Too Hot to Trot

January has been a phenomenal month for competitions, rounded off by not one but two BREEF (Bahrain Royal Endurance and Equestrian Federation) events last weekend.

On Friday its second Show Jumping event of the season was held at the BDF ground in Al Raffa Sakhir. The event consisted of three classes – the first an Adult 1 class, one round with those going clear joining a jump-off for prizes.

The fences were 80-90cms and with over a dozen entries, the class set the standard for the afternoon. After an intense first round, which resulted in seven horse/rider combinations going forward to the jump-off. 

First into the arena was Fahad Hilal Al Khatiri riding Calipso with a lovely clear round, followed by Basel Al Dosari riding Little Dude with another clear round in a faster time. But it was the fourth rider that really put the pressure on, as Mohammed Jassim flew round to take the number one slot.

The second class was bigger with some 21 signed up and raring to go. Horses and riders excelled over this course. Ali Essa pushed Aberdeen Road to an outstanding performance going clear in an incredible time of 35.54 seconds – as first rider in, Ali had set a time that looked almost impossible to beat.

All the other contestants certainly gave it their best shot but it was the eighth rider into the arena, Khalid Hilal Al Khatiri astride Bashayer, who clinched the class with a clear round in a time of 35.05 seconds.

The last class of the afternoon saw some imposing fences being erected, reaching 135cms. Six brave contenders took to the fray. Ali Essa with Aberdeen Road took home the first prize, followed by Hamad Fakhrawi riding Calichco. Benny Dirix also went clear on Havana, though had a very unfortunate knock down in the final round, putting him into third position.

Saturday hailed the inaugural BREEF Dressage Championships for the 2012/13 season at Al Zubarah Riding Stables in Saar.

It saw an overwhelming turnout of riders all eager to demonstrate their ability to make music with their horses.

There were six classes overall, an introductory test for both Junior and Adult, with a Preliminary and Novice test as well for both Junior and Adult.

To accommodate all the entries two arenas were used, keeping the judges for this event, Ian Wright, an international trainer from the UK and Iva Zivkovic extremely busy. 

With dressage the judges are always accompanied by ‘writers’ as the judges intricately watch the tests being performed whilst calling out comments and marks for each of the manoeuvres. These were taken down by the writers, with Pam Kamal and Claire Walsh playing the important role.

In the introductory Adult class, Elyass Mohammed riding Barood took top placing.

In the introductory Junior class, first place went to Paula Canseco riding Zain, Bella Rushton rode a lovely test and took home second prize on Bling and Zeina Galal with Murphy Brown took third position.

Preliminary for Juniors was next on the agenda. Mariella Forward astride Jasper took home the first of her prizes for the day and riding in her first dressage, Aimee Keen did a fabulous test on Rio to take runners-up position. Kate Addison expertly steered The Chief into third place taking home the first of her prizes on the day.

The preliminary for Adults ran in the second arena. Starting at 9am it really brought out the finesse of so many horse/rider combinations.

An outstanding performance by Maher Lutfalla, astride Golwin, who won this class, followed by Trish Fryer riding AsGoodAsGold and third was Ahmed Akbar who rode a lovely test astride his horse, Drift.

The next classes were the Novice tests, with Juniors in one arena and Adults in the other. It was pure poetry in motion watching horses/riders execute such precise movements.
 
For the Juniors the prize winning performance came from Lucy Lunt-Bell with Rakard, Mariella once again in the top three line up with Jasper, followed into third place by Laura Louise Wilkie astride Mandella.

For the Adult Novice the precise movements of Uno Van De Zannehoeve, ridden by Ashraf Atabani, clinched first prize in this class, followed by stable mate Trish Fryer on AsGoodAsGold and third in this class was Maher Latfuller on Casanova.

The dressage was a huge success, and all participants are eagerly awaiting the next championship event.

*Let’s not forget that the fabulous international trainer Ian Wright will still be in Bahrain up to February 8, to book lessons call 39087724.