Since my last blog Rhapsody has been a busy bee with two separate training sessions with Andrew J Murphy as well as travelling around the country chasing Hickstead qualifiers. Also with two Bank holidays and our entries for Hartpury Festival of Dressage going in, May was a pretty good month! Our training has been more geared to Rhaps’ way of going – always striving for better self-carriage. Andrew has been very pleased with his continuing progress, each time moving forward in his training. In early May I collected Rhaps from Andrew’s and drove straight to Patchetts for a Hickstead qualifier. At the end of the day I had driven virtually completely around the M25!
Rhapsody felt fantastic after his training and we did a good safe test in the first class for 2nd place – to the tune of ‘Roll out the Barrel’ with VE Day celebrations going on at the pub behind the hedges! Rhapsody was a star in the qualifier and won it with a mistake free test. Unfortunately that is not enough to qualify and so a couple of weeks later we trekked up to Leicester and Vale View Equestrian Centre. Getting a 9 a.m. time for the warm up class was a little harsh and it meant a night in the lorry with a 3:30 a.m. start. Thankfully Rhaps is a great traveller and we made good time as unsurprisingly there was not a lot of traffic on the motorways! The first test was a lesson in “Keep Calm and Carry on … despite wardrobe malfunction”!! Just had to mark that down to experience and put it behind us for the next test – the qualifier. I was really pleased with Rhapsody and the way the test went and so was bitterly disappointed to get a very average score. I was not alone – the judging was generally – with a few exceptions – on the incredibly low side. So Hickstead is not to be this year. A shame but that is dressage and I was not the only one left wondering why the scoring was so low… with the obvious qualification implications.
A few easy days and I was packing Rhapsody’s overnight bag again and heading back to Kent where he had a few days training with Andrew before I joined them at the weekend. He has so much enthusiasm for his work and is feeling stronger and fitter than ever! The combination of Lucie Nuts, Red Bag Grass Pellets, GreenGold, and Total Eclipse – not forgetting Summer Salt – are keeping him in great form and condition!!
Hartpury is a mere 3 weeks away now and we will have another training weekend before then. Meanwhile we are off next Sunday to do a couple of BD classes locally at Pachesham Equestrian Centre to keep us in competition mode!!
Rain fall can trigger growth akin to a spring flush, especially if temperatures are high. Even whilst true spring may be in the past, the risk for those prone to laminitis will rise.
For the second consecutive Sunday, presenter Adam Henson has discussed the use of sainfoin during Countryfile.
''Feed the mare to feed the foal'' - wise words from many an experienced breeder. With little grass due to the dry weather, grazing can be topped up in the feed bowl.