| Fadhil Yunus |
ARIF Rafie bin Amir Hamzah rode his horse Taquila to victory in the Open Class 70/90cm jump-off in the National Horse Show 2017 show jumping event at the Block E Royal Stables, Jerudong Park yesterday.
The show jumper, who performed under the banner of BEQ, ousted stiff competition from Pengiran Anak Haji Rapaee with his horse Gold Dee who finished as first runners up and Christine with her horse Sunny who settled for third place.
Arif also struck gold in the Novice Junior 60/80cm category after clocking a time of 1.16.01s with no fault while Ella Goodman came second in the event.
The versatile rider also claimed silver after posting a score of 72.27 in the Novice Junior dressage event with Ella Goodman taking gold with a score of 73.64 last week.
“I’m satisfied but I’m pretty sure there’s always a room for improvement. I wasn’t really happy with the dressage because I felt like I was pushing myself too much and for the Novice Junior in show jumping it felt really good,” said Arif in an interview with the Bulletin.
“I gave all my best and for the Open Class I just had fun with it,” the rider continued.
The multiple medallist only recently agreed in joining the competition having been absent from the scene for a couple of years.
Arif has competed in the National Horse Show three times, the country’s most prestigious equestrian event organised by BEQ with his latest entry easily his most successful campaign.
He first made his mark after earning the top prize in the introduction competition in dressage and third place in the junior event for show jumping in his first year. In his second year, Arif attained fourth place in the show jumping event.
Arif revealed that he prefers show jumping to dressage adding that the latter focuses on technique while show jumping is about gaining momentum.
“You need to have a strong physique (in dressage) like your body shape in order to maintain the technique while you’re on the horse because it’s actually quite hard to maintain. So you need to have a strong physique and it needs a lot of practice to make it almost perfect,” he concluded.
In addition to the various show jumping winners, the dressage winners from last week were also feted with a medal and ribbon during a prize presentation ceremony.
The guest of honour at the event was Pengiran Dr Haji Mohd Yakub bin Pengiran Haji Othman, Vice President I of Brunei Equine Association, who also presented prizes.
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