Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
THIS week's column highlights Friday's BREEF Show Jumping Championships ... alongside all the information readers need for this weekend's array of events.
What with horse racing and dressage events on Friday and HM The King's Cup Equestrian Festival on Saturday, the next few days will be action-packed, giving everyone who enjoys and loves horses the chance to see and, in many cases, participate in some truly fantastic events.
I have also listed other events planned for this month, and boy, it looks like it's going to be a humdinger of a month!
Friday was a beautiful day and the BREEF show an overwhelming success with a huge number of entries for the second competition of 2010.
It started promptly at 8.45am with Green Horse for both juniors and seniors and fences at 70/80cms. Eight of the 23 riders had clear rounds.
We saw quite a few new riders in this class making their debut and all did very well.
The next class, Junior C, saw young Ali Hani Al Yabis skillfully ride Al Khalidiah Dar to beat 12 other riders in the jump-off to take first prize.
Following on was Junior B class with fences at 100/120cms. It was Natasha Owen's clever and dexterous riding on Duell Time that clinched first place in this exciting jump-off.
Moving to adults, their first event was a speed class which saw incredible twists and turns produce startling times.
With extraordinary precision Abdulaziz Al Rumaihi steered Grannus to victory, with the runner-up finishing within four-tenths of a second behind in a nail-bitingly, close competition.
The Open or Adult B, saw high quality riding over the 110/120cm fences. Benny Diricx riding Al Khalidiah Mikaela took her into a podium position in this two-phase competition, those that completed the first nine fences with no faults, went immediately into a jump-off over a further seven fences, which were at maximum height and needed to be cleared in the fastest time.
The final class was the Grand Prix which saw fences being raised to between 130/140cms ... that is some 4ft 7in, which, believe me, is huge, especially as from ground level (where I was) they seemed to be almost as wide!
All the entrants rode superbly over a demanding course, which saw only one rider go clear to claim the trophy - Shaikh Hassan bin Rashid Al Khalifa on ARG Whoepie winning in style.
l This will be a very busy month for everyone in the equestrian world. From February 11, international show jumping and dressage trainer Ian Wright will be in Bahrain working from Twin Palms Riding Centre in Saar for two weeks. For information and bookings contact me at Twin.Palms.Riding.Centre@hotmail.com.
Wright will also be here to see the next Breef Show Jumping Championships scheduled for February 12.
We have another double whammy with Shakhoora Riding Centre hosting a show jumping event on February 19 and Sahara Riding Centre staging the second round of the Novice, Elementary and Medium dressage tests to be run in the Twin Palms Riding Centre Dressage League on February 20, running alongside the Breef Open Local Stables Endurance Ride.
The Breef Show Jumping Championships on February 26 will round off the month. That's without mentioning the weekly horse racing meetings!
Phew ... better go and get some serious training in. Wishing you all a fun-packed weekend, and thank you to all those who write in to me. It's fantastic to hear from you all. Take care riding and enjoy.
