As
a first time visitor to the World Championships in Paris,
I thought itwould be nice to share my impressions with all
of you at Arabian Lines.
Living
in Folkestone, it was simple to 'pop' over to Paris via
the Channel Tunnel, for the day, our train was booked for
6.30 am so that we could be in Paris by just after 10.00
am which I believe is the start time for the final day of
the show so that we could see the Championships. Two friends
and I had decided to go to the show and my husband was asked
'very nicely' if he would like to come along, and do the
driving at the same time
The
journey went smoothly until we were two exits on the Peripherique,
away from the Paris Expo which is where the show was being
held, then it was nose to tail all the way , next problem
was parking, all the car parks were full! Eventually we
were able to park in a hotel car park, which was only a
short walk from the arena. Thank goodness we had bought
our tickets beforehand as it was now past 12 noon!
We
entered the exhibition hall by the stables, which seemed
to be very quiet. It seemed that the Junior Female Championship
was underway so we quickly made our way to the arena, we
then found out why the stables were quiet! The seating areas
were all filled with people, there were people on the stairs,
in the aisles, everywhere. The arena is magnificent, complete
with screens so that you don't miss anything.
As
we found some seats the Senior Female Championship was about
to begin. We were treated to about 10 of the world's most
beautiful mares. Each was more beautiful than the one before.
As expected ZT Sharuby was named Champion. Reserve was Bint
Saida al Nasser. It was difficult to be really sure who
was who as we hadn't been able to get a catalogue, they
were all sold out. I was really pleased to have seen El
Dorada, the Polish Sanadik el Shaklan daughter, as I am
a fan of both Sanadik and the Polish horses.
The
Junior Female Champion was the pretty grey filly Johara
al Naif, the Reserve was Lady Psyche.
Next
was the Junior Male Champion, it was gratifying to find
that there were two British entries in this Championship,
the first was the black AH Kuda by Pilot out of My Midnite
Dancer, I hadn't seen him before, he is a very impressive
young stallion. The crowd also seemed to like him. The other
British entry was FL Sayawan. As far as I remember Sayawan
was 7th and Kuda 8th. The Junior Male Champion was the bay
Marwan al Shaqab, the Reserve El Amin.
The
final Championship of the day was the Senior Male and I
must admit to never having seen the like of this fantastic
group of stallions before. They entered the arena snorting
and blowing, just as you would expect from Arabian stallions,
they looked absolutely magnificent! Included in this wonderful
group were three British owned stallions Premier, Imperial
Kamill and G Tamin. Premier was his usual enthusiastic self
and the crowd loved him for it. Imperial Kamill was just
as impressive as was the bay G Tamin. I very much liked
Khidar a grey stallion that I hadn't seen before. The eventual
Champion was the exquisite grey Al Adeed al Shaqab, he seems
to have it all! This made it four out of four for Qatar.
Reserve was Hlayyil Ramadan.
Al Adeed
al Shaqab
Following
the Championships we decided to have lunch, which consisted
of French bread and some lovely Brie and then a walk round
the stables. When we arrived at the stables it seemed that
everyone from the arena had gone to the stables at the same
time. It was absolutely packed at some points you couldn't
move at all and had to wait for someone at the other end
to move. It was amazing. However, we did manage to see the
mares from the Polish State Studs, they were really beautiful
and also the Qatari horses, including ZT Sharuby, she is
truly gorgeous. The Qataris brought Al Adeed out of his
stable to meet his fans, this lovely horse stood for quite
some time being admired and having numerous photos taken.
He took it all in his stride. As well as being beautiful
he has an excellent temperament. As always Premier attracts
your attention, as does the beautiful Australian National
Champion Mare Windella Silver Sensation
This
show is very different to anything I have been to before,
it is more along the lines of the Horse of the Year show,
as there were all horses of all breeds and plenty of trade
stands to spend your money at.
After
a look at the stands, it was time to start the journey home,
which thankfully was uneventful.
On
reflection, trying to do it all in one day was a bit ambitious,
next time I would definitely stay in a hotel and use the
Eurostar. If the opportunity arises I strongly recommend
that you visit the World Championships in Paris, you won't
have experienced anything like it!
Anne
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