Reverence F (“Revi”)
I started riding Revi as a 4 year old for his owner and breeder Nicholas Fyffe at Suntori Park, in Sydney, after my horse ”Fellini” (whom I had brought with me from Germany) had to be retired due to an injury.
I immediately fell in love with Revi’s cute look, kind character and beautiful movement. Nicholas had just taken him down to Melbourne to place in the finals at ‘Dressage with the stars’ and I knew that Revi’s purchase price was going to increase even more after a successful show at the next Sydney CDI.
I had just started my corporate career and didn’t have the money to buy such a talented young horse, so I approached my dad if I could borrow money to purchase Revi. My dad answer was “No” as he felt it was a too large financial commitment to make so early in my career. Thankfully my grandparents didn’t share his concern and offered me the loan with a manageable monthly repayment. I reduced my living expenses and agistment fees by working at Nicholas’ stable on the weekends and repaid my first own purchased horse over the next 5 years.
Revi was the first horse that I started training from a young age and it was an incredibly exciting and humbling journey. I made a ton of mistakes, but with the help of my coaches and Revi being very forgiving, we progressed and we learnt so much together!
Over the next years Revi and I developed and grew together in training and competition and had many successful starts at states and national championships and CDI’s up to Small Tour. Revi qualified for the final rounds of the Sydney CDI as a five and six year-old and as an eight-year-old was selected to compete in the ‘Stars of the Future’ class at PSG level.
In January 2015 our training towards Grand Prix came to an abrupt halt when Revi had to be rushed to Randwick Equine Clinic for an emergency colic surgery and only six weeks later had to return back for second colic surgery! Thankfully, Revi got better after the second operation and slowly and steadily he returned back into training.
And just when Revi was getting fit again, I broke my acetabulum (hip) through a crazy accident, running and tripping while crossing the road, in August 2015. After three weeks of lying on my back in hospital, followed by months of rehab and re-learning to walk, I got back into the saddle after 10 weeks. Sensitive Revi felt how vulnerable and insecure I was in the saddle and through the trust and deep relationship we had, Denise Rogan and Revi nursed me back into the competition ring. It was an eye-opening experience for me to relearn to ride after that accident as an adult, compared to having the natural feel of a rider who has ridden non-stop since childhood. It definitely made me more empathetic with any adults learning to ride and riders having to overcome physical and mental challenges when returning back into the saddle after a serious injury.
Our journey towards GP continued and Revi showing all the right signs in his training, one time changes, Piaffe and Passage… But in March 2016 Revi had a shocking reaction to a Cortisone injection and developed a severe case of laminitis. We tried to stop the disease from spreading, but couldn’t control the cell damage and after six weeks of trying to save my beautiful boy, I made the most heart-breaking and humane decision as Revi was just in too much pain.
On 26 April 2016 we nerve blocked Revi’s two front feet, put him on the float and drove him home. He spent an hour strolling in his paddock and then we put his body to sleep and allowed his magnificent soul to soar.
