A tearful Virginia McKey admits she paid the price for overworking her horse Wolkenglanz after failing to advance to the final round of the dressage at the Pan Am Games.

So concerned was McKey about the big occasion unsettling Wolkenglanz’s temperamental nature, she said she overcompensated by drilling him too hard in the warm-up ring at the OLG Caledon Equestrian Park.

It was a misjudgment by the 44-year-old, whose sometimes capricious horse showed no signs of nerves in Saturday’s Prix St George or yesterday’s Intermediate I, where the pair finished 31st with 62.816 points.

It was a painful “live and learn” lesson for McKey, who said Wolkenglanz, a Hanoverian from Germany, was simply too fatigued to perform the necessary movements and manoeuvres to his highest capability.

“I screwed up and ran out of horse,” said a visibly upset McKey, who achieved her lifelong ambition of representing Bermuda at a major competition in Toronto.

“I think I did too much in the days leading up to it.

“I was afraid he would be crazy in the big ring with all the people and everything, and he totally wasn’t. He was awesome and it’s all my fault. I’m pretty disappointed.”

McKey sold her horse farm in Simcoe, Ontario, last year to help cover the hefty costs of travelling, training and competing in order to qualify for the Games.

She said she could take some solace from the realisation that Wolkenglanz is not fazed by competing on the international stage.

“Now that I know he doesn’t get fazed by the all crowds and the big ring I would have done much, much less,” said McKey, who bought Wolkenglanz six years ago.

“I never know what I’m going to get from him, but yesterday and today he surprised me in a good way. He just didn’t have the energy to nail it.

“I’m so pleased that the pressure doesn’t seem to get to him at all and that’s really good for his future.”

McKey, who spent the winter in Florida competing in high-level competitions to prepare for the Games, needed to finish in the top 15 to qualify for tomorrow’s musical freestyle.

She said she felt like “hitting her head against a wall” given that the musical freestyle is Wollenglanz’s best event.

“He loves to do the musical freestyle and so do I,” said McKey, who placed 37th in the Prix St George’s with 61.421 points on Saturday.

“We live and learn and it’s been amazing just to be here. It’s been the opportunity of a lifetime and being alongside all of these amazing athletes has been very, very special.”