Lee Frawley
  • Home
  • Diary - Events & Results
  • Sponsorship ...
  • Press/Media Coverage
  • Supporters & Links
  • A little bit of history
  • Brodie - a little Superstar
  • Gallery
  • Contact Details

Drama before Hartpury!

7/15/2015

0 Comments

 
Hot on the heels of the competition at Vale View Rhaps was back with Andrew J Murphy …and a couple of weeks later we competed in two affiliated medium classes locally. This was the first time that I had ridden two medium tests in a row – and consequently sitting trot – but I have been working hard with my sitting trot and – apart from the problems with my hip which are there anyway – I am beginning to feel more at ease sitting… no doubt due to the fact that his back is more up underneath me with his improved engagement. We were rewarded with a 2nd in the warm up and 1st  the qualifier!

Hartpury at the beginning of July was looming and as usual there was a last minute dash to a 20 x 60 school to run through our freestyle… thankfully Debbie Winchester had videoed it in Belgium so that I could refresh my memory of the floorplan… my notes had long since disappeared in the black hole of papers I have been accumulating!

Our plan was for Rhapsody and I to go to train with Andrew on the Saturday/Sunday before departing to Hartpury on Tuesday the 7th. The plans did NOT include an emergency call out to vet Steve Brooks of GVG Brooks Equine on the Saturday morning when Rhaps had an extreme allergic reaction to what we can only think was a horsefly or similar bite. Thankfully Steve was not far away and immediately got some antibiotics into Rhaps intravenously followed up by another two injections. The external signs of his reaction soon subsided but I think his below par performances at Hartpury were a reflection that he definitely was not his 100% lively self. In both the team and the individual tests we started very strong and positively but towards the end I felt his energy levels fade away and it was all I could do to get him to the final halt. The final scores would imply very average tests but the reality was he had some very good scores to start putting us on possibly between 65-70% but with significant  mistakes towards the end the final marks were considerably lower. I was very disappointed to say the least and it is hard not to feel that I  let all our supporters, sponsors and friends down – not to mention Andrew, who was at Hartpury to help me and always sees the positives in our tests regardless of the results! We did finish the 3 day competition with a better score in the freestyle to music having simplified the floorplan to take the pressure off Rhaps so he could have an enjoyable experience in the arena on the final day. Under the circumstances I was pleased with a respectable 65.85%.

Rhapsody is a real trier and normally loves the big shows but he is not a machine and whatever he reacted to obviously had a sapping effect on him. He is now having some time off with a few hours in the field each day, Steve is monitoring his health, Gill Maybury is keeping an eye on any soreness in his back and shoulders , Simple System Feeds are rushing over some Eclipse Recovery to aid his immune system and we will get back to work at the end of the week. It will then be just over a week before we are back in Kent with Andrew and two weeks before our next international at Bishop Burton the first week of August with hopefully everything back on track!! 

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    August 2022
    May 2022
    October 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    August 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.