Equestrian at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

Equestrian at the 2016 Summer Paralympics consists of 11 dressage events, ten for individual riders across five classes, and a single mixed team, mixed category event. The competitions were held in the Olympic Equestrian Centre in Rio, in September 2016.

See also: Equestrian at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Equestrian at the XV Paralympic Games
Venue	Olympic Equestrian Centre, Rio
Dates	11–16 September 2016

Classification

Riders are given a classification depending on the type and extent of their disability. The classification system allowed riders to compete against others with a similar level of function.

Athletes are classified according to their functional ability when mounted across four grades and five categories (Ia and Ib, II, III and IV). The grading determines the complexity of the movements riders perform with their horses during their tests, ensuring that the tests are judged on the skill of the rider, regardless of their impairment. Riders may use permitted assistive devices such as dressage whips, connecting rein bars looped reins, and the like. Riders who have visual impairments are permitted to use 'callers' to help them navigate around the arena.[1]

Riders with recovering or deteriorating conditions such as MS are eligible but must have been reclassified within six months of a World Championships or Paralympic Games to ensure their classification is correct.

Specialised equipment including prostheses is only allowed where it has been specifically approved.

Equestrian at the 2016 Summer Paralympics – Classification of events[1]
Classification		Description
I	a	for riders with impaired limb function, or poor balance and good upper limb function Grade Ia riders are usually wheelchair users with impairment of all four limbs. They may be able to walk, but this is usually with an unsteady gait due to difficulties with balance and trunk stability.
	b	for riders with impaired limb function, and/or poor balance and good upper limb function Grade Ib riders are similar to Grade Ia in that they are mainly wheelchair users. They must have poor trunk balance and/or impairment of all four limbs. Some riders will have both, but some will have just one of the two listed impairments.[1]
II		for riders with locomotion impairment Grade II riders are often wheelchair users. Riders in this grade can have severe impairment involving the trunk but with good or mild upper limb function, or can have severe arm impairment and slight leg impairment, or can have severe degree of impairment down one side.[1]
III		for blind riders with moderate locomotion impairment Grade III riders are usually able to walk without support but may require a wheelchair for longer distances. Riders can have moderate unilateral impairment, moderate impairment of all four limbs, or severe arm impairment. Blind riders compete in this category but must wear blacked-out glasses or a blindfold.[1]
IV		for riders with some visual impairment or impaired function in one or two limbs Grade IV riders have an impairment of one of two limbs or a visual impairment at B2 level.[1]

Qualification

The following teams and individuals have attained quota places for the 2016 Summer Paralympics Equestrian event.[2] On 25 March, FEI announced[3] that France and Russia, having achieved multiple quota places for individuals, would be able to field composite teams in the team competition, bringing the total number of teams in that event to 16.

colspan="4" data-sort-value="" style="background: #ececec; color: #2C2C2C; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | Equestrian at the 2016 Summer Paralympics – Qualification
Qualification route	Standard	Qualifiers	Quotas
2014 FEI World Equestrian Games	Top three ranked teams, 4 riders each	Great Britain  Netherlands  Germany	12
FEI World Para-dressage Rankings as of 31 January 2016	Top seven ranked teams, 4 riders each	Italy  Belgium  Austria  Norway  United States  Denmark  Australia	28
FEI Regional Para-dressage Allocation	Top ranked remaining team, 4 riders each, from following regions : Africa Americas Asia Oceania	-  Canada  Singapore  Russia	12[4]
FEI Para-dressage Individual Ranking as of 31 January 2016	Two qualification slots for NPC(s) not already represented : Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania	South Africa –  Mexico  Brazil  Hong Kong  Japan  Russia  Sweden – –	10[4]
Bipartite Commission	Three qualification slots	Portugal  Slovakia  Uruguay	3
Host Country Allocation	One team of four	Brazil	4
Completion of Quota Procedure[5]	Five highest ranked athletes (regardless of region) on the FEI Paralympic Individual Ranking List plus any unused quota places	Great Britain  Finland  Latvia  Netherlands  Ireland  Russia  Finland  France  Czech Republic  Switzerland  Russia  Denmark  Switzerland  France  France  France	5+
colspan="3" data-sort-value="" style="background: #ececec; color: #2C2C2C; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | Total	78

