Pure joy for mounts, riders

Twin Palms Riding Centre started 2014 with a supercharged in-house fun show jumping event, aimed at beginner, green and younger horses and riders.

More experienced riders were not excluded; they had to compete on a different horse and veteran animals were given new riders to level the playing field.

The morning started off with the Pairs Jumping class – a pair go hell-for-leather round a course of fences ensuring they don’t leave their partner behind. Speed is of the essence in this timed class, the catch is having to wait for the partner at the end of the course so that both cross the finish line together.

Another sticky wicket is ensuring you stay together. The pair cannot have a fence between them as that leads to immediate elimination!

It may sound easy but it’s not, although both horses and riders alike have the most amazing fun. It’s a hugely competitive class, and an immensely entertaining way to start any horse show. 

Flying into first place were Manon Cote riding Sirocco and Rania Hanbali riding Murphy. Hot on their heels were Marialla Forward astride No Tricks and Luna Dreyer with Calypso and taking third place was a sibling act, Julia Conseco riding Eid and sister Paula astride Dollar.
 
The second class was a much calmer affair, a simple clear round. All the horses, ponies and riders were raring to go, subsequently the majority of entrants performed beautiful clear rounds.

Drawing the morning to a close was an accumulator with a joker to finish. Riding these types of courses is about technique and taking calculated risks which is exactly what Stephane Dreyer did beautifully, steering his lovely mare through some extremely tight turns. The pair completed the course in a time of 48.49seconds.

Determined Aimee Keen rode Billy fantastically too with the pair also taking beautiful turns and going clear but they had to settle for the runners-up spot. Rania Kamal, currently home on her festive break, put Aztec on his toes and galloped home to third place.

A fabulous start to the year and competitors, spectators and organisers all had a blast.

Saturday heralded some threatening weather after torrential downpours the night before, but the BREEF show jumping event went ahead as scheduled. This was the BREEF’s third show jumping event of the season held at the BDF Equestrian grounds in Sakhir. As usual, two junior classes were followed by three adult classes culminating in a Grand Prix event.

Muslim Ali, once again, was present in every winning line-up, starting off his day by claiming third place in the first adult class, a two-phase challenge with fences up to 100cm. Riding Emiley, the pair then went on to victory in the second adult class, a timed class with fences 110/120cm, where Ali got the first of his double victories.

Ali also rode into sixth position astride Al Jazeera Pascal in the second adult class, and it was astride the lithe and dexterous Pascal that Ali pulled out all the stops with some excellent riding. This pair forged ahead in the Grand Prix, the only pair to accomplish a clear round, and took home the prestigious winner’s trophy.

In the Grand Prix class, Ali was followed on to the podium by Fahad Jamal Taqi with his mare Reyca and completing the top three was Tawfiq Al Qattan riding Ted.

In the second adult class, Sami Ghazwan took his new horse Abdulla into second, and they were followed by Salman Faraj with My Precious.

Winning the first adult class was Ali A Rasool, riding Chilli to victory in a great time of 28.79s, followed by Hassan Jaffer on Desert Flame taking runner-up position in 30.53s.

The junior one class was won by Hussain Mohammed Dadalla riding The Black, going clear in the first round. The pair clinched the class in the jumpoff in 27.95s, while hot on their heels was Kate Addison with West Wind and taking third position was Aimee Keen on Rio.

Taking the second junior class by storm was Ahmed Essa who won first and second prizes, riding Tenor and Osina respectively. Kate was once again in the top three, this time with Onyx in third place.

Also at this event were awards for ‘best’ riders of the day, Ali adding to his collection with the adults, while the juniors accolade went to Hussain Mohammed Dadulla.

Twin Palms Riding Centre Fun Show Jumping results
Pairs Show Jumping:
1 Manon Cote & Sirocco with Rania Hanbali & Murphy
2 Mariella Forward & No Tricks with Luna Dreyer & Calypso
3 Julia Conseco & Eid with Paula Conseco & Dollar
4 Mariella Forward & No Tricks with Aimee Keen & Mohito
5 Imogene Nell & Candy with Audrey Maingot & Eid.
6 Manon Cote & Sirocco with Kia Jarnfelt & Bluey

Accumulator Class:
1 Stephane Dreyer & Angel
2 Aimee Keen & Billy
3 Rania Kamal & Aztec
4 Ali White & Chico
5 Aislinn Cote & Rakard
6 Julia Conseco & Candy

BREEF Show Jumping Championship results
Junior One:
1 Hussain Mohammed Dadulla & The Black
2 Kate Addison & West Wind
3 Aimee Keen & Rio
4 Abdulla Ali & Ghoroob
5 Hussain Mohammed Dadula & Murheeb
6 Abdulla Ali & Wagbah

Junior Two:
1 Ahmed Essa & Tenor
2 Ahmed Essa & Osina
3 Kate Addison & Onyx
4 Hussain Mohammed Dadulla & The Black
5 Rania Hanbali & Bingo
6 Megan Docherty & Morano

Adult One:
1 Ali A. Rasool & Chilli
2 Hassan Jaffar & Desert Flame
3 Muslim Ali & Emiley
4 Abbas Al Ghuraifi & Athelantico
5 Salman Faraj & My Precious
6 Ahmed Al Alawi & Wanted

Adult Two:
1 Muslim Ali & Emiley
2 Sami Ghazwan & Abdulla
3 Salman Faraj & My Precious
4 Hassan Jaffar & Desert Flame
5 Ali A. Rasool & Chilli
6 Muslim Ali & Al Jazeera Pascal

Adult Three – Grand Prix Class:
1 Muslim Ali & Al Jazeera Pascal
2 Fahad Jamal Taqi & Reyca
3 Tawfiq Al Qattan & Ted
4 Ahmed Al Jahromi & Puck
5 Ali Isa & Coolen
6 Salman Faraj & Thunderbolt

* Shakhoora Riding Centre is hosting the first of the year’s in-house dressage events, which will start at 9am. Spectators are welcome and for more information, contact the centre on 17591103.

* The Dilmun Stables will be hosting its first event of the year, a green/ clear round jumping challenge. Fences will be up to 70cm and the show starts at 2.30pm. Afterwards, the arena will be available for hire in 15-minute slots for BD5.

This event is open to all and entry forms are available from the stable offices on 33921632.