Equine excitement

Shakhoora Riding Centre held an In-House Dressage Event last Friday. The first class of the morning was the Junior Preliminary class, which was won with a beautiful round by Annie Rogers on Special.

The runner-up was Aleya Al Shahri who also rode a lovely test astride Shakhoora Chamlan, and taking third place on the podium line-up was Sheherazade Al Shahri, who completed her winning test with Shakhoora Milan.

Next was the Adult Preliminary Class. For first time rider Esmet Fakhro, riding the esteemed King Johannes, clinched third placing with her precisely performed test. Taking the runner-up position was Aisling Donnally with Shiraz, but taking home the top prize was our very own equine travel guru, Yulia Frolova, with her precious horse Dream.

To round off the morning Novice Class, As Good As Gold who Trish Fryer steered impeccably through his paces took home the top prize. Jerri Taylor, who rode two horses in this class, managed to seal the deal on both with second and fourth place. Tory Cowx riding Sultan came third.

It was a brilliant morning, leaving everyone ready for the BREEF Dressage Championships to be held on March 2.

Shakhoora Riding Centre will be holding its main Show Jumping Event of the season on March 15 and more information regarding the schedule will be released nearer the time.

Meanwhile BREEF (Bahrain Royal Endurance and Equestrian Federation) held another show at the BDF showground Al Raffa, Sakhir, on Friday.

This first event, a one round timed class, attracted 16 competitors and seven rode clear over the course. Mohammed Jassim rode Dar like a professional demon, to just pip current Northern area challenge top spot holder Muslim Ali who until two rounds earlier had claimed the top spot. Third on the podium was Basel Al Dosari who had ridden an excellent round on Little Dude.

The second class of the afternoon involved one round with jump-off class in which fences were raised to between 100/110cms. Class two saw another 17 riders eager to perform and after the first round there were some 11 pairs clear and facing the jump-off. 

Khalid Hilal Al Khatiri rode Bashayer into the second of his wins in this class. The pair had claimed victory in the same class in the previous show. Benny Diricx rode Patricia into runner-up position and Muslim Ali claimed third place astride the talented Emily.

The third class of the afternoon was the opening class of the Shaikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Khalifa Jumping Challenge 2013 for the Southern governorate. This class was a one round with jump-off and fences were raised to a substantial 120/135cms.

Of the 10 horse/rider combinations that entered this class there was only one clear.

Benny Diricx, first into the arena, had set the standard for the rest of the competitors. Taking runner-up spot on the podium was Ali Essa riding Aberdeen Road, who notched up an unfortunate four faults in the first round. However, this still put the pair into second place. Third was Adnan Al Alawi astride Mikaela who also had an unlucky four faults in the first round.

This coming weekend will see Sahara Riding Stables conduct their second Show Jumping Event of the season. The show will start at 9am after the course has been walked at 8.30am.
The classes for this show are as follows:

Class 1 is a Green Horse and Rider class:  fences will be 70/80cms.  The class will be open for both juniors and adults.
For adults this is a clear round only class. Rosettes will be awarded to clear rounds.
For Juniors that go clear in the first round, there will be a jump-off – with placings for the winners of the jump-off.
Class 2 is Junior Class where fences will be 80/90cms. This is a jump-off class against the clock.
Class 3 is a Novice Class and fences will be 90/100cms. This will be a two-phase course, those going clear over the first eight fences will continue immediately into a timed jump-off. This class is a mixed class open to both junior/adults.
Class 4 is an Intermediate Class with fences 100/110cms, a one round class with jump-off against the clock. This is an Adult only class.
Class 5 is an Open Class for Adults, fences will be 110/120cms with a Joker.
Those wishing to participate in this competition need to call/visit the riding centre to advise their entries by no later than Thursday.
Contact Ahmed Akbar on 39173283 for details.

BREEF Show Jumping Championship results

Class One:
1 Mohammed Jassim / Dar; 2 Muslim Ali / Emily; 3 Basil Al Dosari / Little Dude;  4 Tawfiq Al Qattan / Al Yabis; 5 Hassan Jaffer / Mashaalla; 6 Sadiq Abbas / Abshir

Class Two:
1 Khalid Hilal Al Khatiri / Bashayer; 2 Benny Diricx / Patricia; 3 Muslim Ali / Emily; 4 Adnan Al Alawi / Fender; 5 Ali Essa / Aberdeen Road; 6 Basil Al Dossari / Granius

Class Three:
*Benny Diricx / Vivica; 2 Ali Essa / Aberdeen Road; 3 Adnan Al Alawi / Mikeala; 4 Hamad Fakhrawi / Calichco; 5 Basil Al Dosari / Granius; 6 Benny Diricx / Havana

Sh. Khalid Bin Hamad Al Khalifa Jumping Challenge of 2013
After the inaugural events in both the northern and southern governorates the standings are as follows:

Northern Governorate Juniors:
*Gabby Chakkos (10 points); 2 Hussain Dadulla (6 points); 3 Georgia Sims (4 points); 4 Maoof Al Rumaihi (3 points); 5 Kate Addison (2 points); 6 Aimee Keen (1 point).

Northern Governorate Adults:
*Muslim Ali (10 points); 2 Fahad Jamal Taqi (6 points); 3 Abbas Al Ghuraifi (4 points); 4 Yasser Al Sheekh (3 points); 5 Ashraf Atabani (2 points); 6 Sara Al Mutawa (1 point)

Southern Governorate Adults:
*Benny Diricx (10 points); 2 Ali Essa (6 points); 3 Adnan Al Alawi (4 points); 4 Hamad Fakhrawi (3 points); 5 Tawfiq Al Qattan (2 points); 6 Salman Faraj (1 point).