Injury has forced the withdrawal of Irish event horse Kilpatrick River from the World Equestrian Games (WEG).
Elizabeth Power’s horse Kilpatrick River arrived at Kentucky Horse Park for the Games on Sunday, along with the rest of Ireland’s eventing team.
But following exercise the next day, the horse was lame. Despite overnight treatment, he failed to improve enough to continue preparations and the decision was taken to withdraw him.
Ireland’s high performance manager Ginny Elliot said the loss of the pair was a “huge blow” to the team.
Ginny now has a squad of five horses and riders in Kentucky from which she will announce a final team of four before the eventing competition that starts next Thursday. One rider will compete for Ireland as an individual.
She said: “Liz is one of our most promising young riders and aside from the loss to the squad at these games it would have been great for her to get further championship experience.”
But Ginny added that, despite the reduced team options, she is happy with the remaining five combinations.
“They all travelled well and are in good order,” she said.
