BREEF is back!

NOW for some fantastic news - the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (BREEF) is hosting its first show on Friday, December 21, under the patronage of Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the organisation’s president.

It will be held at the Al-Zubarah Riding Centre in Saar and the course inspection for the first class will be at 8.45am.

There will be four one round classes and all those going clear will be entered into a jump-off against the clock.

*Class 1 is Junior 1 with fences at 80-90cms.
*Class 2 is Junior 2 with fences at 90-100cms.
*Class 3 is Adult 1 with fences 85-100cms.
*Class 4 is Adult 2 with fences 100-115cms.

Total prize money for this show is BD3,000 and trophies will be presented to riders placed from first to third and rosettes from first to sixth.

All entries must be submitted directly to the BREEF, either by hand to its office at Bahrain International Endurance Village, by fax to 17836067 or by email to breef@batelco.com.bh/breefshowjumping@gmail.com

The closing date is 6pm next Wednesday.

The last competition took place prior to the outbreak of glanders, which devastated and disrupted the equine community here in 2010.

This column reported how in April of that year everything changed, with an announcement from BREEF that its show jumping event was cancelled due to a mysterious equine illness.
A huge task was undertaken to obtain blood samples from every horse, pony and donkey for testing.

June brought the saddest moment to me and many others, as we witnessed the seemingly wanton destruction of ponies due to the disease. They, albeit showing no symptoms, had tested positive as carriers and the months that followed proved how difficult a scourge it was to get rid of.

This month’s BREEF date, however, is real WOO HOO news!

Across the kingdom, stables are getting back on track. Al Maha, for example, held its inaugural show jumping event for the season on a course built by esteemed designer Mohammed Dadulla.

It was ready on Friday morning for the first class contenders. This was a mixed junior/green horse/rider competition with fences standing at 70cms. Those who cleared them would go into the jump-off with fences raised to 80cms.

The show attracted an outpouring of contestants, with 35 entrants in the first class alone. The course cleverly encouraged twists and turns and only 20 riders made it through to the jump-off stage.

For the juniors it was the talent of Abdulla Mohammed astride Memberrino that took the top podium position, followed in the runners-up slot by The Chief ridden by Kate Addison. And, completing the winning line-up for the juniors was Onyx ridden by Anina Bernhardt .

In the senior section, Ali Abdurasun riding Groob, raised the first place trophy. He was followed in second place by Mustafa Ahmed astride MaGror. Yahya Ahmed on Al Jazaf, narrowly pipped at the post in this class, took home a well-deserved third place. 

The show originally had a planned break, however, due to the amount of competitors the organisers and judges decided to bring forward the novice class.

This class started with 34 horses and riders. The course has been changed and some fences added but it turned out to be a far more challenging than some had anticipated. The jump-off resulted in just eight horses and riders going through.

The fences were raised for the jump-off and Muslim Ali took precise and calculated risks to claim first prize.Salman Fajar did not give Muslim an inch and although Little Full attempted to oust his rival Bailey, it was Muslim and Bailey that won the class. 

Not to be forgotten by any means, was Manon Cote astride her magnificent steed Sirocco. The pair managed a great round to beat other junior and senior contenders into third position.

The final class of the day was a mixed event with fences raised to 100cms for the initial phase and raised up to 110cms for the jump off phase. This class required that riders rode the first six fences clear if they managed to do so, they went immediately into the jump off from fences seven to 13, which was timed.
 
The class bore witness to some first rate riding, though somehow the top spot once again eluded Salman Fajar, as he was defeated by Abbas Alghuraifi. And Fahad Taqi with his lovely mare Reyca enjoyed a splendid round to complete the winning line-up.

Horses, riders, spectators, organisers and sponsors all agreed this had been a brilliant start to the competition season for Al Maha Stable and all are looking forward to the next show jumping event.

The event was sponsored by Yusef and Ismae, with rosettes and trophies from Huda Janahi of Horse Pride.

*Friday sees Twin Palms Riding Centre host the first of its 2012/2013 season Twixstead events. 

The morning will start with show jumping, followed by dressage, culminating in the cross country section. Class A will see show jumps standing at a height of 60cms, the dressage class will be a preliminary test, and there will be an allocated section in the cross-country. The B class will see show jumping fences standing at a height of 80cms. The dressage class will be a novice test, and they will have different fences in the cross-country section.

The action is scheduled to start at 9am. 

For details, call 39566809.

*Monday will see more equine action when the Dilmun Riding Stables hosts its third in-house league show jumping event. It will consist of five classes, the green horse/rider, junior 1 & 2, and Adult 1 & 2. The show is scheduled to start at 3.30pm and spectators are welcome to attend.

For more information contact the stable on 17693766.