We did it! Someone pinch me!! Rhapsody and I, along with my great team of Andrew J Murphy (trainer), Regine Fitzner (chef de equipe) from the Virgin Islands and Debbie Winchester, (groom) made the journey to Caen in Normandy on the 22nd August to compete at the World Equestrian Games. With intensive training in the preceding week we were as prepared as possible in the circumstances. In those final days Rhapsody had a new set of shoes, my farrier Steve Bates coming out of his area to make sure Rhapsody was foot perfect for WEG - and of course the essential health check by the vet so all paperwork was in order for our departure. Rhapsody travelled very well - the drive was a bit longer than I expected but a 4:15 a.m. start meant that we still arrived early afternoon and after the vet check on arrival and unloading the lorry Rhaps was soon settled in - Debbie went to check out her accommodation (ok - it turned out to be a converted shipping container!) and Andrew & I managed to cadge a lift to the hotel. Regine had problems with her transfer from Paris airport - she should have been in Caen before us - but as luck would have it we arrived at the hotel as Regine was getting into a taxi to come and find us at the venue…. so the team were all together - now all we needed was to collect our courtesy car. Naively - we had thought that everything was very near & compact - but sadly that did not prove to be the case. After another taxi ride we had our car and we could now get back and forth under our own steam between the hotel and venue - La Prairie Racecourse and all stops in between! Saturday we did some training in the morning - Rhaps was full of himself - showing no signs of fatigue from the journey. In fact he caused quite a show with his joie de vivre which always makes me smile and him so special! That evening was the opening ceremony. It was a little chaotic but we were all there and entered the main stadium for the US Virgin Islands, represented for the first time ever at a World Equestrian Games. Another emotional moment carrying the flag into the packed stadium and then we settled down to watch the rest of the entertainment. Sunday morning was the vets inspection and we planned to get to the stables in plenty of time to help Debbie - if she needed it. When we got to the racecourse Rhaps was not in his stable and I suddenly remembered that I had received a text while driving in - apparently the trot up was running 40 minutes early so we ran to the arena just in time to see Debbie do a grand job trotting Rhaps up - in what is usually a bit of a nerve racking moment he was passed without a glimmer of doubt! We had another training session in the afternoon when Rhaps gained his tag of "keep away from the dangerous orange one'" which was a giggle because he is the least dangerous horse you can imagine but he is a show off and he does not like the other horses coming too close so he shies away - keeping himself out of harm's way but looking impressive whilst doing it!
So… finally the first day's competition. We were 6th in at 9:15. It had poured non stop the previous day - another training day for us - and also all through the night. We arrived and it was still raining and they were frantically trying to get the standing water off the arenas. Then quite unexpectedly the skies cleared and we ended up doing our test in glorious sunshine. I had a great group of friends who had travelled out to support me and the test went well - apart from the fact that my gloves - in the rain in the warmup - seemed to weld themselves onto the reins and so my salute on entry was a battle of trying to get my hand off the reins… Rhaps stood like a rock and we then went on to do a very good test. As I finished and walked out of the arena the commentators started to call out to me - and then started singing Happy Birthday over the loudspeakers - and all the crowd then joined in. It was a crazy moment and a birthday never to be forgotten as everyone cheered and waved! We finished 13th overall with some big nations behind us and we all felt satisfied with the result. After dealing with Rhaps and changing I was then whisked off to a surprise birthday lunch with all my friends which was a total shock as I had been blissfully unaware of all the clandestine planning going on but which made the day doubly special!
Wednesday we had a training day but took it easy - mindful to conserve Rhapsody's energy for Thursday's individual test.
Thursday we were 6th in again - same time same place… but this time Rhapsody was not so focused - in truth he felt a bit fatigued. Not that he had no energy because he was still lively in the warm up but he lacked concentration. I tried hard to energise him and keep his mind on me beforehand and during the test but his mind wandered a little. That said we had a mistake free test even if it was a little flatter than I would have liked. We earned good marks from 4 of the 5 judges but 1 judge's poorer overall mark dropped us down a couple of places which was undeniably disappointing. Having said that - that same judge gave us some of our better marks - 7.5 for walk pirouettes and medium trot. My mood was somber after the test - disappointed that the results were not as good as I had hoped for and that our journey - that I had worked relentlessly towards for the past 2 years - with a lot of help and support along the way - had come to an end. It was hard to come to terms with that bittersweet feeling and once again I could not help getting emotional.
