Rio 2016 Paralympic Games preview

Australia’s equestrian team begins its Rio 2016 Paralympics campaign on Sunday, with three of the four athletes making their Games debut.

25 year old Victorian Emma Booth qualified for Rio with a score above 73% with her horse Zidane, ranking her first in her class in Australia.

Booth became a paraplegic when she was seriously injured in a car crash in 2013, and returned to horse riding just seven months later.

Also competing in their first Paralympic Games, will be Katie Umback and Lisa Martin, both from New South Wales.

Western Australian Sharon Jarvis will take part in her second Games, having competed in Beijing in 2008.

Riders are grouped across four grades according to their functional ability and compete individually and in a team event in dressage.

There are two individual events – a prescribed pattern and a freestyle event.

Umback and Jarvis will begin Australia’s quest for gold when they compete in the Team Test Grade 3 event on day one of the equestrian program.

Australia won one gold medal at London 2012.