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Lisa Martin has fallen agonisingly short of winning Australia’s first equestrian medal at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

The 44-year-old scored 71.476% aboard her horse Fast Famous, which saw her finish 0.976 behind the bronze medal position in the individual championship test grade IV.

But Martin was thrilled with her performance.

“I was just stoked with the horse. This is only her third time doing that test, so you couldn’t ask anything more of her. There are some amazing horses here and I’m just really proud to be representing my country.”

Great Britain’s Sophie Wells claimed gold, Belgium’s Michele George won silver, and Frank Hosmar of the Netherlands took bronze.

Martin of Scone, New South Wales, has now qualified for the individual freestyle test on Friday.

“It’s really different altogether. I’ve got sequence changes in canter, I’ve got canter pirouettes in it, but I’ve still got my simple changes. It’s a lot more exciting.”

25-year-old Victorian Emma Booth returns to the arena on Thursday for the individual championship test grade II.

She will be aiming to improve on her 13th place in the team championship.