Saudi Knights Demonstrate Their Skill on Horseback at Souk Okaz

Souk Okaz, taking place this year as part of Taif Season, features equestrian displays from the “Okaz Knights” – skilled riders in traditional dress that embody knights of the old. 

The knights have mastered a range of martial skills, including fencing with swords, and perform regularly on Okaz Avenue, recreating battle scenes, and creating the illusion for spectators that knights and their hoses have died in battle. 

One of the knights, Turki Al-Jaid, described how he mastered various skills, including standing on his horse’s back as it runs, and hitting targets on the ground with different weapons. While it takes skills to hit a peg with a spear, it is even harder with a sword, as the knight needs to get closer to the target, he explained. 

Al-Jaid said that he had participated in a festival in 2007, where he had delivered a poem on the occasion of His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Khalid’s appointment as prince of the Asir region. He thanked his parents for their encouragement, motivation and support in his taking up the authentic Arab pursuit.