A head of steam

Friday started off with something we are seeing quite a lot of at the moment here ... RAIN, writes Helen Blake.

Thankfully, for the organisers of the Dilmun Riding Stables who were set to host the second of their In-House Show Jumping League events, the downpour decided to hold off for the afternoon's activities.

The first class is Green Horse/Rider and the criteria dictates that once a rider has successfully completed three clear rounds they must move into the next category.

Clear Rounds in this second show were claimed by Aurorah Ihalainen and Jellaby, Christie Tucker and Sami Mendis with Skippy, Anne Dunlop and Khalid Abdulrahim with Inca, Fahad Aldosseri and Kismet, and Lisa Powick on Kuwait.

Well done, this is the second bout of clear rounds, for Fahad and Aurora. Also, this is only the second show jumping event for Sami Mendis, he also claims joint 5th place in the league.

This week the Junior 1 class was expertly won by Maud Tinsley, her inaugural placing of the league with Nelson, Kathryn Spink and Spirit once again claimed second place in this class, which has moved her up into joint 3rd place in the league. Hannah Van Der Eyken steering Nelson into 3rd place in this class means she maintains her pole position on the league table, however, this is now being challenged by Aimee Keen with Sedona, who attained 6th in this class and, by being placed in the following class, brought her points total alongside Hannah.

Gabby Scopes and Spirit, and Alexandra Warren on Jellaby, both making their first placings in the league, came in 4th and 5th respectively.

The Junior 2 class was a technical course designed to put to the test both horse and rider ability and it proved a tough one with only two riders successful in avoiding elimination. J

oint first on 12 faults each were Tamara Alomary and Skippy, and Aimee Keen on Sedona, this being the class that brought Aimee up in the league points.

Next into the fray were the adults and it was Basel Aldosseri and Kuwait that proved victorious, securing his first win of the day. Close on his hooves were Hamed Fakhrawi with the talented Mia Vita, she also brought Sharon Nicklin nicely into 6th place. It is Hamad Fakhrawi and Fran Downes who have started a shuffle around in the adult league with their 4th & 5th placings on Lollypop Man.

The final class of the afternoon was Adult 2 where Basel claimed his second triumph again with Kuwait, Fran and Hamad cleverly navigated Lollypopp Man into both 2nd and 3rd place in this class, with Andrea Gowdy and Sharon Nicklin manouvering Tashan into 5th and 6th positions.

As this league gets a head of steam, the second show has shifted all bar one position, that of Hannah Van Der Eyken, who maintaining first place in the junior section, now shares it with Aimee Keen, Fran Downes has now moved into primary position in the Adult section.

However with another 10 shows to go anything could happen. Good luck!

Email Helen with your horse stories at helen2blake@hotmail.com

Dilmun Stables In-House Show Jumping League

Junior 1: 1st Maud Tinsley on Nelson 2nd Kathryn Spink on Spirit, 3rd Hannah VanDerEyken on Nelson 4th Gabby Scopes on Spirit, 5th Alexandra Warren on Jellaby,6th Aimee Keen on Sedona

Junior 2: Joint 1st Tamara Alomary on Skippy & Aimee Keen on Sedona.

Adult 1:1st Basel Aldosseri on Kuwait, 2nd Hamad Fakhrawi on Mia Vita, 3rd Hussein AlBoosta on Toto, 4th Hamad Fakhrawi on Lollypopp Man, 5th Fran Downes on Lollypopp Man, 6th Sharon Nicklin on Mia Vita

Adult 2: 1st Basel Aldosseri on Kuwait, 2nd Fran Downes on Lollypopp Man, 3rd Hamed Fakhrawi on Lollypopp Man, 4th Andrea Gowdy on Tashan, 5th Sharon Nicklin on Tashan, 6th Sharon Nicklin on Billy

LEAGUE TABLE after 2nd show TOP 5

Junior Section: Joint 1st Hannah VanDerEyken & Aimee Keen (14 points each), Joint 3rd Kathryn Spink & Tamara Alomary (10 points each), Joint 5th Sam Mendis & Maud Tinsley (6points each)

Adult Section 1st Fran Downes (12points), Joint 2nd Andrea Gowdy & Hamad Fakhrawi (9points each) 4th Anne Dunlop (4 points) 5th Sharon Nicklin (3points)