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Carina Abdulrahman is a talented young lady who has been riding and dealing with 'horse power' all her life, writes Helen Blake.
Born in Bahrain and a student of St Christopher's School from nursery to A'levels, Carina started riding when she was just seven, with Anki at Twin Palms, which she says was the best place to start.
At the time she was lucky to be in the company of many other children around her age, making it a fun and social learning experience. She recalls Anki could be tough at times, but always brought out the very best in the young riders.
Carina's whole family rode, including mum Esther, sister Anisa and brother Rashid. At eight, Carina got her first pony called Prince Caspian, a strawberry roan, bought from Dubai along with three other ponies. Sadly, one of those ponies was Twin Palms' precious Pepper who was recently destroyed due to glanders. He also came with Cookie who still resides at Twin Palms.
Prince Caspian stayed with the family for almost 14 years - to the very end of his life. During shows at the start this pony would take off at full speed around the arena, so control was limited - a case of point and go and hope for the best. At some stage the pony would stop!
He was a character that put the family through trials, tears and tribulations, but, more importantly, brought huge joy, happiness and wonderful times.
Carina also rode many of Twin Palms' other ponies and horses, and started competing from the age of eight in show jumping, cross country, dressage and gymkhanas until she was 13.
From Twin Palms, Carina and mum Esther kept their horses at a couple of other stables until in 2000 they got their own garden, which they converted into stables and paddocks in the Zallaq area, which was ideal for Esther as an endurance rider, giving her the space of the desert to train for her rides, and the opportunity for mother and daughter to enjoy long rides with friends from nearby stables.
Unfortunately, Carina had a nasty riding accident in 2001, which brought her competing to an abrupt end and led to her moving to Qatar to study and obtain a bachelor's degree in interior design.
Moving her attention from horses to horse power in 2006, Carina competed in the Bapco Caterham Challenge (the small lightweight racing cars popular in Bahrain).
Carina made it from the initial 300 starters to the final 10. She was approached with a sponsorship offer to race in the series and since 2006 has also participated in the 2000cc series, National Sprint and the 25-hour Go-Kart Race.
Carina has also been co-driver for her father in the Syria International Rally and Kuwait International Rally, while her most recent achievement was her first rally in Qatar, starting off in 10th position and finishing fifth.
But her four-legged friends were always on her mind. Last year Carina bought a thoroughbred with a multitude of ailments, and spent the ensuing months trying to rehabilitate him. According to mum, who is currently looking after and riding him whilst Carina is away, he is 'doing brilliantly'.
Carina decided recently to pursue a career within the equine industry and is currently at the Talland School of Equitation in Gloucestershire, England, where she is studying and training to be a horse riding instructor and coach.
She has been lucky enough to have the opportunity to ride exceptional school masters - horses that have competed at Badminton multiple times, or those that have been trained to Grand Prix or Prix St George level dressage.
At Talland Carina has also been privileged enough to be given lessons from the esteemed Mrs Molly Sivewright, a Fellow of the British Horse Society.
Mrs Sivewright has done it all - written books including the 'Thinking Riding' series, she has written rules for dressage, BHS exams and much more.
Before going to Talland Carina was a show-jumping fanatic and that was all she wanted to do. But Talland is predominantly a dressage yard, so her first day was spent in a totally alien environment but she now finds herself totally embracing the discipline.
Unsure at this time of exactly where she would like to be, or exactly what it is she would like to do, she will spend time both here in Bahrain and in England. But with her background and training the equestrian world becomes her oyster and she will be able to choose her own pearl. Hopefully we will be seeing much more of Carina.
Email Helen with your horse stories on helen2blake@hotmail.com
