Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
It’s just after the Easter break and the end of this season is already looming ahead. The final for the BREEF (Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation) has now been amalgamated between the North and the South and will be held on April 19 at the BDF Equestrian Complex at Al Raffa, Sakhir.
Entries for the North was to have been submitted yesterday in order to complete veterinary formalities and, for the South, entries must be submitted by April 17.
Over the Easter break there was no rest for the ponies/horses and riders at Twin Palms Riding Centre. One of the pony camps was a ‘show camp’ which put the young riders through their paces, giving useful and practical advice as to what was expected of them and their horses on show day.
An excellent experience for all young riders – a horse show of whatever calibre is always daunting, so an opportunity for some insider knowhow was a brilliant concept. The young riders attending would round off their morning with an actual show with a clear round show jumping competition, followed by a dressage competition – a dressage test they had to pre-learn!
The morning was a huge success. Riders first of all caught, groomed and tacked up their ponies. Then it was off with mentor Anki Holmstrom to walk the show jumping course, the fences were not high but the course required all riders to think. There were eight fences to negotiate and turns to consider. Planning your show jumping course is almost the same as remembering your dressage, turns need to be taken at the right time to put you in line with the next fence. All the riders then warmed up their ponies with some dressage, followed by jumping practice and then they were ready.
All the riders were given two chances over the show jumping course, one to give them confidence, then onto the real thing. All riders did exceptionally well getting clear rounds in every case.
In dressage the riders did a preliminary test, which contained walk, trot and canter. It was lovely to see these youngsters achieve their own personal bests by remembering and performing the test beautifully.
Dressage results: 1 Bella Rushton/ Bling, 2 Jamiela Haseid/ Nafa, 3 Imogen Rushton/ Ruby, 4 Zoe/ Dollar, 5 Zara/ Red.
All the participants of the camp had a fantastic time, eager to perform in a real show. For some their wait was not long at all. Several participants went on to strut their stuff at the Twin Palms Fun Show Jumping Event held last Saturday.
The in-house event consisted of three fun classes, a Treasure Hunt, Pairs Jumping and an Obstacle Race.
In the Treasure Hunt, which is open to anyone, there are various fences and each fence has a secret amount of points allocated to it, no-one knows the points and it’s not the biggest fence that carries the most points it could even be the smallest – it’s a class based purely on luck!
This class was followed by Pairs Jumping, where two horses/riders enter the arena and they have to jump the course of obstacles together. The pair must go through the start together and then they can choose one rider to be in the front and the other to follow. However, it is ok for the follower to take the lead or for the pair to jump a fence together – but the leader has to wait until the partner has jumped the fence before moving onto the next obstacle … If ever there is a fence in between the riders, it’s instant elimination – but it’s certainly a favourite amongst all horses/riders.
The third class - Obstacle Race - required a team of three, each horse and rider having to complete the course and return home, the total time taken by each team member was then added together to find the winner. This was another entertaining class, with barrel racing, and walk the plank just a few of the hurdles to be navigated. A brilliant class to end the day, had riders and spectators alike convulsed in laughter.
