An update from our sponsored ride Lee Frawley:- On the training front, Rhapsody has been going to Andrew Murphy’s yard in Kent for a week at a time every 4/6 weeks and this has proved to be an extremely valuable regime. It has given Andrew periods of concentrated time to really push the training forward. With my work constraints, I am usually limited to riding with Andrew at the weekends either side of Rhaps’ stay, but I am getting the benefit of his continuing improvement nonetheless. Competitions have been kept to a minimum, partly to allow our training to progress and partly due to finances. A few unaffiliated local dressage competitions have kept my eye in and I was thrilled to win at Hickstead first time out since London last year! We did however compete in July in the 3* CPEDI at Hartpury Festival of Dressage, being the only international for us this year and I was thrilled with Rhaps’ performance being placed 6th the first day with a very solid percentage. Once again GB were using the competition as selection trials for the Europeans and other nations had rider there for either European Championship warm up or to try for a qualifying percentage for WEG next year. Rhaps was a bit unsettled on the second day – teaching me some important lessons for future warm ups and we dropped to 7th but we were pleased to make it through to the final day’s freestyle where we came 5th, showcasing a new ‘dance routine’ to different music which the judges enjoyed. At the end of August we had a weekend of competitions at Hickstead. Firstly a couple of para qualifiers for next April where Rhaps and I came 1st and 2nd – very pleased with that result, but especially at how much progress he has made – which I featured on his Facebook page (USVI Rhapsody’s Road to WEG) – demonstrating the difference a year can make! The next day we headed back down to Hickstead for their unaffiliated championship, having qualified at our single appearance earlier in the year. We were in the lead till the last horse and so had to settle for Reserve Champion – can’t complain about that – and Rhaps now has a lovely Dressage at Hickstead rug Our target remains the same… the World Equestrian Games next August/September in Normandy, France! On the face of it Rhapsody and I have already qualified, getting the required percentages both in London and at Hartpury, but not wanting another last minute bombshell, the Virgin Islands Equestrian Association and I continue to keep a keen eye on FEI updates. Regine Fitzner from the VI is planning to go to their annual General Assembly in November in Montreux, Switzerland to get the latest news on WEG. Andrew and I sat down with our diaries recently to plan backwards – it is less than a year to go now and it really doesn’t feel that long away! I have also had the pleasure of a couple of extra-curricular activities recently. I was asked to give a presentation/slide show in aid of a riding for the disabled centre in Leybourne, Kent which was attended by the local press and very well received – the Q&A session at the end demonstrated everyone’s continuing interest in London 2012. Closer to home I was flattered to be asked, along with fellow Paralympic equestrian Laurentia Tan who competes for Singapore, to present the Duke of Edinburg awards at the local Royal Albert & Alexandra School – and another group were treated to my slideshow ‘Behind the Scenes in London’.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 20:38:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015