A is for Allen. Bertram Allen was cruelly ruled out of his second Olympics with Pacino Amiro after the Simon Scott-bred gelding picked up an injury after jumping a superb double clear in Aachen.

B is for ‘Burto’. Australia’s Christopher Burton made a spectacular return to eventing after nearly three years away (998 days to be exact) – during which time he helped the Australian show jumping team qualify for Paris – and delivered the performance of his life to win the individual silver medal with Shadow Man, a horse he ‘loaned’ for the season from British rider Ben Hobday. After winning his medal, Burto revealed that his show jumping horse was stabled just 15 minutes away in Haras de Jardy as first reserve. That would have been some story!

Chris Burton and Shadow Man won the individual silver medal in eventing at the Paris Olympic Games \ Tomas Holcbecher

C is for Checker 47, the horse who won the show jumping individual gold medal for Germany’s Christian Kukuk. The grey gelding is owned by Bayern Munich footballer Thomas Müller, who breeds horses with his wife, dressage rider Lisa Müller. Checker’s damline goes back to the great Ratina Z who, with Kukuk’s boss Ludger Beerbaum, won team gold at the 1996 Olympic Games.

Individual show jumping champion Christian Kukuk of Germany riding Checker 47 \ Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

D is for Dalera (TSF Dalera BB), Jessica von Bredow-Werndl’s wonderful back-to-back dressage Olympic champion. They claimed Freestyle gold, ahead of teammate Isabell Werth (Wendy) and Britain’s Lottie Fry (Glamourdale). Von Bredow-Werndl and Werth were also on the German team who won their 15th Olympic team gold, ahead of Denmark (silver) and Britain (bronze). Dalera has since been retired from the sport.

Jessica von Bredow-Werndl is in disbelief after winning her second individual gold medal at the Paris Olympic Games \ Tomas Holcbecher

E is for Ermitage Kalone, the stunning stallion ridden by Belgium’s Gilles Thomas, who has taken the world by storm. They finished 20th individually after posting eight faults.

F is for Fuchs. Martin Fuchs had a disappointing Paris Games, when Switzerland failed to qualify for the team final and then, when jumping a phenomenal round in the individual final, lost his stirrup half way round the course and knocked the last fence with the lovely grey Leone Jei to finish in 10th place.

G is for Giraldo, the mount of Ireland’s individual dressage rider Abigail Lyle. At her first Olympics, Lyle and the 13-year-old gelding scored 69.441% to finish sixth of the 10 combinations in her group. “I had expectations and they were incredibly low! I had the ride of my life and I just love my horse,” she said ecstatically afterwards.

H is for Halliday – Liz, who made her Olympic eventing debut in Paris after an 11th hour call up for the US with the Irish Sport Horse Cooley Nutcracker (Tolan R x Cobra, bred by Gary Doherty). She was called up after Will Coleman was forced to withdraw on the morning of the first vet inspection. Sadly, Liz suffered a traumatic brain injury in a fall on cross-country at the USEA American Eventing Championships in August and remains in a research rehabilitation hospital in Chicago, where she is making progress in her recovery.

I is for I Amelusina R 51, the mount of Frenchman Simon Delestre, who won the team bronze medal. Interestingly, the dam of the chesnut, B.Amelusina R22 (Chin Chin) is currently breeding in Co Clare for Patrick McCormack. McCormack has bred five ISH foals from the mare and, at 23, she had a Diamant de Semilly foal in 2024.

J is for Julien Epaillard, the ‘flying Frenchman’, who finished fourth individually in the show jumping final with Dubai du Cedre on four faults. The pair were also part of the team who took the team bronze medal, joined by Simon Delestre (I Amelusina R 51) and Olivier Perreau (Dorai D’Aiguilly).

K is for Karim Florent Laghouag, the Frenchman who makes the most unique facial expressions and keeps everyone entertained. He was part of the home nation’s eventing team, who scooped the team silver medal in front of 50,000 screaming fans.

The French eventing team won the silver medal in front of 50,000 home fans \ Tomas Holcbecher

L is for London 52 and Laura Collett. In the dressage phase, this pair set a new Olympic record (17.5) and they went on to claim team gold with Britain and individual bronze. Emotional and grateful, she commented: “In Tokyo, I thought I should have and could have won an individual medal… I’ve luckily learned from my mistakes. I’m just so lucky to have been given a second chance!”

L is also for Legacy, Daniel Coyle’s fabulous mare, who gave her all in Paris and was clear every day until the individual final, when an awkward distance and running out of steam ended their chances. “She’s an amazing horse, she always gives me all she’s got and, if that isn’t good enough, I don’t want any more.”