Officials

Appointment of officials is as follows:[6]

Dressage

• Alison Pauline King (Ground Jury President)
• Hanneke Gerritsen (Ground Jury Member)
• Anne Prain (Ground Jury Member)
• Kjell Myhre (Ground Jury Member)
• Marc Urban (Ground Jury Member)
• Marco Orsini (Ground Jury Member)
• Sarah Leitch (Ground Jury Member)

Events

Equestrian at the 2016 Summer Paralympics – Classification of events[1]
DATE	SESSION	EVENT			GRADE
10 September 2016	10:00:00	Horse Inspection
11 September 2016	10:00:00	Team Test		Grade III
	14:00:00	Team Test		Grade Ib
12 September 2016	10:00:00	Team Test		Grade IV
	13:00:00	Team Test		Grade Ia
13 September 2016	10:00:00	Team Test		Grade II
	14:00:00	Individual Championship Test		Grade III
14 September 2016	10:00:00	Individual Championship Test		Grade IV
	14:00:00	Individual Championship Test		Grade Ib
15 September 2016	09:00:00	Individual Championship Test		Grade II
	12:45:00	Individual Championship Test		Grade Ia
16 September 2016	09:00:00	Individual Freestyle Test		Grade III
	10:10:00	Individual Freestyle Test		Grade IV
	13:00:00	Individual Freestyle Test		Grade Ib
	14:10:00	Individual Freestyle Test		Grade Ia
	15:30:00	Individual Freestyle Test		Grade II

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Great Britain (GBR)	7	4	0	11
2	Netherlands (NED)	1	2	4	7
3	Austria (AUT)	1	1	0	2
	Belgium (BEL)	1	1	0	2
	Norway (NOR)	1	1	0	2
6	Denmark (DEN)	0	1	2	3
7	Germany (GER)	0	1	1	2
8	Brazil (BRA)	0	0	2	2
	Sweden (SWE)	0	0	2	2
Totals (9 nations)		11	11	11	33

Medal summary

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Individual championship test grade Ia	Sophie Christiansen  Great Britain	Anne Dunham  Great Britain	Sérgio Oliva  Brazil
Individual championship test grade Ib	Pepo Puch  Austria	Lee Pearson  Great Britain	Stinna Kaastrup  Denmark
Individual championship test grade II	Natasha Baker  Great Britain	Demi Vermeulen  Netherlands	Rixt van der Horst  Netherlands
Individual championship test grade III	Ann Cathrin Lubbe  Norway	Susanne Sunesen  Denmark	Louise Etzner Jakobsson  Sweden
Individual championship test grade IV	Sophie Wells  Great Britain	Michèle George  Belgium	Frank Hosmar  Netherlands
Individual freestyle test grade Ia	Sophie Christiansen  Great Britain	Anne Dunham  Great Britain	Sérgio Oliva  Brazil
Individual freestyle test grade Ib	Lee Pearson  Great Britain	Pepo Puch  Austria	Stinna Kaastrup  Denmark
Individual freestyle test grade II	Natasha Baker  Great Britain	Rixt van der Horst  Netherlands	Steffen Zeibig  Germany
Individual freestyle test grade III	Sanne Voets  Netherlands	Ann Cathrin Lubbe  Norway	Louise Etzner Jakobsson  Sweden
Individual freestyle test grade IV	Michèle George  Belgium	Sophie Wells  Great Britain	Frank Hosmar  Netherlands
Team	Great Britain (GBR) Natasha Baker Sophie Wells Anne Dunham Sophie Christiansen	Germany (GER) Alina Rosenberg Carolin Schnarre Steffen Zeibig Elke Philipp	Netherlands (NED) Nicole den Dulk Frank Hosmar Demi Vermeulen Rixt van der Horst

References

1. "Paralympics GB – Classification of Equestrian events". Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
2. Para Equestrian qualification Archived 15 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine from FEI.org
3. FEI announce Rio Quotas
4. Africa and Oceania failed to complete their allocation. these quotas devolved to the ranking list.
6. https://www.fei.org/history/paralympic-games/1571899493-rio-de-janeiro-brazil

External links

• Official website of the 2016 Summer Paralympics
• Official Paralympics website
• FEI:Fédération Equestre Internationale