The Arab Horse Society’s Performance Horse Awards scores are in for 2014. Teenagers Katherine and Becky Bertram won the Overall Championship and the coveted Westpoint Trophy with their mother Rowena’s pure-bred Arabian Marcus Aurelius (Aurelian x Fiesta Magica), the popular NaStA-graded Premium Stallion.
The annual high points competition is free to all pure, Anglo or part-Arabian horses owned by AHS members, with winners awarded in each of the three sections.
Points are scored for six ridden disciplines: ridden showing, dressage, endurance, eventing, racing and show-jumping. Results in affiliated disciplines earn full marks while unaffiliated disciplines earn reduced marks. A 30-point bonus is added for each additional affiliated discipline after the first; or 15 points for each unaffiliated discipline.
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Performance Horse Awards Champion 2014 – Marcus Aurelius ridden by Katherine Bertram. © West End Photography. |
Mostly ridden by Katherine last year, the rich chestnut Crabbet stallion Marcus Aurelius, now 14, achieved an impressive 670 points, earned in endurance, show-jumping, HOYS-qualifying ridden classes, dressage, and the odd hunter trial. He also takes home the Dinsdale Trophy for the Leading Pure Arab to Rowena’s Avonbrook Stud, where he also fulfils stud duties in spring.
The overall Reserve Champion is another pure Arabian stallion, the elegant grey Calimeer (Edeon x Calamintha), owned and ridden by Karen Dewey with 620 points in main dressage and ridden showing. Third was the lovely pure Arabian mare Aberllwyd Satra (Phariz x Manon Bint Tarim) with 565 points in endurance and dressage, owned by Karen Day.
The winning Part-Arab Champion with 540 points is the athletic mare Mellway Precious Rose (De Beer x Alcina), who has twice won the Overall title in the past but had limited outings in 2014.
The Lady Yule Trophy for the Leading Anglo Arab was won for the second year running by Linston Kytrina with 480 points, owned and ridden by junior rider Emilie Fleming.
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| Mellway Precious Rose 2014 PHA Part-Arab winner. © Barrie Curtis. |
For the past couple of years, the Performance Horse Awards has been sponsored by Gadebrook Arabian Stud who has introduced individual awards for the High Points winner in each affiliated ridden discipline. They have also introduced a Junior Championship, as well as a Top Veteran and Most Versatile Horse in the competition.
Khalifa BJ (AZ Sadik x RAS Aliah Bey) topped the endurance entrants for Jackie Lloyd, and the Reserve Part-Arab Champion Littletons Definately Maybe (Groomsbridge May I x Damera) was the Leading Show-jumper. Mellway Precious Rose gained the highest dressage scores while Calimeer achieved the most ridden showing points. Zayin Zachilles (Kaolino x CS Comete) romped home for the Racing honours and Velucius won the Veterans.
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Lindston Kytrina – Anglo winner © West End Photography. |
There was no surprise that Marcus Aurelius was named Most Versatile Horse. For Rowena, her stallion is the ultimate ‘can do’ horse and “he has saved her buying the girls a string of ponies to compete in different disciplines!
“I am so pleased he won the versatile horse category on his way to winning the pure Arabian section and the overall title,” she adds proudly.
Some riders compete on so many of their horses that they never gain enough points on a single horse to reach the trophies. So Gadebrook created the ‘High Points on more than one horse’ category, won in 2014 by Sue and her daughter Louise Rich on their Oakleaze pure Arabians, and by Kirsty Wiscombe on her Yawl Hill part-breds.
Extra awards and rosettes go to the best junior riders. Way in front in 2014 was 15-year old India Duke, who notched up 840 points riding three horses: Littletons Definately Maybe, Deanhills Great Expectations (Sandbourne Royal Ensign x Rosslyn Sweet Fun), and Kamillah (Imperial Kamilll x Kateefah). Last year’s winner, Katie Bedwin, reached a total of 695 points on two horses – Elayla (Nisar Ibn Estopa x Ellegance) and Burfield Red Dragon – for reserve position. Marcus’ main jockey for 2014, Katherine Bertram, scored 605 points for third place. Emilie Fleming was fourth with 480 points, Saffron Bishop fifth with 285 points, chased by Courtney Woolcock in sixth place with 258 points. It is good to know that the future of ridden competition is in such keen and capable junior hands!
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Junior Champion India Duke riding the NaStA-graded mare Kamillah, one of the three horses she competed in 2014 to win the High Points title.© James Pyne Photography. |
Marcus Aurelius has gained his breeder, Diana Whittome another honour – the AHS Pure Arab Premium Progeny Award for 2014, sponsored by Coed-y-foel Stud, as he was out of her mare, Fiesta Magica (Dargee Star x Fanfara). The AHS Part-Arab Premium Progeny Award for 2014 goes to Biddesden Stud for their multiple successes in eventing.
The Top Ten finalists, and each of the individual discipline winners with all the juniors, will parade in the main arena on the Saturday of the National Arab Show in July to receive their trophies and rosettes from the Hon President of the Society, Judy Phillips, who is kindly sponsoring the Awards for 2015.
If you are at Malvern, please give them your support during the presentations – they’ve earned it! Any equine non-appearances are excused as they are likely to be away competing in mid-summer, flying the flag for our versatile Arabian horses.
AHS members can get their free 2015 Performance Horse Awards from the Arab Horse Society, Agriculture House, Charnham Lane, Hungerford RG17 0EY. Further details and rules at: www.ahsshowsandevents.webs.com/performancehorseawards.htm
