Missing his Mojo!

27 July 2015

I write this as I send off the final paperwork for the 3* CPEDI at Bishop Burton from the 4^th – 8^th August…. keenly anticipating our next competition! This time last month I had the same feelings of excitement for Hartpury - unfortunately the competition was a disappointment from a personal perspective.

Our plan was for Rhapsody and I to train with Andrew the weekend before departing to Hartpury on Tuesday July 7th. The plan 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 certainly 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 last halt. The final results would imply very average tests but the reality was he had some very good scores to start putting us on possibly between 65-70% with some excellent marks for some of our weaker movements that we have been working on, but with significant mistakes towards the end the final percentages were considerably lower. I was gutted to say the least as we all had high expectations of some good placings. 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 last 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. Once home he had some time off with a few hours in the field each day; Steve is monitoring his health, Gill Maybury regularly checks him for any soreness in his back and shoulders , and Simple System Horse Feeds thankfully rushed over some Eclipse Recovery to boost his immune system and a general tonic. Earlier this year I also changed Rhaps from Total Eclipse to FlexiBalance in the interests of giving his joints a bit of extra care through the addition of a joint supplement - neither of us are getting any younger!

I am pleased to say that Rhapsody is in full work again and definitely has his mojo back!

At the end of the week we will be in Kent with Andrew again for a few days training followed by a few easy days at home and then off up the M1 to Bishop Burton with hopefully everything back on track!!

Missing his Mojo!

27 July 2015

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