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Stylish show jumpers, both young and old, took part in a day of intense competition full of drama, twists, turns and dust-biting dismounts as the Dilmun Stables hosted the GulfWeekly Too Hot To Trot Championships.
On a blisteringly hot Friday morning, three events were held - the Junior Treasure Hunt, Adult Speed Class and Mixed (Junior/Adult) Accumulator.
The Junior Treasure Hunt was first up, which featured cross poles and uprights set to a maximum height of 80cm. The premise was simple; each of the eight fences were assigned a certain number of points, which were awarded if vaulted correctly without faults. Whoever scored the most points in a 60-second run was the winner.
The number of points assigned to each fence was kept secret from both esteemed judges – Sam Bicknell and Julie Macdonald – and competitors alike, so various strategies were in play. Some chose to run the course in order as many times as they could and rack up points consistently, while some went for broke and scaled the same couple of fences repeatedly in the hope they’d be the ones with most value.
The mystery value of the jumps was only revealed after the competition was completed and the sealed envelopes containing the information were opened.
In the end, Ibrahim Nader emerged victorious atop Lollipop, with Coco Desouza astride Tayar picking up the runners-up medal, and Mustaffa Dadulla on The Lost finishing a gallant third with a bronze.
Ibrahim, 14, received GulfWeekly’s prize stallion trophy and beamed as he collected his reward. He said: “I am extremely happy. I’m so proud to win this event and I’m grateful to Lollipop for responding so well. She was brilliant.”
The Al Rawabi School pupil, who has been riding since he was seven, added: “My plan was to do the course in order rather than guess which fences were worth more. I figured if I was fast enough, I could get round a couple of times and rack up points rather than guess which fences were worth more. Knowing my luck, I’d keep hitting the worst ones!”
Cool Coco, 11, a St Christopher’s School student, couldn’t hide her delight at securing a shiny silver medallion for her efforts. Eventually forming words after calming her excitement, she told GulfWeekly: “I am so proud. I’ve done competitions before, but to actually pick up a medal that I can hang on my wall is such a special moment. Surprisingly, I wasn’t nervous as I had complete trust in Tayar, and I just went out there with the idea of doing the course in order, and going round again if I had time.
“I’ve been riding for three years now and I just don’t want to stop. It’s my main hobby which I do two times a week, and I hope I can come back again one day and win the big trophy.”
Next up in front of an increasingly packed house at the stables, which saw excitable mums, dads and friends cheering their favourites on with fervour, was the Adult Speed Class with fences 80 to 90cm high, which simply required riders to complete the course in the quickest time possible without racking up faults by knocking down the jumps or experiencing refusals.
Claiming the winner’s trophy was Jane Bowden-Clark on glory-hunting Tayar, followed by Muslim Ali on Mubaeli in second and GulfWeekly’s own racing royalty Helen Blake in third, astride Loki.
Jane could hardly hide her disbelief, never mind delight, at securing her first title. She said: “I’m over the moon, the adrenaline is still going! I’m speechless really, it was an amazing round. Tayar answered everything I asked of him and he’s simply brilliant.
“I made a point of not listening to the other scores and times before I went out, I just wanted to be in the zone and doing my own thing. I knew Tayar was capable, so I put my trust in him. After walking the course and doing some warm-up fences in the practice arena, I had a good feeling.”
The 32-year-old riding instructor added: “I’ve been riding horses since I was six, I think my mum and dad thought I’d grow out of it but I’m still here and still got the bug! I’ve had a few seconds and fourths before, so to finally win is such a brilliant moment.”
The final round was the Mixed Accumulator, which was similar to the previous round except fences were raised up to 100cm and a formidable 115cm ‘Joker’ was added. This imposing fence, which from afar looked like it’d require a kangaroo to hurdle, never mind a horse, was worth 20 extra points if the rider dared to attempt it. However, if it was knocked down, 20 points would be lost.
Once again, Ibrahim emerged victorious on Lollipop, with Muslim Ali second and Jane picking up her second prize of the day with third. However, the most shocking moment of the day occurred when our own Too Hot To Trot columnist Helen Blake came a cropper at the penultimate fence and was dumped unceremoniously on the sand after her horse took off on the wrong foot, and tried to correct himself far too late, resulting in both of them crashing through the fence.
Luckily, she managed to dust herself off with only a slight redness in her cheeks, and no broken bones means she can continue to write her column every week! She was more worried her mount had hurt his leg but there was fortunately no damage.
With proceedings wrapped up, both riders and spectators filed out with smiles on their faces after a thoroughly enjoyable day of action. It was not all about the winners though, as there was plenty of enjoyment to be found in those who were just there for the thrill of it.
One such giddy soul was BSB student Paula Madrid, nine, whose participation in the Junior Treasure Hunt was her first taste of competition. She said: “I’m so happy just to be here and finally taking part myself after watching people do it for so long.
I’ve been riding for two years now, so I felt like I was ready to take the next step.
“I was very, very nervous beforehand but once I got out there, I was just excited and glad to be involved. I rode Duke, who I have been friends with for a while, and he did really well. I hope I can come back next time and win a prize!”
