Turkmen showjumping school is ready for world competition
November 06, 2017 | 21:19 |398
Organizers of the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020 decided to make equestrian competitions more understandable to the viewer, and the competitions themselves are more compact in the format of their holding, which would attract new participants. One of the main changes was the introduction of amendments to the number of team members in jumping, dressage, triathlon and Paralympic dressage. Now there will be an equal number of them, 3 members in each discipline. Also, the teams will be allowed to have a reserve rider, whose presence guarantees the principle of the wellbeing of the horse. These changes are aimed, first of all, to see more participants in the Games, which automatically expands the audience of equestrian sport. “And even if the new rules shatter the indisputable leadership of the countries reliably settled on Olympus, this will only bring more excitement and will give the understanding to the new participants that everyone has a chance to win.” Including the team of Turkmenistan. Whether the team will take part in the Games in Tokyo is still a question. But the first successes of the emerging national school of showjumping give hope for this. The youngest, among five representatives of the team of Turkmenistan, who competed in the discipline of showjumping during the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in September, won the competition. This, by the way, is another sign of how quickly this popular in the world sport develops in our country, which is the birthplace of Akhal-Teke horses. As the owner of the “gold” of the Asian Games and the “Akhal-Teke Cup” Nikolai Beglaryan told, he began studying at the racetrack while still in school, devoting almost all his free time to sports. And the secret of his success lies in the fact that the perseverance and desire of our jockeys received full support. Our showjumping team was under the guidance of Honored Coach of Turkmenistan Durdymurad Kanaev and Katarina Jakob, a world-famous showjumping expert, a graduate of the University of Innsbruck, specializing in equestrian sport. Katarina is a passionate admirer of the Akhal-Teke breed, she prepares horses for world-class competitions. Her pupils are frequent prize-winners of international competitions in showjumping.Larisa FOMINA
There are selective racehorses with inborn abilities for high jumps, strong physique and calm temper, which could enter the showjumping competitions. The specialists of the State Association “Turkmen Atlary” selected the horses for the team according to special criteria.
It was necessary to train the horses and prepare athletes for competitions of international level. The jumping team was trained twice a day in the indoor arena in Ashgabat. Our athletes visited the EU countries and the near abroad with study visits, where they participated in training competitions and showed good results.
On the base of the hippodrome in Ashgabat, a comfortable arena for showjumping, corresponding to the world standards, was built. More specifically, there are two arenas, one is indoor, for training in bad weather, and another one is open.
It may seem to the uninitiated spectator that the horse itself goes to the obstacle and easily overcomes it, and the rider only shows her the way. In fact, behind this beautiful picture lies colossal work, long training of a rider and a horse. It is one of the few sports where the horse and rider act as one, and it is very important that they feel each other.
But everything is not so simple in the competitions. The route from obstacles is designated 1.5 hours before the competition. The first to go to the arena on foot are the jockeys, inspecting the route. Athletes must overcome difficult obstacles without hitting or knocking down any of them. The intent is to jump cleanly over a set course within an allotted time. The two most common types of penalties are jumping penalties (if a horse or rider knocks down a rail) and time penalties. It also happens that the horse simply refuses to enter the obstacle and the rider cannot force it. For two failures of the horse, the competitor is eliminated from the competition.
The rivals of our team were the strongest riders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Syria. As part of the team from Saudi Arabia was the bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in London in 2012, Abdullah Walid Al Shabatly. Representatives of Qatar are champions of the Asian Games 2014. Despite the tough competition from the stars of showjumping, our athlete won a gold medal. The results of the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games clearly show that a strong equestrian sport school has been established in Turkmenistan, and our jockeys and horses are ready for high competition in arenas for showjumping.
