer, she joins Yessin Rahmouni, who will be competing in his third Games in dressage.

In Tokyo 2020, a full team of showjumpers – Ali Al Ahrach, El Ghali Boukaa, Abdelkebir Ouaddar – represented Morocco.

“It’s really inspiring for me to see how they did and how they got there and how they dealt with the pressure. So I’m learning a lot from that,” said Slaoui.

“And also I’m very proud to be the first Arab in this discipline, to bring more inclusivity into the sport, because I’m quite big on that. And I want to show that, even if it’s not something that’s super common in the Arab world for now, it doesn’t mean that we cannot get involved in it and that we can’t do well.

“So that’s what I’m really hoping to do. Now I’m fairly new in the sport, so I really want to participate and do as best as I can to represent this group of countries, but in the future I really want to learn and jump on it to become better and better and in the end challenge the top.

“And also come back with teams, not just me, because it’s great to be the first one, but I don’t want to be the only one. So what I would really want is to try to advocate for more people to join in.”

The equestrian events at the Games will take place in Versailles, which is over an hour away from Paris, but Slaoui stay at the Olympic Village and is excited to meet other athletes and learn from them. She admits she was hoping to meet Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur and was disappointed when she learnt the two-time Wimbledon finalist had opted out of Paris.

Still, she is keen to connect with other Arab athletes, some of whom she has already spoken to on Instagram.

Asked what she hopes to achieve at the Olympics, Slaoui explained her goals are more long-term and go beyond just this edition of the Games.

“I would want to do my best performance that I can. So try to get as close as possible to jumping a double clear, which means no faults in either showjumping or cross-country, with my horse. That for me would be a win in itself, because it’s no easy feat,” she said.

“And I think it would fill me with great confidence for the next Olympics. Because what I want to do is not just be the first one and that’s it, I want to be here and I want to do well.

“I always think where I want to be in five years’ time, in 10 years’ time. So I just build my plans like that.

“Everyone says, ‘Bring back the medal’, and obviously I would want to, but it just takes time and it’s a process. You can’t rush things, especially when you’re riding an animal.

“So you have to think long-term and I’m very lucky because in my sport, if we are well-managed, we can do it for a long time. There are quite a few riders who are in their 50s and they’re winning.

“So I’m thinking future, future, future, and how I can build, whether it’s my strength, my experience, to be the best I can and represent the Arab countries the best I can. That’s the plan.

“I see it just as the beginning for me.”

The Paris Olympics Eventing competition will take place from July 27 to 29 at Château de Versailles