IRELAND’s Michael Murphy has won the individual Freestyle silver medal at the FEI Para Dressage European Championships in Riesenbeck, Germany.

The Grade I athlete delivered a flawless test with the 16-year-old Cleverboy to score just below 80 with a total of 79.887%. Taking the gold today with a massive 81.640% was the Italian Dressage queen Sara Morganti riding Mariebelle.

It was a close call for the bronze but in the end Germany’s Martina Benzinger and her horse Nautika had the margins on their side, and finished on 78.347% and were able to claim the podium spot.

Michael Murphy and Cleverboy at FEI Para Dressage European Championships \ Joe Reynolds

The European champion from the individual competition, King of the Dance, did not pass the second vet-check yesterday and therefore Latvia’s Rihards Snikus was not able to compete today.

Speaking after his test, Murphy said: “I am really pleased, every day this week he has been getting better and better and to top it off with that test, the best he’s done this week, is always nice to do in the Freestyle. It is an opportunity to show him off and show what we can do. He is a stunning horse.”

Murphy and Cleverboy narrowly missed out on a medal in Tuesday's Grand Prix at the Championships when finishing just half a percentage point off the bronze medal position.

Full coverage in next Saturday’s The Irish Field.