It’s down to hours now, and things are really taking shape in Rio for the advent of eventing. At the 48-hour mark, we take a look at some of the horses training. The arena is set up for the individual dressage phase of eventing, which begins Saturday morning at 9 a.m.; the Irish riders were out to check it out this morning, while the photogenic New Zealanders are shown at yesterday’s press conference.

Judy Reynolds will compete for Ireland in dressage. She was out training at the Olympic Equestrian Centre in Deodora with the eventers, but she appears to be wired to listen to her trainer, or maybe some music while she schools. She’ll ride the 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Vancouver K (by Jazz out of a Ferro mare) in the Olympics; he is owned by her parents.

Mark Kyle of Team Ireland on Jemilla, a ten-year-old British Sport Horse, during Cross Country dressage training at the Olympic Equestrian Centre in Deodora. Mark is 42 and lives in Great Britain. He represented Ireland in the London 2012 Olympics, where Ireland finished fifth. He competed at the Athens 2004 Olympics, as well.

On Wednesday, Team New Zealand was center stage. From left: Jock Paget, Sir Mark Todd, and Clarke Johnstone of the New Zealand Eventing Team posed with Julie Brougham, who will represent New Zealand in Olympic Dressage, during a press conference in Rio. 

CLARK JOHNSTONE

Sir Mark Todd of the New Zealand Equestrian Team at the microphone during yesterday’s press conference ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games. He already has two individual gold medals to his credit. 

Finally, the Team New Zealand, here’s a lovely video of Clarke Johnstone galloping his horse on the beach. Isn’t that what we all expect New Zealanders would do? It’s part of Team New Zealand’s “Be the Inspiration” promotional series.