Straining every fiber to stay on top of the camel as it gallops at over 40 kilometers (24 miles) per hour, Taylor Dees is a long way from Texas.

As CNN reports, she is about 12,700 kilometers (7,890 miles) from her hometown of Moulton to the Saudi Arabian city of Taif and needs just two more to win the first all-female race of the Crown Prince Camel Festival.

This happened in August 2023, just one year after she rode a camel for the first time. It turns out that Dees – who rode horses often as a child – is as quick a learner as she is a rider.

“It really starts with animal awareness and your body awareness,” she told CNN.

“Once you get into the rhythm and understand how the animal moves and how you can move with the animal, it’s very easy.”

Pioneering

Dees moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2017 after falling in love with the country on holiday. Now living in the capital city of Abu Dhabi, the nutritionist balances her roles as a business owner and mother with that of a pioneering figure in her sport.

Racing with runners, known as Arabian camels, is a centuries-old passion in the region and remains both popular and profitable, with prize money reaching multi-million dollar numbers. However, it has been written down in history mostly by men – until recently.

Dees is one of many success stories to emerge from the UAE’s Arabian Desert Camel Riding Center (ADCRC), co-founded by German expatriate Linda Krockenberger.

Krockenberger, who moved to the UAE in 2015, had been trying for years to find a place to ride, but was often turned away because of her gender. In an interview in 2022 she told CNN that she remembered being told once, “It will be good to dress like a boy.”

Krockenberger opened the school in 2021 and says she received the first permit for a camel riding center in the country. The ADCRC launched its maiden women’s camel racing team in the UAE – a development that immediately piqued Dees’ interest.

“I think a lot of times, especially around animals, women are seen as too fragile or too feminine to be in that environment.”Dees said.

“Yes, we can be more fragile and feminine, but we can also be very strong and very brave and fit enough to ride camels.”

“I don’t race to win”

Dees has played in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia – including the ancient city of AlUla – but will be out for a season.

Although there are usually one to two months between events, Dees has a strict weekly training schedule that focuses heavily on endurance.

“The outcome of the race depends so much on the fitness and quality of the camel,” explained Dees.

“Yes, your riding style, form and ability play a role, but even the best rider won’t win on a camel that is less fit than the camel next to it.”

On her return next season, the Dees will face other talents that have emerged from the ADCRC, including Krockenberger, Jordan’s Rawan Salah and France’s Coralie Viroulaud, winner of last season’s all-female C1 championship.

However, Dees does not see the three women as rivals. She welcomes the competition, surprisingly because competition is not her primary motivation.

“I’m not racing to win,” Dees explained. “I do it because, first and foremost, it’s fun. Second, I want people to see that as women, we are strong, confident and can do things that maybe men think we can’t.

“Every international competition is a little bit bigger, which I like because it means there are more women who are willing to step out of their comfort zone and who are willing to step out of this very male-dominated sport and prove that yes — oi women not only we can do it, but we can do it very well, we can do it very safely, and we can succeed at it too.”