Olympics furore dismays Judy Reynolds

However, being pragmatic, she is focusing on doing her best this weekend in Qatar to guarantee her ticket to Rio de Janeiro, regardless of events elsewhere.

The controversy surrounds suggestions Russian and Ukrainian riders were favoured in competitions in Moscow, and Lier, Belgium, respectively, ahead of the closing on March 6 of the Olympic qualification window.

The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) dismissed any suggestions of wrongdoing in Moscow, telling the Irish Examiner that “the FEI Dressage Committee informed the FEI Secretary General they had concluded that the judging was consistent across the five judges and in accordance with the FEI Dressage Rules and the principle of fairness as detailed in the FEI Olympic Athletes Ranking — Dressage Rules”.

Reynolds said she expected nothing less.

“The FEI response is to be expected. They have never gone against one of their own, so I did not expect them to start now... I’ve never heard of them altering a score. It is disheartening to think that we are not competing on a level playing field,” said Reynolds.

The Moscow contest saw Russia’s Inessa Merkulova and Mister X and runner-up Marina Aframeeva on Vosk set personal best scores well above what they had previously achieved. Also, a photograph emerged of one of the participating judges, Dutchman Ghislain Fouarge, training Merkulova on Mister X four months previously.

The FEI said its rules do not permit a judge to train a horse/rider for more than three days in the 12-month period prior to an event or any training of a horse/rider during a period of nine months before Olympic Games, World Equestrian Games, Continental Championships on grand prix level, or World Cup final, and three months before any other FEI event.

The FEI said: “It was confirmed to the FEI that Ghislain Fouarge (NED) held a clinic at the New Century Club on the outskirts of Moscow from 22-24 October 2015 which was attended by 18 riders. These dates are fully in accordance with the rules regarding both duration of training and timing prior to the Moscow event and dressage events at the Olympic Games.”

Merkulova and Mister X top the Olympic rankings and are guaranteed to qualify for Rio, but the scores for Aframeeva and Vosk move them up the rankings, affecting a number of riders, including Reynolds.

Reynolds said the margin of improvement shown by the riders was inordinate.

“Sometimes, you have a bad day and your scores sink, but they had such good scores and you don’t show that kind of improvement at that level,” said Reynolds.

She said, though, that she knows the only influence she can bring to the matter is via her own performance today with Vancouver K in the grand prix and tomorrow in the grand prix freestyle, assuming she is among the 15 to qualify. She selected the show in Doha, as Vancouver K, aka JP, “is comfortable in the surroundings and produced two good performances there last year”.

At present, by her reckoning, she shares the last of the six Olympic places on offer with Lars Petersen of Denmark, who is competing in Florida this weekend, while Lier, Belgium, continues and she also has rivals o in Spain, and Dortmund, Germany.

“I’m trying not to get too caught up in the controversy. At the end of the day, I have to ride my test. I’m concentrating on doing the best I can. I’ve no control over what the others will do, so it’s just about me doing my own thing and I do believe we have some super performances in us and it is about showing that.”

The 34-year-old has made a habit of “showing that” in the past year. In June, she claimed Anna Merveldt’s 20-year-old Irish international grand prix title when scoring 73.88% to place fourth in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Merveldt had set the record score of 73.23% in 1995, achieved on Bossanova in Munich

In April, she set a new Irish international grand prix kür (freestyle to music) record of 75.775% in Hagen. She puts her success down to her conviction that Vancouver K had what it took to succeed.

“Nobody really believed in my horse, initially, but I always believed he had the ability and mindset to do it. He started to show in grands prix at national level and people sat up and took notice.

“He’s probably not the most talented horse, but training and the right presentation have ensured he collects the maximum points in the arena.”“I train with Johann Hinnemann, a German. He’s a reitmeister, the highest category of trainer. I’ve trained with him for 10 years.“However, he’s been in the US for the past few months, which hasn’t been helpful, but I’m very secure with my training myself and my husband Patrick is very helpful at the shows. He doesn’t ride, but he knows how it’s meant to look, so he advises me, meaning I can adjust when necessary.”“Heike Hostein and Anna Merveldt have competed at the Olympics, but it was a different world back then. It is much tougher now and you need to score significantly higher scores. An average of 68 or 69 percent was needed to qualify for London, now we are five to six percent above that, which is a big jump.”

If her determination pays off and she qualifies for the Games, Reynolds admits her chances of making the podium are slim.

“I don’t think I’d be a contender. There are five or six riders vying for a medal. The established combinations of horse and rider are so good. It’s comparable to the men’s 100m in athletics. We all know it will be Usain Bolt and one or two Americans at the front, but to qualify for the final for most people is like winning in itself and, in that respect, I would like to think I will be a winner.”

Meanwhile, Bertram Allen and Denis Lynch are also battling in Doha to secure two Olympics slots. Allen got off to the perfect start on Wednesday winning a two-phase class on the stallion Quarto Mail, and placing second in a jump-off class on Molly Malone V.