Everything you need to know about dressage at the Tokyo Olympic Games

DRESSAGE kicks off the equestrian element of the Tokyo Olympic Games next Saturday, July 24th. As with show jumping and eventing, the change in format for these Games mean the dressage teams will feature just three horse and rider combinations, instead of four, meaning there will be no drop score and all three will count towards the overall team result.

Despite securing a historic Olympic qualification, there will be no Irish team at the Games. Instead, Irish eyes will be focused on individual rider Heike Holstein who competes at her fourth Olympics.

So what is the format?

One big change is that the Grand Prix test, in which all 60 competitors start, will serve only as a qualifier for the Grand Prix Special (team final) and Freestyle (individual final). The team medals will be decided only from the scores in the Special, not a combination of the Grand Prix and the Special like a previous Olympic Games.

The Grand Prix takes place over two days (Saturday and Sunday, July 24th and 25th) and the athletes compete in six groups of 10, with three groups competing on the first day and the remaining three groups on the second day. The composition of the groups are based on the FEI World Ranking List position of the Athlete/Horse combination on the date of definite entries. Holstein is currently ranked 155th in the world.

Two from each group, plus the next best six scores overall qualify for the Freestyle individual final.

Just eight of the 15 teams will progress to the Grand Prix Special on Tuesday, July 27th, where the team medals will be decided. No individual athletes compete in the Special.

The individual Freestyle final takes place on Wednesday, July 28th, with the top 18 combinations qualifying. They will be split into three groups, with the best-scoring from the Grand Prix going last. The winner will be crowned Olympic champion.

Judy Reynolds is the only Irish rider to have ever made it to the Olympic final when she did so at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 with the now-retired Vancouver K.

Team substitutions

While there are only three riders on a team at these Games, a fourth ‘Ap alternate’ will travel to Tokyo and can be substituted on veterinary grounds. In dressage, substitutions can happen during the period between the team qualifier (Grand Prix) and up to two hours before the start of the team final (Grand Prix Special to music).

In all cases of substitution, the alternate will fill the space of the substituted combination but will not be entitled to compete in the Freestyle (individual final).

Dressage preview - who will win the medals?

Saturday, July 24th 5pm (local time, 9am Irish time): Grand Prix (team and individual day 1)

Sunday, July 25th, 5pm (local time, 9am Irish time): Grand Prix (team and individual day 2)

Tuesday, July 27th, 5pm (local time, 9am Irish time): Grand Prix Special (team final)

Wednesday, July 28th, 5.30pm (local time, 9.30am Irish time): Freestyle to Music (individual final)