Equestrian sport answers not to age but to the will to challenge. Sayd meets Leen Araji — a Lebanese jumping champion and a world-ranked mental math talent.
Equestrian sport is not subject to the will of age, but to the will to challenge and to strong resolve.
That is why it is a kind of special arithmetic, with special equations, that reaches its goals in a leap of light.
Leen Araji is an equestrian champion with a Lebanese signature — and a mental math champion with a global one.
Sayd held this conversation with her.
She said in the interview:
- I was introduced to horses at the age of 10, trained by my cousin Sheikh Omran Araji, who was hard on me so I would achieve the best performance.
- The Araji family has long been known for loving and keeping horses.
- Horses give confidence and strengthen personal force.
- My first jump was in a Beirut competition. I felt no fear because I was determined not to fear; the feeling was beautiful, and I sensed I had to clear every fence the same way.
- We must calculate every step — in a horse jump or in a leap of life. That idea strengthened my mental math and my win in “Genius Map”: I ranked third in the Beqaa and fourth worldwide. I also want to become a world equestrian champion and to compete outside Lebanon.
- A horse feels the rider’s fear, and for that reason may turn against them and throw them. A rider should try several horses to understand their mistakes better and correct them through experience.
- Of course I would love to have a farm.
- I know enough about the horse world, but I do not enjoy training horses myself.
- In training we jump at heights of 100 cm; in competitions, between 60 and 90 cm.
- To date I have entered nine competitions and won seven of them.
- I do not have my own horse. I love “Doha” because she was the first mare I trained on and still do; if I had my own horse I would name him “Reem.”
- Outside equestrian sport my hobbies are swimming and boxing.
- If I marry one day, I will make my husband love horses.
- I could never eat horse meat — quite simply, I do not eat meat.
- I love competing in all Arab countries, but I lean toward Jordan.
- I have fallen from the horse more than once; once I broke my arm and stopped training for four months — but nothing keeps me from continuing, as the saying goes: “If we don’t fall, we don’t learn.”
- I love both: math and horses. A rider’s heart loves everything.
