Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Twin Palms Riding Centre held a dressage event starting in the not-so-cool of the afternoon, as Friday turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year so far.
And the scorching temperatures brought out some super-hot riding by all the competitors.
There were three arenas running consecutively, with the culmination of the event being a ‘pairs to music class’ which captivated the many spectators.
Class 1 and 2 were the Working Equitation classes A and B. In Class A it was an outstanding round by Eva Subsol riding Lord in her first ever dressage event that clinched the winner’s position.
Keeping it in the family were Aneesa and Siddiq Al Mahmood who took home second and third places riding Aramis and Dollar respectively, not bad for their first dressage class too.
Fourth in this class was Maya Shaban beautifully riding Jasper. Also in her first ever show, Amani Hassan rode Lord into fifth spot. Joint sixth in this class were Jasmine Morris and Bella Rushton both riding Toy Boy.
Working Equitation B is a tougher act to crack, some finding the course daunting initially, but once they were in the arena they practically flew round.
The winner in this class was Weiling Morris riding Candy, followed by Bella Rushton on Toy Boy, Maya Shaban on Jasper and Jamiela Haseid with Eid.
The second arena of the afternoon saw the Preliminary A Class being held as well as the Novice B Class.
Preliminary A was won by Manon Cote riding Sirocco. They rode a simply outstanding test. Another Al Mahmood success, this time for Safiya, who rode Apollo in only her second dressage event, taking the runner-up position.
Lydia Martin steered Woody into third position. Dawood Salman rode a lovely test on Sky and came in fourth, followed by Weiling Morris and Candy and Sayeed Mohammed with Mobiley.
There were only three placings in the Novice B Class. Kat Rushton, mum to Bella, added to their array of rosettes with an outstanding round on Duke. Your columnist with Loki, took second position and Nina Owen rode an exceptional round on Otto.
In the third arena Novice A Class was the starter of the afternoon events. With some dozen riders in this class there was stiff competition, with everyone practising in earnest prior to the event.
Victorious in this class was Helen Blake (me), riding Loki. Runner-up was Ellie Henry who rode a lovely round on Twice as Nice. Although reluctant to enter the class initially she took it by storm. In third position was Kat Rushton with her second placing of the day riding Duke, and Nina Owen once again took home the ribbons with a lovely round on Otto.
The penultimate class was the Elementary class, a new and difficult test, though with only a few riders entered it was decided to only award first place, which was picked up by Loki and I!
It was then the turn of the real star class – the pairs to music. This class had a wonderful turnout. The pairs had been practising for weeks, arranging their music and sorting out their costumes. The amount of time and effort that had been put into this class was amazing.
Of the 10 pairs entered, the first into the arena were Maya Shaban / Jasper and Jamiela Haseid / Eid, who did a fabulous routine to Girls Just Want to Have Fun, there was Mariella Forward / Dollar and Luna Dreyer / Red who donned black afro wigs and funky outfits to I’m sexy and I know It. It was very cool indeed.
But superstars of the class had to be Barbie and Ken aka Natasha Everley and Kat Rushton, riding ponies to the tune of I’m a Barbie Girl – it was fabulous.
Special praise must go to Susie Pope for the effort she made to transform the beautiful Breeze from horse to zebra, coupled with Nina Owen and Otto similarly decked out, the pair was phenomenal. But winning this class with some very funky tunes, bright purple wigs and matching boots were Idrak Alaqeul riding Ecco and me on Loki.
Lydia Martin with Woody and Yvonne Addison with The Chief, had been seen practising exceptionally hard for this class. They had a wonderful routine, which would have most certainly taken the class by storm, but sadly Chief was found to be lame that afternoon. A huge disappointment to not only Yvonne and Lydia but everyone who missed their routine, I know it was brilliant. Next time, ladies!
The horses and riders had a blast, a seriously fun and spectacular class for spectators to watch.
There was also a ‘best turned out’ accolade which ran across three categories of the league. Winning for the Junior A category was Aneesa Al Mahmood and Aramis, for the Junior B category was Safiya Al Mahmood and Apollo and for the adults, claiming her second win of the day, was Ellie Henry with Twice as Nice.
Working Equitation A
1 Eva Subsol / Lord; 2 Aneesa Al Mahmood / Aramis; 3 Siddiq Al Mahmood / Dollar; 4 Maya Shaban / Jasper; 5 Amani Hassan / Lord; 6 Jasmine Morris and Bella Rushton /Toy Boy
Working Equitation B
1 Weiling Morris / Candy; 2 Bella Rushton / Toy Boy; 3 Maya Shaban / Jasper; 4 Jamiela Haseid / Eid
Preliminary A
1 Manon Cote / Sirocco; 2 Safiya Al Mahmood / Apollo; 3 Lydia Martin / Woody; 4 Daewood Salman / Sky; 5 Weiling Morris / Candy; 6 Sayeed Mohammed / Mobiley
Novice A
1 Helen Blake / Loki; 2 Ellie Henry / Twice as Nice; 3 Kat Rushton / Duke; 4 Nina Owen / Otto; 5 Virginie Dreyer / Fine Art; 6 Idrak Alaquel / Ecco
Novice B
1 Kat Rushton / Duke; 2 Helen Blake / Loki; 3 Nina Owen / Otto
Elementary
1 Helen Blake / Loki
Pairs To Music
1 Idrak Alaquel / Ecco & Helen Blake / Loki; 2 Susie Pope / Breeze & Nina Owen / Otto; 3 Keshia Smith / Jazz & Rania Kamal / Aztec; 4 Kat Rushton / ToyBoy & Natasha Everley/Smokey; 5 Manon Cote/ Sirocco & Anina Bernhardt / Onyx; 6 Jamiel Haseid/Eid & Maya Shaban / Jasper with Mariella Forward/Dollar & Luna Dreyer/Red
Shakhoora Riding Centre held the final of this season’s dressage events. The results are as follows:
Class 1 Preliminary 1
1 Ishiqa Gupta / Shakhoora Handsome; 2 Aalia Al Shahry / Kaftan; 3 Chantal Gramm / Shakhoora Wallflower; 4 Sheherazade Al Shahry / Shakhoora Dumbledore; 5 Annie Rogers / Shakhoora Chamlan; 6 Chantal Gramm / Tornado.
Class 2 Beginner Adult:
1 Tory Cowx / Sultan; 2 Aisling Donnally / Shiraz; 3 Vanessa Wadey / Starley
Class 3 Preliminary 6
1 Hannah Whitesell / Shakhoora Soho; 2 Jerri Taylor / Airforce One; 3 Sara Al Mutawa / Bart; 4 Yulia Frolova / Dream; 5 Tory Cowx / Sultan
Class 4 Novice
1 Valerie Puls / Pippa; 2 Trish Fryer / Asgoodasgold; 3 Zain Al Thawadi / Glasur; 4 Sara Al Mutawa / Bart; 5 Jerri Taylor / Airforce One; 6 Hannah Whtesell / Shakhoora Soho
Class 5 Elementary
1 Valerie Puls / Pippa; 2 Zain Al Thawadi / Glasur; 3 Trish Fryer / Asgoodasgold
