Banbridge ace Susie Berry was satisfied with her dressage test at the Palace of Versailles yesterday as Ireland launched their Team Eventing quest.
The 28-year-old, who is making her Olympic debut, scored 33.0 on board Wellfields Lincoln.
She admitted that there was a different feel to the competition — and even Wellfields Lincoln knew that there was something extra special about the Games.
Berry said: “It’s a surreal experience but I’m thrilled — he can be a spooky horse but he felt quite alert. It was like he knew there was something different about today. His trot work felt beautiful in there and maybe in his canter he felt a little tense through his back so we maybe lost a few moves that would ordinarily come naturally to him.
“It’s his first time being in an atmosphere like that so I’m very happy with him. It’s very dense in there, very atmospheric, but it’s an incredible arena.”
Sarah Ennis and Action Lady M began Ireland’s competition with a dressage score of 38.0.
Ennis looked to be on her way to a score in the low to mid 30s before the 10-year-old mare made a slight error in front of the big screen.
It means that the combination will have work to do in tomorrow’s cross country to make up ground ahead of Monday’s show jumping