Ireland have made a very competitive start to the Olympic Eventing competition at Rio 2016, with the team lying in provisional sixth place overall halfway through the opening Dressage phase, with only a handful of points separating the top eight teams. Tipperary’s Padraig McCarthy had the honour of being the first Irish Equestrian rider to take to the arena at Deodora Olympic Park. Thirty-nine year-old McCarthy produced a personal best score of 46.80 penalties with the 16-year-old gelding Simon Porloe to finish the day in 12th place overall. Clare Abbott from Co Down and The Irish Sport Horse Europrince, also finished with a personal best Dressage score of 47.00, and is just one place behind her teammate, in 13th spot. Tomorrow Sunday will see the second half of the Eventing competitors complete their Dressage tests, including Ireland’s Jonty Evans riding Cooley Rorkey’s Drift (ISH) and Mark Kyle with Jemilla. The … Continue reading Ireland off to great start in opening Dressage phase of Eventing at Rio 2016