Flora De Mariposa and Penelope Leprevost in the Official Horse Inspection at Rio on Friday morning.
It seems that Team France is having a rough go of it before the Olympic Show Jumping has even gotten underway in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. French rider Penelope Leprevost’s mount Flora De Mariposa, an 11-year-old Belgian bred mare (For Pleasure x Power Light) suffered a bout of colic on the evening of Friday, August 12th.
The show jumping riders had the opportunity to participate in a warm up jumping session on Saturday morning in the main arena at Deodoro Equestrian Center, but Leprevost opted to allow her horse a day to rest.
She posted the following message on her Facebook page:
“Flora has actually been the victim of a beginning of colic last night, and we have therefore made the decision that she does not participate in the warmup. Today she’s better, we keep a very close eye on her and we will decide tomorrow whether or not to start the competition…”
This news comes just three days after French rider Simon Delestre was forced to withdraw his participation from the Olympic Games after his horse Hermes Ryan suffered a freak injury while in his stall at Deodoro.
French team alternate Philippe Rozier and Rahotep de Toscane stepped up to team position and successfully passed Friday’s Official Horse Inspection. If Flora De Mariposa is determined unfit to compete, it would leave France with a team of three and no drop score option going into Sunday’s Individual 1st Qualifier/Team Qualifier For Round 1. See the complete schedule for the Rio Olympic Show Jumping at this link.