Photography by Christian Kellner www.ck24.at
Lead Picture: WALOR Gold Champion at Show Jumping
Great Festival for Team Germany- five Gold Medales!
Great event on great place with great sport!
For four days, the best purebred Arabians from eight ECAHO member countries showed their ability and their talents.
Three International Championships on three different levels – from lower level Austrian Championships to over medium level Austrian Championships up to very difficult European Championships – gave the pure Arabian horses a unique chance in strong competition but very friendly atmosphere to spend a long weekend together.
The European Championships had 10 titles, while the Austrian and Lower Austrian Championships had eight titles each.
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| PADRON’S MUST, WALOR, HAIFI EL SORRENTO, MUTHEEAA W´RASAN, and GFH SONAR SEGAN. |
ECAHO Sports gives the awards to the horses, they are the centre of everything: the trophies, sashes, and ribbons to the horse, and medals to the rider who showed the horse. All three Championships are open to all ECAHO member countries.
This amazing event brings together the classic riders with dressage and showjumping, and the western riders with reining, trail and pleasure as well as all the special ECAHO pleasure competitions. This needs a lot of judges, officials such as course designers, vets, experienced speakers, a show office, scribes and so on. Altogether there was a team of 40 people, not counting those working in the kitchen to feed everyone well.
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Special trophies to the horses and teams
Some of the participants came from very far away, such as the team of nine horses from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This team included the young rider, 14-year old Mohamed Saleh Mubarak al Karbi. This team was awarded the trophy for the furthest distance to travel. Wasel W’rsan (Amer x Winning Spirit), ridden by Mohamed, was not the youngest rider however; this went to 11-year old Helena Jodie Byrne from Denmark, and she received the trophy for the youngest rider. This event also has one special award for the oldest horse. Several horses were competing very fit and over 20 years old. However, the oldest was the 24-year old Najim (Shalaan x Karaim) with Isabell Bartlechner, showing just how long the Arabian horse can go on to not only compete but also win, taking the Bronze medal in the ladies’ side-saddle.
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| Multi Gold Champion WAS Zahim’s Zarina (Zid Ibn El Zahim x WAS Tarisha Bint Taraszena) |
The great winner of the whole European Championships was the German team. Altogether, they won five Gold, four Silver and three Bronze medals! Indeed, just two horses in the German team received five Gold medals between them, including WAS Zahim’s Zarina (Zid Ibn El Zahim x WAS Tarisha Bint Taraszena) with Sabrina Pauli who took Gold in the western pleasure, western trail and western all around – it was her show! WAS Zahim’s Zarina has been carefully trained and developed from the 2015 European Championships in Janów Podlaski in Poland. Against strong competition, she stayed focused and was successful, even in the charity fun pleasure event later that evening.
During four days, there were almost 500 starts. The classes began early in the morning and ended at midnight! Eight nations competed, and there were 61 nominated horses.
The teammate of WAS Zahim’s Zarina was the classic ridden Haifi el Sorrento (BS Specific x Haifi Dinjah) with Susanne Hoyler. They took Gold in the classic pleasure and the classic all around. The Silver Medal in dressage went to MS Madras with Susanne Giese. The Silver Medal ladies’ side saddle went to Naoufil (Mahadin x Namije) from H and L Gestüt Marbach and Ann Kathrin Rupp.
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| MUTEEAA W`RSAN & Line Moen received GOLD in Traditonal Arabian Riding. |
Our friends from the UAE only received two Gold – in the ladies’ side saddle and the traditional Arabian riding – with the very talented Muteeaah W’rsan with chief rider Line Moen.
The Austrian team followed in the team ranking with one Gold in reining for GHF Sonar Se Ganges (Ganges x Sonora v) with Reinhard Hochreither; and four Silver, three from five-year old GFH Sandhya (Baikal x Desert Safanad) with Andre Reitermayr, and one from Haife and Melanie Kirisits in the showjumping – they also took Gold in the European Championships.
Denmark took Gold with Padron’s Must (Padrons Immage x Bint Pustinia) in a very good Prix St Georg in Dressage with Tove Roy. Padron’s Must was the Best Dressage horse of the whole event also Gold in Austrian and Lower Austrian Championships. The classic pleasure had the most entries, 27 in total, and Silver went to Denmark’s Tamon with Viuf Shannon.
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| Padron’s Must (Padrons Immage x Bint Pustinia) |
From Poland came the very well-known showjumper, Walor with Daria Klimeczka, and he won Gold again for the third time. From Michalów State Stud came the 20-year old Grafik (Eukaliptus x Gaskonia) with Oliwia Koval and they took the Bronze classic all around. The famous Kabsztad (Poganin x Kwestura) was also under saddle in competition with a young rider, and type and conformation was his victory.
The Netherlands showed with Penthor (Abakan x Pengona HT) and Angela van Dyvenbode, Silver winner in the Trail Lower Austrian Championships. Now 23-years of age, Penthor has competed at the European Championships since the very beginning, back I 2002 in Deurne.
The combination of the three Championships gave all riders and horses a chance to compete well at their level.
On the first evening, there was a welcome party that brought all the riders, grooms, fans and organisers together with good Austrian cuisine and folk music.
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| Welcome dinner |
Our sincere thanks go to all the sponsors; without their support, this event would be not possible.
Next year, ECAHO and the Austrian Equestrian Federation have decided to hold the European Championships Sport Arabians at same venue, south of Vienna, organised by the same organisation – FAS, Friends of Arabian Sporthorses. Competitors are invited to arrive as early as they like in order to use all the facilities for practice.
We will see you next year, 26-29 August, at Wiener Neustadt, Austria. For the full results of this year, please visit www.friends-of-arabian-sporthorses.at European Championships Sports Arabians: Back to Austria
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| Silver Showjumping HAIFE |
