THE year 2022 marked a new era for Irish international para dressage with Michael Murphy claiming two individual medals at the FEI Para Dressage World Championships in Herning, Denmark, the first time ever for an Irish para rider.

The current number one in the FEI Grade 1 Para Dressage World Individual Ranking and number four in the overall FEI Para Dressage World Rankings, Murphy started his Herning campaign by winning the bronze medal in the individual Grade 1 class, scoring 74.143% with the former Grand Prix horse Cleverboy.

His score of 76.072% in the team competition helped the Debora Pijpers’ Team Ireland of Michael, Tamsin Addison (Fahrenheit), Rosemary Gaffney (Chantal) and Kate Kerr-Horan (Serafina T) to ninth place in the team standings.

The Murphy magic continued in a memorable freestyle world championship class. The rider, who was born with a rare condition called Dejerine-Sottas which has left him with severe muscle weakness and a lack of motor control, produced another podium finish scoring an incredible 78.387%, to claim a second individual world bronze medal.

Speaking at the time in Herning, Murphy said: “That’s by far the best that he’s gone round that test. It’s a difficult test to ride, you’ve got to make it challenging at this level. It was a dream to ride.”

The London-based environmental advisor who holds a first-class honours degree in Biological Sciences from Warwick University has performed strongly throughout the 2022 season with wins in Hartpury and Keysoe and podium placings in Deauville and Kronenberg.

Rosemary Gaffney and Chantal scored 70.410% to place second in the Grade IV Freestyle at Keysoe in March and they continued their good form in Herning placing eighth in the individual Grade IV world championship class.

The late Joan Salmon put Irish international para dressage on the map when she won an individual bronze medal at the Atlanta Paralympics in 1996. This notable success was followed by the Irish team of Eilish Byrne, Geraldine Savage, James Dwyer and team and multiple individual medal-winning rider Helen Kearney securing team bronze at the 2012 London Paralympics.

Ten years on, Michael Murphy has heralded a new era of success for Irish international para dressage with the tantalising prospect of the 2024 Paris Paralympics on the horizon.