The thrill of riding is back

After the horror of glanders it seems like local stables are once again coming into their own and bringing back the excitement of regular competition to Bahrian.

There was a flurry of activity over the half-term break, with more fabulous forthcoming events in the offing.

The Dilmun Riding Stables held pony camps throughout the holiday featuring stable management lectures, coupled with actual riding. The camps were well attended, with all the children enjoying themselves. The camps ended with a Halloween gymkhana, with some barrel racing, apple bobbing and other traditional races.

The Dilmun riders took to the fray on Saturday with their popular Pairs and Pizza evening. Pairs jumping is fast and furious.  The fences are not particularly high for this event and it is about twists, turns and technique. 

There were a total of 30 pairs for this event, a huge turnout. Ellen and Anna Goode made a guest appearance riding Dilmun horses, along with Lauren Storey who has returned after finishing at university. After a fierce battle the results were as follows:

1st Danielle Shaw/ Rangerino & Lauren Storey/BamBam, 2nd Danielle Shaw/Tashan & Lauren Storey/Kismet, 3rd Danielle Shaw/Rangerino & Charlotte Gunby/Magnum, 4th Danielle Shaw/Rangerino & Lauren Storey/BamBam and Sharon Nicklin/MiaVita, 5th Basel AlDosari/Zain Al Butal & Sharon Nicklin/MiaVita, 6th Charlotte Gunby/Magnum & Lauren Storey / Kismet.

Anki Holmstrom decided to ease her riders into the season on Saturday at Twin Palms Riding Centre.

The show jumping started off with three clear round classes, the fences being raised 20cm per round. The first clear round class was 40cm and 10 riders entered this class with the majority able to take home their first rosette of the season. 

Muslim Ali brought a new horse into the class, the beautiful Calypso who secured his first ever jumping prize.

Jan Hodgson rode a lovely round on Cash and young Bella Rushton took a very excited Red around the course culminating in her first rosette. Keeping it in the family were Melinda and Jamiela Haseid putting Eid through his paces. Both mum and daughter rode respectable clears.

The second class of the afternoon saw the fences at 60cm, attracting 15 riders. After his unexpected refusal in the first class it was the turn of Baris Ural with Prince to go clear. Kat Rushton riding Duke and Athos also went clear on both.

In the third class with fences at 80cm, Lucy Lunt Bell on Rakard, Keshia Smith riding Breeze, Rania Hanbali with Bingo, Debbie Kamal riding Aztec, Kat Rushton with Athos performed their double of the day. Mariella Forward rode Mandella beautifully, while veteran Anne Koheji also rode Fine Art clear in both. However, Fine Art was so excited  when he first entered the ring that he gave Anne a run for her money. Idrak Alaquel with Ecco also rode clear.

Jerri Taylor with Tornado, Ashraf Atabani riding Uno Van De Zannehoeve and Sara Al Mutawa with Bart also went clear.

The final class was an Accumulator with a Joker with the fence at 100cm. There was an option to jump it or take a lower one next to it. The twist was that the turn to the lower fence was harder than the turn to the joker and as this class was timed, speed around that final bend was of the essence. 

Young Lucy with Rakard set the standard, going for the Joker, which they cleared beautifully. But they did have a knock down at fence 6, and as a result lost points. 
The last four riders brought the class to a nail-biting conclusion. Helen Blake (me!) rode clear, taking the joker in a time of 46.94s, only to be pipped at the post by the next rider, Jerri Taylor astride Airforce One, - the pair also clear in a time of 45.88.

Rania Al Rashoodi and Nafa, who practically flew around the course, went clear in a time of 49.05 but it was the final horse and rider combination of young Manon Cote riding the fabulous Sirocco who brought the crowd to their feet. They raced to victory in 38.87 – fabulous work by this team.

Results of the final class:
1st Manon Cote (Sirocco), 2nd Jerri Taylor (Airforce One), (Shakhoora Riding Stables), 3rd Helen Blake (Loki), 4th Rania Al Rashoodi (Nafa), 5th Debbie Kamal (Aztec), 6th Lucy Lunt Bell (Rakard).

SHAKHOORA Riding Stables has invited all stables for a day of show jumping on Friday.

Courses have been set up for anyone to bring their horses over and jump. A rider may jump as many times as he/she wants. Each round will cost BD1 and the courses will be as follows:
Course 1 - fences at 60cms, Course 2 - fences 80cms, Course 3 - fences 100cms and Course 4 - fences between 110 & 120cms.

The training will start promptly at 9am and riding gear is essential. No one will be allowed to compete without a proper helmet and riding shoes.

Shakhoora Riding Stables will be holding its first Show Jumping Event open to all stables next month.

To sign up, contact the stable on 17591103 or email jerritaylor72@yahoo.com or call Jerri Taylor on 33309972.

FRIDAY saw the start of the racing season and we have our own local vested interest as Carmen Lauri has been granted her licence to race in Bahrain.

Carmen was not only the only female in the race that day, she is currently the only working female jockey in Bahrain.

It was an especially important day as she took to home turf in her first race of what we hope will be a fabulous season. 

Riding RAD in the third race, her remit was to gain confidence and experience. Trainer Allan Smith said: "Carmen did a good job, she kept the horse nicely balanced and straight, pushing him out well in the finish. Things go pretty quickly when you’re out there racing at 40mph against 12 other unknown horses, she did well, and will certainly know what to expect when she rides Snake Skin this coming Friday!"