We had a good journey home - Catherine Heilbron's little lorry that she kindly lent me did us proud and got us safely there and back (I am pretty sure I was the only competitor driving their own horse to WEG!) - we were back in Surrey by late afternoon on the Saturday and Rhapsody was in the field with his pony friend before teatime! I am still finding it hard to reflect back on WEG without a tinge of sadness as 'USVI Rhapsody's road to WEG" has obviously come to its conclusion. We had a great time - there were some (well documented) issues with the organisation in Caen but I think we got off lightly compared to others. We were able to watch some great reining and dressage competitions and witnessed Charlotte's record breaking kur on the final day - met some fab people - drank some great cider from the region - and had a once in a lifetime experience on my birthday !!
WEG was a fantastic journey - which I could not have done without some great support from so many including Andrew J Murphy, Regine Fitzner, Deborah Winchester, Catherine Heilbron, Gill Maybury and Simple Systems Ltd… to name just a few!! Rhapsody's road to WEG may now be over but soon we will be working on our next challenge!!
So… finally the first day's competition. We were 6th in at 9:15. It had poured non stop the previous day - another training day for us - and also all through the night. We arrived and it was still raining and they were frantically trying to get the standing water off the arenas. Then quite unexpectedly the skies cleared and we ended up doing our test in glorious sunshine. I had a great group of friends who had travelled out to support me and the test went well - apart from the fact that my gloves - in the rain in the warmup - seemed to weld themselves onto the reins and so my salute on entry was a battle of trying to get my hand off the reins… Rhaps stood like a rock and we then went on to do a very good test. As I finished and walked out of the arena the commentators started to call out to me - and then started singing Happy Birthday over the loudspeakers - and all the crowd then joined in. It was a crazy moment and a birthday never to be forgotten as everyone cheered and waved! We finished 13th overall with some big nations behind us and we all felt satisfied with the result. After dealing with Rhaps and changing I was then whisked off to a surprise birthday lunch with all my friends which was a total shock as I had been blissfully unaware of all the clandestine planning going on but which made the day doubly special!
Wednesday we had a training day but took it easy - mindful to conserve Rhapsody's energy for Thursday's individual test.
Thursday we were 6th in again - same time same place… but this time Rhapsody was not so focused - in truth he felt a bit fatigued. Not that he had no energy because he was still lively in the warm up but he lacked concentration. I tried hard to energise him and keep his mind on me beforehand and during the test but his mind wandered a little. That said we had a mistake free test even if it was a little flatter than I would have liked. We earned good marks from 4 of the 5 judges but 1 judge's poorer overall mark dropped us down a couple of places which was undeniably disappointing. Having said that - that same judge gave us some of our better marks - 7.5 for walk pirouettes and medium trot. My mood was somber after the test - disappointed that the results were not as good as I had hoped for and that our journey - that I had worked relentlessly towards for the past 2 years - with a lot of help and support along the way - had come to an end. It was hard to come to terms with that bittersweet feeling and once again I could not help getting emotional.
We had a good journey home - Catherine Heilbron's little lorry that she kindly lent me did us proud and got us safely there and back (I am pretty sure I was the only competitor driving their own horse to WEG!) - we were back in Surrey by late afternoon on the Saturday and Rhapsody was in the field with his pony friend before teatime! I am still finding it hard to reflect back on WEG without a tinge of sadness as 'USVI Rhapsody's road to WEG" has obviously come to its conclusion. We had a great time - there were some (well documented) issues with the organisation in Caen but I think we got off lightly compared to others. We were able to watch some great reining and dressage competitions and witnessed Charlotte's record breaking kur on the final day - met some fab people - drank some great cider from the region - and had a once in a lifetime experience on my birthday !!
WEG was a fantastic journey - which I could not have done without some great support from so many including Andrew J Murphy, Regine Fitzner, Deborah Winchester, Catherine Heilbron, Gill Maybury and Simple Systems Ltd… to name just a few!! Rhapsody's road to WEG may now be over but soon we will be working on our next challenge!!
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