FIRST things first, here are the Irish rider times for today.

IRISH CROSS-COUNTRY TIMES:

Padraig McCarthy/Simon Porloe 2.09pm (Irish time)

Clare Abbott/Euro Prince 3.21pm

Jonty Evans/Cooley Rorkes Drift 4.47pm

Mark Kyle/Jemilla 6.03pm

WHERE WE STAND

Jonty Evans is best placed of the Irish, inside the top 10 on Cooley Rorkes Drift (41.80), while Team Ireland lies in fifth place after dressage, based on scores by Evans and teammates Padraig McCarthy (46.80), Clare Abbott (47.0) and Mark Kyle (50.40).

The Irish team score of 135.60 keeps them well in touch with the leading pack of Germany (122), France (122.20), Australia (126.40) and Britain (127.70) ahead of cross-country, traditionally the strongest phase for Ireland.

Ireland’s chef d’equipe Nick Turner, talking about his team’s placing in fifth after dressage said: “We are doing great and now we just need to keep a lid on it. They (the Irish team) just need to keep doing what they’re doing. This result is why these four riders were selected.”

HOW TO WATCH

Follow @theirishfieldHW on Twitter for Susan Finnerty's blow-by-blow commentary on the cross-country and stay tuned to www.theirishfield.ie for all the latest news on the Irish riders.

Viewers in Ireland can watch cross-country action online at RTE (www.rte.ie/sport/olympics/live/) or on television at RTENews Now, which will show full coverage of the cross-country phase on Channel 578 for those with Sky in Ireland and it is also available on RTE Player

Also for viewers in Ireland, equestrian action is available on the BBC Red Button channels.

Click here for a step-by-step guide to manually tune the BBC Red Button channels

INCREDIBLE

After an incredible nine months since his coma-inducing fall at le Lion d’Angers, William Fox-Pitt leads the Olympic eventing competition after dressage on a score of 37.

Riding his Badminton winner Chilli Morning, Fox-Pitt has described the course at Deodoro as “the biggest Olympic course I’ve ever walked.”

Read more rider reaction to the cross-country course here

The distance is 5,840m and the time allowed is 10 minutes 15 seconds, with the hilly terrain likely to test the fitness of all horses.

INDIVIDUAL TOP 10 AFTER DRESSAGE

1. William Fox-Pitt (GBR) Chilli Morning 37

2. Christopher Burton (AUS)Santano Ii37.6

3. Mathieu Lemoine (FRA) Bart L 39.20

4. Ingrid Klimke (GER) Hale Bob 39.50

5. Michael Jung (GER) Sam FBW 40.90

6. Thibault Vallette (FRA) Qing Du Briot 41

7. Karin Donckers (BEL) Fletcha Van’t Verahof 41.10

8. Sandra Auffarth (GER) Opgun Luovo 41.60

9.Jonty Evans (IRL) Cooley Rorkes Drift 41.80

10. Stefano Brecciaroli (ITA) Apollo Vd Wendi Kurt 41.90

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