Saturday, 24 Nov
Mom got some free tickets for the show and off we went on Saturday to the Stadium Putra at Bukit Jalil. By the time we arrived, they had already completed one or two rounds of competition so we had thought we missed out alot. Luckily for us, the competition is arranged in a way that the better shows ends last. So upon arrival we didn't quite miss out as much as we initially thought. :)
That day being the first time i had ever watched any horse show, i had pictured the scenario of some outdoor stadium; everyone dressed in their Sunday's best- not to forget the ladies with their matching hats, men looking all handsome with their semi-casual Sunday wear- some trying to look macho by having a cigar in hand, chatting and charming all the ladies surrounding them. At the car park, a line of luxurious cars are carefully parked and watched over by the drivers- who, at the same time are showing off their boss's latest car model. With all that in mind, i was prepared to witness the scene.
Except, it was everything but all of the above. I nearly laughed at the rather big contrast of how everything was! Everyone there was dressed so casual!! Thank goodness i played safe and opted for jeans and a simple top. lol!! Not that i would wear one of my new dresses and put on large hats. I'd be the laughing stock of the day!!
The ticket that we had was for the lower tier that has thankfully, a clearer view for me. :) What with my eye sight that has been deteriorating lately, a close enough view of the course was really pleasant news. By the time we sat, the ponies were out in action for some games. The riders were kids around 7-13 years of age and were adorable! Especially the ponies!! Everyone had a wonderful time laughing and cheering for the teams that took part in the game. ( Teams consist of: 2 Kelantan teams and one each from Terengganu and Queensland.) Soon after, Harith Iskandar made a grand entrance with his Harley (i believe) va-vrooming into the course to the stage and entertained us with his jokes. Which, compared to Russell Peters, Mr Peters wins hands down anytime. :)
After Harith Iskandar left with his machine, the Putra Cup show was set up and ready. Riders from all over the world made their entrance with their beautiful horses one by one and everyone watched in awe as the brilliant talented riders maneuver their horses to cross over the hurdles ever so gracefully and cheer when they succeed; oo-ed and ahh-ed when they missed. :D It was exhilarating! Especially when there is a tie in the 1st place, the riders would have to go for another round and compete for the one who finishes the fastest. Boy, that got everyone twitching their feet, heart racing and bodies moving as if they were in motion with the riders and horses. It was FUN!! :DD
Throughout the race, we found out that the Whitaker family were clearly avid horse riders- almost the whole family were in the race!! First there was Robert Whitaker, then it was the beautiful Ellen Whitaker and then there was William Whitaker. LOL. But they were pretty good. :)
Shortly after, Ferhad entertained us with some songs and not too long after, the Samsung Malaysian Cup was ready- hurdles at 1.55m high. Here is a pic which i believe was from this particular show.
One of the international riders preparing to start.And here's another of how the course looked like from afar.
That's how it looks like folks! :DSunday, 25 Nov
On Sunday, we had the Royal Highness the King and His Queen to attend the event with the rest of us. :) We had performances from Dayang Nurfaizah and Sheila Majid during the horse show too! I like Dayang's voice! Very powerful and husky. In fact, i'm not surprised if she can pull off Christina Aguilera's songs. There were people from all over the world and it was a refreshing eye opener to see that our local performers can have world class performances and are able to entertain the crowd well. (I've to admit that i've always been a little skeptical about our local performers...note little) But all was well and i am truly happy for them. :) (I had secretly wished that Sheila Majid had performed Legenda though...) Throughout the day, all the races built up our excitement and it hit climax when the it was the Federal Territories KL Grand Prix cup where the hurdles were at its highest- 1.60m.
At the end, the crowd's favourite- at least for me, Markus Fuchs won 5 out of 5 of the races throughout the 3-day event!! He obviously has some background- he's ranked world no. 3 showjumper rider. And i present to you, ladies and gentlemen...
Markus Fuchs!He's brilliant and very very talented! I must say, after winning 5 out of 5 competitions, it sure says a lot about this man! The horses he rode on- La Toya III and Sylver II were really beautiful and graceful. In fact, Slyver II won him majority of the competitions. It's really good.
And then there was our country's rider too! Well, let's just say that he needs wayyy more practices than he had had before entering this competition. Perhaps triple it too. It was no doubt, good exposure for him having to compete with all these world class showjumper riders. And i am sure that the pressure on him was pretty intense and that was why he had quite a number of faults- which lead him to be the last in almost all the competitions. I believe that the pressure was extra heavy on him on Sunday- not only was there a noticeably larger crowd that day but it was particularly so with the King's attendance. Every time he passed through a hurdle, it was a success for everyone of us and we all cheered. BUT when he failed one hurdle, especially the first one, boy...the crowd did a loud "OHHWWWW...." lol! I can actually imagine his feelings! His heart beating wildly with the crowds cheering and that caused him to probably not think clearly resulting with him getting overly-excited and losing concentration. Hence failing to pass the hurdle successfully. His heart must've went down all the way to his butt mann. sighh...poor guy.
His ego was probably flushed away too for although he was qualified to enter the Federal Territories KL Grand Prix, he pulled out!!!! WHEN HIS HIGHNESSES WERE THERE!! Tsk tsk. He must've been crying from all the expectations and pressure that was weighed upon him. sighh...nvm!! Practice!! All shall be well!! I truly understand if i were in his shoes...if he thought like me. I would probably run out and dig a hole for myself to bury in if i were him. I cannot stand such intense pressure. Especially events and competitions like these. I'd go nuts. lol.
But to his credit, he apparently got 4th i think, in the DOHA games. Plus, he's an international competitor. I really hope for the best for him. :)
Well, throughout the event, there was a need to smoothen the sand on the ground...much like how it is like on the ice skating ring and the guy comes in with the big machine drying the ice or whatever. loL. Well, aside from the showjumper riders, this guy, named Ollie made his seemingly boring job, less boring by doing stunts that have him earn his nickname- SUPERMAN! lol...he was really funny! He actually came out with a Superman outfit!!
Ollie the Superman!!!!Hahaha!! He was quite the star himself. :D I think he was even interviewed by Astro!!
Haha! Talk about a rising to stardom! I'm afraid the image is a little blur. He was going on pretty fast and as i was frantically trying to get a good shot, i failed to search the camera for some change in the settings. Sighh..too bad lar. lol!
Below are a few more pics!
This guy goes around with a tennis racket and throws numbered tennis balls to the crowd that entitles the recipient attractive prizes such as return tickets to London, Flat screen TVs, DVD players and many many more! Very interesting! :D
These are the colourful decorative hurdles that they set up that day. Very nice. lol!Alright, this must be my longest entry yet. lol! Hope you didn't end up sleeping halfway through! Tata~
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