IRELAND’s Grade I para dressage rider Michael Murphy added a Freestyle silver medal to his growing collection on the final day of the FEI Para Dressage European Championships in Riesenbeck, Germany, on Saturday.

Riding the 16-year-old gelding Cleverboy, Murphy scored 79.887% to secure the silver medal behind Italy’s Sara Morganti who won on 81.640%.

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.

Murphy and Cleverboy narrowly missed out on a medal in Tuesday’s Grand Prix at the Championship when finishing just half a percentage point off the bronze medal position. On that occasion, gold went to Latvia’s Rihards Snikus and King of the Dance, who did not pass the second horse inspection and therefore was not able to compete in the Freestyle.

Murphy adds the silver to the two bronze medals he won at last year’s World Championships in Herning.

“I’m really pleased, every day this week he’s been getting better and better and to top it off with that test - it’s always nice to do that in the Freestyle, and it’s always nice to have the opportunity to show him and show what we can do,” commented Murphy who, born with the rare condition Dejerine-Sottas, works full-time as an environmental advisor in London.

Cleverboy had a nasty stumble halfway through their test and Murphy had to sit very tight to stay on. “He just tripped and then got a bit scared that he might have dropped me. Luckily I managed to stay in place and he was so good, he was straight back with me. There was a moment of unbalance but he stayed with me while I got my balance back and the moment I was back he was back with me again.

“At this level in these sort of arenas, in this atmosphere, you need a horse that stays with you all the way around. I’m so happy he did that. I’m happy with the general feeling of the test. He’s a stunning horse so it’s nice to be able to show what he can do!”

Team competition

Ireland finished 10th of the 13 teams in the overall ranking. It was a championship debut for the other three team members – Katie Reilly, Jessica McKenna and Sarah Slattery, who amazingly gave birth to her first child just five months ago.

The Netherlands defended their team gold from 2019 to reclaim the title here. They saw off a strong fight from Germany in the silver medal position, while Britain rallied well to finish with the bronze.