A tough contest

It was a lovely day when Twixstead once again came to Twin Palms Riding Centre on Friday. The show was sponsored by The Arabian Horse, which provided the trophies.

The morning started off as usual with show jumping as the A Class contenders completed a course of eight fences of approximately 50cms height.

It was a clear round class and there was no jump-off. The objective was to get round the course with no penalty points and in the allocated time.

Class B entrants followed on the same course with the fences raised to around 70cms. Very few penalty points were picked up from either class in the show jumping, which meant the challenge then moved on to the dressage arena.
 
The cross country held some new additions as the tyre fence was replaced because someone stole the tyres. They were replaced with bags of wood shavings and the fence was aptly renamed ‘The Close Shave’.

Once all the classes were complete, it was time to find out the winners. To her delight it was Nina Owen with superstar Otto who claimed first prize in Class A, a brilliant feat as this would make it a double for Nina, as the pair won the first Twixstead.

The runner-up was Anina Bernhardt on her lovely Onyx. They were delighted as they had been unable to participate in the original Twixstead due to Anina having a nasty injury which kept her out the saddle for a few weeks.

Still taking the trophies home are the Dreyer family – Virginie, riding Athos took third position. Another first time Twixsteader, Maggie Andersson, brought Banjo beautifully into fourth spot.

Another jet-setter Manon Cote also missed out on the first event as she was out the country. She enjoyed every minute of the latest challenge and steered Sirocco superbly round each of the classes to finish fifth. 

Sixth place was secured by Baris Ural riding Prince. Again, it was first time round for this pair, despite collecting points in both the show jumping and cross country, dressage marks pulled this pair into the winning line-up.
 
Class B was a very close affair. Anne Koheji secured sixth place with Fine Art who had taken a dislike to one of the show jumping fences and put in an unusual stop earlier on in the day, meaning Anne collected some penalty points.
 
Fifth place went to Natasha brilliantly riding an extremely  feisty Soda, who simply didn’t want to do anything that might mean she had to slow down a bit – it was all just too much fun.

Kat Rushton, riding the beautiful Duke, came home in fourth place. The pair also collected some penalty points in the show jumping on one of Anki’s trick fences.
 
Taking home third place was young Kate Addison who had maintained a lovely consistency all day riding The Chief. The pair performed an impressive dressage test and rode faultless show jumping and cross-country courses.

Runner-up in this class was Idraq Alaquel, with the very talented Ecco. However, the winner for this week’s competition was the lovely Loki ridden by me!

Show jumping judge and commentator Pam Kamal was assisted by Angie Salman who also did a brilliant job commentating over the final six fences of the Twixstead.

The dressage judges were Carina Abdulrahman and Britta Tappendorf, assisted by Susie Pope and Sharon Henry.
So that moves me on to the Twin Palms Riding Centre In-House League.

After the last Twixstead in February there was a fun show jumping event with a pairs treasure hunt amongst other delights and all the classes were allocated points in the league, resulting in a bit of a shake-up in the ratings
In the Junior A category, which is for the younger riders, Luna Dreyer has been flying out in front with the super-talented MissPrint. However, unforeseen circumstances mean this pair are no longer able to compete together, but undeterred Luna has taken to riding Red and in just three shows she is already back up there in the top six. There really is no stopping this determined young lady.

Also at the top of the leader board are Paula Canseco with India, and Jamiela Haseid with Eid. Paula is also up at the top with Aramis, along with Weiling Morris and Bling. Keep it up girls, you are doing exceptionally well.
 
In the Junior B category for riders up to the age of 18, the sheer determination of Manon Cote is threatening the section leader. Lucy Lunt Bell and Rakard are still in first place but are just three points ahead after Manon secured a huge 24 points over the past two shows.
 
Also close on their hooves is Anina Bernhardt on Onyx. Having been out of the fray due to injury she is determined to make up for lost time. The pair also accumulated a fabulous 19 points over two shows.
 
Rania Hanbali with Bingo and Mariella Forward on Dollar are the final two in the top six, and they are close behind.
In the adult section, Idrak Alaquel has been ousted from her top spot. Her decision not to ride in a recent show meant she has been piped by two points by Loki and me.

Sneaking swiftly up the league is our double Twixstead winner Nina and Otto. Consistent in their winning and placing in the dressage, and especially best turned out, Nina is definitely a force to be reckoned with.

There must be some scientific means to her getting that horse so very clean and willing to do whatever she asks of him!
And, let’s not forget the Dreyer family still maintaining their winning ways with Virginie and Athos currently in fourth position. After some significant wins in the fun show they gained a massive 26 points bringing them firmly up the ladder.

*Twin Palms Riding Centre will host at least two shows next month, one is scheduled for April 6 – another fun show – followed on April 20 by a joint dressage and show jumping event. 

There is everything to go for and the league placings will undoubtedly change over the final weeks of the season.
*The Dilmun Riding Stables eighth In-House Show Jumping Event will be held on Friday in Saar – starting at 10am – provided the winds haven’t blown the stables and all the horses to Muharraq by then!

The Dilmun will be running a pre-green class once again, as this has proved extremely popular with the pony clubbers. Watch out for Fran Downes’ son Charlie making his debut this week.

The morning will continue with green horse, junior and adult 1 & 2 classes. However, will it make a difference to their league?

Currently, Aimee Keen leads the junior section by a clear 32 points. With the end of season fast approaching it is unlikely she will be tipped from the pole position.

Hannah van der Eyken is holding her own in the runners-up spot, a strong 10 points ahead of her closest contenders, Charlotte Gunby and Sammy Medis, who are joint third with 26 points. They need to watch out for Tamara Alomari sitting fourth with 18 points.

In the Adult section of the league Danielle Shaw has a lead of 10 points with her closest rival Fahad Aldosseri currently in second with 42 points. Hamad Fakhrawi is only three points behind and Fran is positively galloping up the league in fourth place now, six points behind Fahad.

A serious battle also ensues for fifth position with Sharon Nicklin, Manaal Fakhrawi and Andrew Scopes with only four points separating them – a win this weekend for one of these contenders could certainly start to rock the boat.

We shall have to wait and see what Friday brings. Good luck to all those riding in the show Ö and especially to young Charlie.

*Shakhoora Riding Stables, will also hold its In-House Show Jumping League on Friday morning.
Send your equine news to Helen Blake at helen2blake@hotmail.com