IT was a memorable year for Irish para dressage with four riders and a team travelling to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in Japan.

Unlike the pure dressage format, all four riders were permitted to compete in the individual classes before the team of three was selected for the team final. All four Irish riders were making their Paralympic debut.

Rosemary Gaffney (62) was the first Irish athlete to trot down the centre line in the Grave IV individual competition. Riding Werona, owned by Gaffney and Sue Smallman, she scored 65.39% and finish 15th.

In the Grade V individual competition, Tamsin Addison (48) finished 12th with her own Fahrenheit on a score of 66.40%.

Michael Murphy was the next Irish rider out in the Grade I individual. Expectations were high that Murphy would be pushing the favourites for a medal. However, the test didn’t go to plan, and they finished in 18th place on a score of 61.42%.

Kate Kerr-Horan was the final Irish rider out for Ireland, riding in the Grade III competition. She rode a lovely smooth test with Serafina T for a score of 66.47% to finish in 17th place. The scores were not high enough to see any of the four through to the freestyle finals however all athletes were delighted with their performance at their first Games.

Kate Kerr-Horan and Serafina T at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games \ Sportsfile

Team competition

Chef d’equipe Debora Pijpers selected Murphy, Kerr-Horan and Addison to ride the team tests. Murphy and Cleverboy got Ireland off to a good start, scoring a much improved 75.17% in the Grade I test and they were followed by Kerr-Horan who scored 65.67% in Grade III. Addison was the final team member to ride and scored 66.23% to help Ireland finish 12th.

After the competition, Ireland’s high performance director, Debora Pijpers, said: “I’m very proud of all the riders. All of them showed improvements during the competition.”

Tamsin Addison on Fahrenheit at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games \ Sportsfile

Britain continued their complete dominance in para dressage when claiming the team gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, ensuring that the title they first won at Atlanta in 1996, when para dressage was first introduced, still belongs to them.

The trio of Sir Lee Pearson, Natasha Baker and Sophie Wells scored 229.90 to finish just 0.65 ahead of The Netherlands on 229.24. USA took the bronze medal with 224.35, making this their first Paralympic team podium finish, and the first time the podium hasn’t been made up of all European teams.

Murphy’s winning ways

Aside from Tokyo, the international circuit had plenty of promise throughout the year, and from four international outings, Michael Murphy won at three of them, thanks to the addition of two new horses.

Aboard Cleverboy, he scored a double in München-Riem, before going on to land a hat-trick at the CPEDI3* in Hartpury, again with his Tokyo mount. At his final international of the year in Keysoe in October, he scored another brilliant hat-trick, this time riding Dark Diamond.

Michael Murphy and Cleverboy at the Tokyo Paralympic Games \ Sam Barnes Sportsfile

Tamsin Addison was the only Irish para athlete to travel to Doha in 2021 where she rode Donna Siesta, while 14-year-old Grade III Katie Reilly burst onto the scene and competed in three internationals. She won her first international class at Bishop Burton with her top horse Hadena back in August.

Another to make their debut at international level in 2021 was Galway’s Grade V Sarah Slattery (31) who rode at Kronenberg and Grote-Brogel, where she finished second in the Team test on a score of 68.58% with San Marino MR.

Covid-19, Brexit and the Equine Herpes Virus in 2021 all made it difficult for Irish-based riders to travel to international shows.

However, on the national circuit, riders benefitted from an excellent camp run by Para Equestrian Ireland with world class expertise from Clive Milkins and Sarah Rogers, as well as the unparalleled knowledge of Esther Skelly-Smith of SVS Equine and para coach Jo Alderton.