Daniel Coyle and Legacy at the Paris Olympic Games \ Tomas Holcbecher

M is for Michael Jung, the three-time Olympic champion. He set a record finishing score at an Olympic Games with fischerChipmunk, when winning on 21.8 in Paris. Remarkably, he is the fifth German Olympic champion in-a-row since 2008, when Hinrich Romeike began a winning streak, which Jung continued in 2012 and 2016, followed by his Paris teammate Julia Krajewski in 2020 (or 2021). Krajewski was back in Paris and finished in 14th place with Nickel 21 after a late call-up.

N is for Noor Slaoui, the female who made history when becoming the first athlete for her nation and first female from an Arab country to compete in eventing at the Olympic Games. She did so on the Traditional Irish Sport Horse gelding Cash In Hand (Sayarshan x Carrabawn View), an 11-year-old bred by John Gillivan.

O is for O’Connor – Austin, Ireland’s highest place eventing finisher in 17th place individually, while the team finished in ninth place. Austin rode the Irish-bred Colorado Blue to a fantastic cross-country round and finished on a high with a clear round in the individual final. Another O’Connor for Ireland is Cian who, riding at his fourth Games, was part of the show jumping team with Maurice.

P is for Pamukcu, the name by marriage that USA event rider Caroline Martin now goes by. On her Olympic debut in Paris, she rode the Irish Sport Horse HSH Blake (Tolan R x Kannan, bred by Justin Burke). The pair, who won individual gold at the Pan American Games in 2023, were hopeful of a big performance for the USA, but picked up an unfortunate 20 penalties across the country.

Q is for Quincy B, the horse ridden by Australia’s Jayden Brown in the dressage competition.

R is for Romeo 88, the mount of Britain’s Harry Charles, who was on the winning British show jumping team, alongside Ben Maher (Dalas Vegas Batilly) and Scott Brash (Hello Jefferson). Charles had broken his arm and wrist four weeks before the Games and revealed that his father, Peter Charles, who won the team gold medal at London 2012, kept Romeo fit while he was on the sidelines. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without him. I got back on Romeo 10 days ago and it felt. Dad was on the podium with Ben and Scott in London and now I am here in Paris with them.”

S is for Sex Bomb, the Tom Jones music that Britain’s Becky Moody rode her Freestyle test to with her home-bred gelding Jagerbomb, and they scored a personal best of 84.357%. “It’s so much fun to ride and I think, because it’s fun to ride to, the horse likes it and the crowd like it, so it stuck!” said Moody, who won team bronze alongside teammate Carl Hester and Lottie Fry.

S is also for Snoop Dogg, who arrived in Versailles in full riding gear on dressage team final day, accompanied by Martha Stewart.

Snoop Dogg was in Versailles to watch the dressage Grand Prix Special on Saturday at the Paris Olympic Games \ Tomas Holcbecher

T is for Toto Jr, son of the great Totilas, who was ridden in Paris by The Netherlands’ Hans Peter Minderhoud to finish fourth in the team competition.

U is for unbelievable – venue, sport, everything was top class!

V is for von Eckermann. The shock of the Games came when Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann, a favourite for the gold medal with King Edward, fell off when he lost his balance after a fence in the individual final when he was going clear. He had tears in his eyes explaining the mishap to the media afterwards.

V is also for Versailles, the stunning ‘town’ 18km west of Paris that hosted equestrian sports for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Games were held in the middle of the heritage site and had the exceptional Chateau du Versailles as a backdrop. It will be a hard follow for LA!

Elizabeth Halliday (USA) riding Cooley Nutcracker during the cross-country at the Chateau de Versailles for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games \ FEI/Benjamin Clark

W is Wahler. There was heartbreak for Germany, when Christoph Wahler suffered a freak fall on cross-country day with Carjatan S when the team was in silver medal position behind Britain. “I wish it wouldn’t have happened today, but there’s not much more to say and I can’t really tell you why it happened. He went down the step okay, had a short three strides, which was the plan, and then just sort of stepped into it,” a devastated Wahler told the media. It ended Germany’s chances of a medal when they had to carry a 200 penalty for a rider fall.

X is for X-factor. Paris was full of it!

Y is for Yoshiaki Oiwa, the Japanese rider who won a team bronze medal riding the Irish Sport Horse gelding MGH Grafton Street (OBOS Quality, bred by Martin J Collins). Japan bounced back from a 20-penalty rider substitution and still climbed the podium after a remarkable performance, while MGH Grafton Street was the only Irish-bred to medal in Paris.

Japan's Yoshiaki Oiwa and MGH Grafton Street (ISH) won a team bronze medal at the Paris Olympic Games \ Tomas Holcbecher

Z is for Zineday, the mount of Germany’s Philipp Weishaupt, who finish 12th in the individual final on five faults.