WEG or bust!
19 September 2014
We did it! 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 the intensive training we had in the preceding week I felt very happy that we were as prepared as possible. 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 very early 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 (which tuned out to be a converted shipping container) and Andrew & I got a lift to our hotel. Regine was having had problems with her transfer from Paris airport 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 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 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 representing the US Virgin Islands for the first time ever at a World Equestrian Games. Another emotional moment carrying the flag and then we settled down to watch the rest of the entertainment. Sunday morning was the vets inspection and I 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 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 great job trotting Rhaps up - 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 in the arena coming too close so he veers away from them - actually keeping 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. The 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 joined in. It was a crazy moment and a birthday never to be forgotten as everyone cheered and waved! 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 and 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 in that he had no energy because he was still lively in the warm up but he lacked focus. I tried hard to energise him and keep his mind on me beforehand and during the test but his concentration 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 - realising that I had not done as well as I had hoped and also that our journey - that I had planned and worked relentlessly towards for the past 2 years 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 - my friend's lorry that I had borrowed did us proud and got us safely there and back (I am sure I was the only competitor driving their 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! Now two weeks later I still find 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 reining and dressage 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 Simple Systems Ltd… Rhapsody's road to WEG may now be over but now working on our next challenge!!