Equestrians out in force!

This past week has been exceptionally busy for all equestrian fans as a midweek ‘mock dressage’ was held by Twin Palms Riding Centre in Saar to prepare horses and riders for the forthcoming dressage event to be held by Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (BREEF) at Al Zubarah Riding Centre in Saar on Saturday. 

Owner Anki Holmstrom made the afternoon event as realistic as possible, setting the dressage arena up in a paddock not normally used. 

It allowed competitors to experience some of the problems they may encounter on show day when taking their horses to new surroundings, where they are expected not only to behave themselves, but also perform to the best of their ability – certainly tricky for some! 

If you do manage to calm your jittering nervous wreck enough to make it into the arena – there is always the judges’ area, the stands, spectators, strategically placed scary flower pots, or speakers, flapping banners and tents to contend with. But, this is what good horse/rider combinations thrive on – a challenge!

The mock dressage event went exceptionally well. Riders were given judging sheets with comments, as well as a video copy of their test.

The forthcoming dressage is the first external dressage event to be held in Bahrain since the onset of the killer equine disease glanders, and has attracted many entries.

There are tests to accommodate all levels of riding and there is an adult and junior section. Entries must be with BREEF today by 6pm.

BREEF also held the second of its show jumping events in Saar last Friday featuring four classes. The first class Junior One attracted 24 entrants with fences at 80/90cms. Those who cleared went into a jump-off. After some wonderful riding, this class was won by Ali A Rasool riding Troy from Maha Stables, who pipped the rest of the field in a time of 25.71seconds.

The second class of the morning Junior Two had 18 entrants with fences raised to 90/100cms. In a two-phase class, riders had to jump the first eight fences and if at the end they went clear, the second set of eight fences were already set up in the arena. Aimee Keen riding Rio took to the podium to collect first prize.

The Adult One class boasted 44 contestants and was won by Saber Salman Faraj riding his fabulous horse Little Foal.

The final class of the day was another two-phase affair for adults with fences at 100cms to 115cms. Again it attracted another large turnout with 30 entries. Taking the winning position was Ali Essa astride Al Ashgar.

Meanwhile, the kingdom’s equestrian community has plenty of forthcoming events to look forward to including Friday’s BREEF Show Jumping in Zallaq and Saturday’s BREEF Dressage in Saar!

BREEF RESULTS
Junior One Class:
1st Ali A. Rashool / Troy
2nd Maud Tinsley / Dilmun Tess
3rd Lucy Lunt Bell / Rakard
4th Georgia Sims / Tutu
5th Maoof Al Rumaihi / Zain Al Butel
6th Kate Addison / The Chief

Junior Two Class:
 1st Aimee Keen / Rio
2nd Ali A. Rasool / Chilli
3rd Gabby Chakkas / Dilmun Tashan
Joint 4th were: Manon Cote / Sirocco, Abdulla Al Hashili / Mambareno, Georgia Sims / Tutu, Laura Louise Wilkie / Mandella, Maoof Al Rumaihi / Zain Al Butel

Adult One Class:
1st Saber Salman Faraj / Little Foal
2nd Yasser Al Sheekh / Grefen
3rd Al Essa / Al Jazeera Mobiley
4th Muslim Ali / Al Jazeera Pascal
5th Basel Al Dossari / Kuwait
6th Jerri Taylor / Airforce One

Adult Two Class:
1st Ali Essa / Al Ashgar
2nd Muslim Ali / Al Jazeera Osyna
3rd Fahad Jamal Taqi / Reyca
4th Yasser Al Sheekh / Grefen
5th Bassem Mahdi / Al Jazeera  UFO
6th Muslim Ali / Al Jazeera Pascal