Eileen Verdieck and Anwer Sher are pioneering a fresh brand of tourism in the UAE

AJMAN
Innovative business engages in serious horseplay
Escape aims to open the equestrian experience to families in a unique setting

Following their wedding a year-and-a-half ago, Anwer Sher and Eileen Verdieck decided to turn their two passions, horses and business, into a revolutionary new Ajman-based real estate development project that would help hundreds of families and locals get more acquainted with the equine world.

Spread across 200 acres, Mr. Sher and Ms. Verdieck’s project, Escape, promises to add new flair to the emirate with 500 villas, eight low- to medium-rise apartments, an equestrian-themed boutique hotel, an equine spa, stabling for 200 horses and a variety of sports and riding complexes. The HoofbeatZ™ Clubhouse is the heart of the project, where a wide array of equine activities and restaurants provide entertainment for the entire family.

“The impetus behind our project was to engage people with horses. The HoofbeatZ™ Programme offers fun and educational activities designed to broaden the base of equine enthusiasts, and to make horses affordable for a wide range of people. We hope to foster a new generation of horse lovers and equine professionals,” says Ms. Verdieck, an Arabian horse trainer and consultant for nearly 40 years.

“The HoofbeatZ™ Programme also helps to find work for prematurely retired horses. The region has a surplus of quality horses that are insufficient for racing, show jumping, or endurance, yet they are still top quality animals. Our programme re-trains the horses for low stress jobs such as riding tuition, school programmes, and other activities,” adds Mr. Sher, himself a former bank CEO. “We have designed Escape to give a broader range of people access to horses and to ensure that horses that can’t compete at the top level can still have a purpose.”

Horses provide the leitmotif for Escape, located 20 minutes from the Dubai Airport, and will serve as a unique backdrop and selling point for the couple’s real estate development, which is “a passion project.”

Through their company, Equine Management Services (EMS), the couple are developing residential properties for sale and have already wowed UAE residents by hosting major spectacles via EMS’s entertainment arm, HoofbeatZ™ Entertainment, an entity that produces large scale equine-themed entertainment shows and gala events.

“We decided that if you conceive a community-based development, you must offer entertainment that appeals to all family members,” says Mr. Sher, differentiating Escape from golf communities. “At Escape, families can play basketball, have a drink, relax in the spa or sit at our equine-themed café, all the while surrounded by horse activities that include games, simulators and even virtual horse training.”

A maze of pastures, villas and sports complexes, Escape will offer facilities for residents and visitors but has been designed so that, “only 50% of the land will be used for construction, a change from other UAE developments.”