Australian rider Shane Rose withdrew from the equestrian competition on Sunday following his horse Taurus suffered a leg injury and had to pull out of the London Olympic Games.

"I guess in this sport, we probably are more used to disappointment than a lot of other sports simply because the nature of our sport have more of animals involved in it," said Rose during a media conference on Sunday.

According to Rose, who was part of Australia's silver-winning eventing team in 2008 Beijing Olympics, the horse was injured weeks ago but had been recovering rapidly until yesterday when the horse injured again during a jumping session.

The 39-year-old Rose and his horse Taurus, bought 5 years ago, will be replaced by travelling reserve Megan Jones and her horse Allofasudden.

"Megan has been working with her horse to ensure they are competition ready. She has the experience and proven track record to make it at this level of competition after finishing with a team silver medal and fourth individually at Beijing," said Australia's equestrian section manager Brett Mace.

The inclusion of Jones and Allofasudden is subject to approval from the IOC, LOCOG and FEI, the governing body for equestrian sport.