JILL Terceira has replaced Patrick Nisbett as Bermuda's rider at the show jumping next month in the Olympics. Nisbett opted out of competing in the Games this week after he realised his horse, Antille, was not fit to go after attempting to jump the big mare at the show in Spain.

Terceira, who has had a bitter feud with the Bermuda Equestrian Federation about the choice of Nisbett over her, said this week she now has to get herself "mentally ready" for the Olympics. And she has been scrambling around to get her mount Chaka into quarantine and then on a plane for Hong Kong where all the equestrian events will be staged.

The Holland-based rider and Nisbett, who is based in England, both qualified for the Olympics at last year's Pan American Games in Brazil but the IOC told Bermuda that only one rider could go. And after a "qualifying process" ¿ one which was slammed by Terceira ¿ the BEF gave the nod to Nisbett.

But that has all changed with Nisbett bowing out last weekend and as such Terceira has been running around to get ready for the Games.

Shortly after being told by the BEF this week that she would be flying Bermuda's flag at the Olympics, Terceira was rushing around to get everything ready.

As she said: "It is not like I am a track athlete and I just have to pack my spikes and get on a plane! There is so much to be done."

And while Terceira was angry that the BEF chose Nisbett as Bermuda's first-choice rider, she said: "I am also truly sorry for Patrick's bad luck and especially hope his horse will recover 100 percent. But it is good for our sport that we had a (qualified) reserve horse/rider combination so an equestrian show jumper can still represent Bermuda for the first time at the Olympic Games. It makes our efforts at the Pan American Games all worthwhile!"

While she is excited about flying the flag at the Olympics, Terceira said she must now get herself "mentally ready" for the competition ¿ the biggest of her life.

A few weeks ago after being told that Nisbett had been chosen over her at the first-choice rider bound for Hong Kong, Terceira was upset and also felt let down.

Now she is getting herself mentally geared up for the event.

Minutes after finding out that she would be going earlier this week, she said from her Holland home: "I am not prepared. My mind is somewhere else with just everything going on. I am not mentally prepared because I am still down (from not being picked at first). In three weeks I have gone though so many emotions. You work so hard, you get your horse in top form and get him qualified and then the rug is slipped out from you. Now I have to get mentally prepared again and also get the horse prepared."

Chaka, her South African chestnut stallion who qualified for the Games last month after her first-choice mount Navantus came up injured, has been in superb form, said Terceira.

But when she discovered that she and Chaka would be going to the Olympics the horse was in France.

"After Patrick was chosen to go to the Olympics I just went on with my regular schedule and we were about to compete in Dinard this weekend," said Terceira.

With the sudden change of plans Chaka had to be immediately brought back to Holland.

Terceira said yesterday afternoon that the horse and a groom had set off from France at midnight on Wednesday and had arrived safe and sound at her home in Holland.

"We are getting there. Chaka arrived a couple of hours ago and he looks fine ¿ he had a good journey. Now we have the blacksmith here putting on some new shoes and redoing his feet and he will be ready to go into quarantine."

Tomorrow morning Terceira will travel with Chaka to the quarantine site at the stables of the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein in Germany which was also used for the European horses before the Sydney Olympics.

"I will travel to Aachen on Saturday morning and it will be a short trip ¿ it is only about an hour away. But before I go I will have a nice ride here at home. We won't do too much ¿ he had a long trip yesterday but I will also be able to do some preparation work while he is in quarantine. He is in quarantine for a week so I can continue to train and ride him in Aachen."

Aachen stages one of the biggest shows in Europe and Terceira said: "It is a huge facility."

After quarantine Chaka will be transported to Amsterdam and from there will fly to Hong Kong.

Show jumping starts on August 15.

"There is a lot involved (in getting Chaka to Hong Kong) especially at this late hour," said Terceira who said that she has not been impressed with the way the whole qualification situation has been handled.

"Of course I am pleased to be going although not because Patrick had to withdraw his horse. But it is a scramble to try to make it possible because we want to be represented in Hong Kong. But because of this late date it is tough to get everything done. There are papers to be signed, quarantine, vet checks ¿ a lot of things have to be done."

She added: "You just want the best person and horse to go and unfortunately Antille is not on form. It is a bit of bad luck and a bit of bad management. But there were problems with Antille leading up to the Games unfortunately. It is not a compete surprise (that Nisbett had to withdraw)."

Mike Cherry, head of the Bermuda Equestrian Federation, said this week: "Jill will be our replacement as the agreed reserve. It was agreed that Patrick would be the representative and Jill would be the reserve in case something happened to Patrick. And unfortunately something did happen to Patrick. The horse is just not right and Patrick has done the right thing in withdrawing at this time. His timing was close but not late."

Cherry added: "It will be tight (schedule) but it will be OK. We have to get an independent vet and then she will leave to go to quarantine and then fly out from Europe on August 3."

Hong Kong was chosen to host the equestrian events ¿ show jumping, dressage and eventing ¿ because the equine health status of mainland China remained unknown. It was not clear what risks could threaten the horses' health ¿ and many of the horses competing are valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

As a result, a horse that is imported in China would not be allowed back into its home country.

When the Games were allocated to Beijing back in 2001, it became evident that the temporary importation of over 200 competition horses into an area with an unknown health status would be a serious challenge.

Initially the FEI went to great lengths in trying to set up a Disease Free Zone in the vicinity of Beijing. However, due to a variety of factors, it became clear that this was an unfeasible objective.

It was then decided to move the Olympic equestrian events to Hong Kong, where protocols for temporary importation had been in existence for many years.

Also Hong Kong was chosen in relation to its existing importation protocols and long-established equine health status. Another factor included Hong Kong's expertise in dealing with sports horses available from within the Hong Kong Jockey Club, one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong, founded in 1884 to promote horse racing.

All the horses attending the Olympic Games will depart form five hubs around the world.

These are: Amsterdam, London Stansted, New York, Los Angeles and Sydney.

Horses will travel in 'Jet Stalls" with two horses per stall. Flight times vary between 12 and 15 hours with some aircrafts stopping at Dubai en route. The temperature in the aircraft will be 17 C approximately.

A Peden-appointed professional groom will accompany horse attendants on the flight, and attendants will travel through security with their charges in the 'Jet Stalls'. It is expected that horses will be in their stables within one hour and 50 minutes of arrival in Hong Kong.