Riding festive wave

Bahrain National Day celebrations were in full swing with the Twin Palms Riding Centre Pony Camps, the Dilmun Stables, show jumping and dressage events that were hosted over the weekend, followed by the BREEF National Day Show Jumping Championship.

The Dilmun Stables started their events with show jumping. It was open to all stables with the stipulation that you had to be prepared to have some fun and santa costumes were obligatory. With the class underway – a clear round over 70cms – it was difficult to tell the riders apart, though some certainly stood out with green flashing noses. They completed the course, with 10 out of the 14 entrants claiming a clear round.

The day continued with a Pairs class in which dress-up was essential and it certainly made a difference! Taking first place in this class were Maud Tinsley riding Tess and Ahmed riding Leon and runners-up were Georgia Sims with Phantom and Charlotte Gunby with Magnum. For third place, it was once again Maud and Tess with Georgia and Phantom.

The next day saw the dressage take to the arena and once again fancy dress was obligatory. Starting the day off with another win in the Preliminary class was Maud who rode Darius into first place, followed by Lisa Powick astride Tayar, and Dani Shaw took third place with Inca.

The Novice class followed next, with a lovely win for Ann Dunlop riding Darius. The runner-up was Lisa clinching her double of the day riding Tayar and in third place was Georgia riding Laddie.

The final class was the Dressage Pairs to music, all in fancy dress of course. Continuing their winning streak were both Maud and Lisa riding Darius and Tayar respectively, followed by Dani Shaw with Coco and Clare Walsh riding Bart, while third place went to Charlotte riding Magnum and Georgia riding Laddie.

A fabulous two days of fun, were brought to a festive close with a BBQ and quiz.
 
On Saturday, the BREEF hosted their National Day Show Jumping Championship at the BDF Equestrian Grounds in Sakhir. The event consisted of five classes, two for juniors and three for adults.

There was another huge turnout, with the first class starting with 20 competitors, one round against the clock with fences at 80-95cms. Young Ali A Rasool claimed victory with his horse Ghoroob, while Ahmed Essa riding Tutu was runner-up, and in third position was Kate Addison astride The Chief.

The Junior 2 was a two-phase class – riders going clear over the first eight fences went into the jump-off, where the fences were raised between 95 and 105cms.

Ali took home his second victory riding Chilli after he went clear in the first phase, and went on to win the class in a time of 31.58 seconds. Runner-up in a close contest was Ahmed taking home his second trophy riding Osyna, the pair clear in the first phase and completing the second phase in a faultless time of 32.54s. Aimee Keen also stood on the winner’s podium taking both third and fourth places with her mounts Pastiche and Rio respectively.

The first of the adult classes was another two-phase event with fences between 90-100cms. Fifty competitors take to the fray and the final top six places were very close. Eyad Fareed riding Quintum completed the double clear in the fastest time taking first position, followed by Murtadha Mohammed who rode Chilli into runner-up position, and taking third place was Sadiq Abbas astride Keshbol.

The next was a speed class, and more than 30 riders faced fences up to 120cms. Muslim Ali took first and third places, as he steered Al Jazeera Pascal to victory, and clinched third position with Emiley. Runner-up was Ali Isa who negotiated Coolen around this course.

The final class was the Grand Prix event, with fences raised to over 135cms. This was one round with a jump off, with 17 riders in the fray. It was the top riders of the country, Sami Ghazwan, Muslim Ali and Saber Salman Faraj who qualified for the final jump-off, and it was Ghazwan riding his fabulous mare Fairooz taking the coveted trophy, while Muslim Ali riding Al Jazeera Pascal and Faraj riding BDF Bahrain took joint runner-up position.

All horses and riders are now preparing for the 2014 section of this exciting season. The next BREEF Show Jumping Championship will be held on January 18, 2014.
 
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

BREEF Show Jumping Results
Junior 1 class: 1 Ali A Rasool Ashoor/ Ghoroob, 2 Ahmed Essa/ Tutu, 3 Kate Addison/ The Chief, 4 Mayoof Al Rumaihi/ Cool, 5 Ali Al Rasool AShor/ Confix, 6 Gunby/ Magnum

Junior 2 Class:1 Ali A Rasool Ashoor/ Chilli, 2 Ahmed Essa/ Osyna, 3 Aimee Keen/ Pastiche, 4 Aimee Keen/ Rio, 5 Ali A Rasool Ashoor/ Ghoroob, 6 Ahmed Essa/ Tenor

Adult Class 3: 1 Eyad Fareed/ Quintum, 2 Murtadha Mohammed/ Chilli, 3 Sadiq Abbas/ Keshbol, 4 Kat Rushton/ Angel, 5 Sayed Mohammed Khalaf/ Al Jazeera UFO, 6 Abbas Al Ghuraifi/ Athelantico

Adult Class 4: 1 Muslim Ali/ Al Jazeera Pascal, 2 Ali Isa/ Coolen, 3 Muslim Ali/ Emiley, 4 Abbas Al Ghuraifi/ Athelantico, 5 Hussain Al Boosta/ Pasticha, 6 Eyad Fareed/ Quintum

Adult Class 5: 1 Sami Ghazwan/ Fairooz, 2 Muslim Al/ Al Jazeera Pascal, 2 Saber Salman Faraj/ BDF Bahrain, 4 Ali Isa/ Coolen, 5 Basel Al Dossari/ BDF Noor, 6 Ahmed Al Jahromi/ Capri Color.