The hype surrounding Rio 2016 has truly gone up a gear with the passing of the milestone - #1yeartogo! There is not a day goes by that I am asked by someone – have you and Rhapsody qualified? Or, when will you know?
The situation is that the cut-off date for gaining qualifying points is the end of January 2016. My attendance – or not – at Rio will depend on the position of the teams in the rankings list – it is not a straightforward matter of getting X number of points and you’re in. So I will be watching the team results in the remaining competitions this year with interest, the European Para Dressage Champs as well as competitions in Texas and Italy. Also I am pleased to say that the international at Bury Farm at the end of October which looked to have been cancelled has been reinstated – an administration error it seems – so another opportunity for teams – and me – to gain some more points!
The solid scores we got at Bishop Burton last month meant a leap up of over 50 places on the Paralympic rankings list for me and we will be aiming to improve even more at Bury Farm.
The excitement has been further increased because Regine Fitzner is in Rio for the Chef de Missions meeting and has been getting all sorts of useful information on the logistics, accreditation and accommodation, not to mention going to visit the venues. The VI are hoping to also qualify for the sailing and track events. It will be interesting to hear her stories when she gets a chance to come up for air!
Rhapsody and I have had another really good weekend of training with Andrew J Murphy – the last before Andrew goes to the states to teach his clinics out there. As I sit and watch the pounding rain I can’t help thinking that it is a great time to jet off to the sunny and warm climes of Arizona and California!! Gill Maybury, Chiropractor, has been checking Rhaps regularly and although he has been fine under the saddle it did make me realise that he was overdue having it checked. Ellie Martin of Bespoke Saddlery came to see us and was very pleased with the fit of the saddle with no alternations needed so that can be crossed off my list for now with a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile I am looking forward to doing a couple of medium classes at the Dressage Masters at Hickstead at the weekend and plans are to go to the Area Festival at Oldencraig next month as a warm up before Bury Farm. We can only hope the weather takes a turn for the better by then!!
The situation is that the cut-off date for gaining qualifying points is the end of January 2016. My attendance – or not – at Rio will depend on the position of the teams in the rankings list – it is not a straightforward matter of getting X number of points and you’re in. So I will be watching the team results in the remaining competitions this year with interest, the European Para Dressage Champs as well as competitions in Texas and Italy. Also I am pleased to say that the international at Bury Farm at the end of October which looked to have been cancelled has been reinstated – an administration error it seems – so another opportunity for teams – and me – to gain some more points!
The solid scores we got at Bishop Burton last month meant a leap up of over 50 places on the Paralympic rankings list for me and we will be aiming to improve even more at Bury Farm.
The excitement has been further increased because Regine Fitzner is in Rio for the Chef de Missions meeting and has been getting all sorts of useful information on the logistics, accreditation and accommodation, not to mention going to visit the venues. The VI are hoping to also qualify for the sailing and track events. It will be interesting to hear her stories when she gets a chance to come up for air!
Rhapsody and I have had another really good weekend of training with Andrew J Murphy – the last before Andrew goes to the states to teach his clinics out there. As I sit and watch the pounding rain I can’t help thinking that it is a great time to jet off to the sunny and warm climes of Arizona and California!! Gill Maybury, Chiropractor, has been checking Rhaps regularly and although he has been fine under the saddle it did make me realise that he was overdue having it checked. Ellie Martin of Bespoke Saddlery came to see us and was very pleased with the fit of the saddle with no alternations needed so that can be crossed off my list for now with a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile I am looking forward to doing a couple of medium classes at the Dressage Masters at Hickstead at the weekend and plans are to go to the Area Festival at Oldencraig next month as a warm up before Bury Farm. We can only hope the weather takes a turn for the better by then!!
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