IRISH riders at Rio will be welcomed by a familiar face once at the stable blocks in Rio as Roscommon resident and FEI steward Charles Maudlin has been appointed by position of stable manager for the games.

Maudlin has plenty of experience in this area having played a similar role at the World Equestrian Games in Normandy two years ago. He has also worked as stable manager for the National Equestrian Federation in Doha, Qatar, where he was responsible for over 400 horses, ranging from locally-bred Arabians for endurance racing to European show jumpers purchased by Middle Eastern buyers.

His Rio role will involve organising the Olympic stables by nation before the horses arrive, settling in the horses and team personnel and ensuring everyone is looked after during that discipline’s duration, including chefs d’equipe, owners, grooms and vets.

Maudlin will work with a team of FEI stewards and will also be responsible for getting all the horses and equipment transported to the airport for their return flights to their diverse destinations.As horses for each discipline arrive and leave, the stable blocks must be disinfected and prepared for the new arrivals.

There are eight different flights for horses arriving into Rio for the three Olympic disciplines and later the Paralympics.

The Irishman will spend five weeks in Rio, missing the Dublin Horse Show, before returning home for five days and flying back out to Brazil for the Paralympic Games.