A horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days, sometimes longer for major, all-breed events or national and international championships in a given discipline or breed. Most shows consist of a series of different performances, called classes, wherein a group of horses with similar training or characteristics compete against one another for awards and, often, prize money.
Winsome Andante was an English imported crossbred eventer who competed successfully to the highest levels of the sport of eventing. His rider, Kimberly Severson, rode him in many well-known events, and he won the Rolex CCI**** a record three times. He also competed at the Burghley Horse Trials, as well as in the Olympics and the World Equestrian Games.
Theodora Elisabeth Gerarda "Anky" van Grunsven is a Dutch dressage champion who is the only rider to record three successive Olympic wins in the same event. Along with her Olympic successes, she has won numerous medals at the World Equestrian Games (WEG), and is the only rider to have competed at every WEG since they began in 1990. Between 1990 and 2006, she competed at the Games in dressage, but in 2010 she was named as part of the Dutch reining team, marking a major change in discipline.
Giltedge was a 17 hands Irish Sport Horse that was ridden by American David O'Connor at the international level in the sport of eventing.
Custom Made was an Irish Sport Horse standing 17.1 hands who was ridden by American David O'Connor at the international level in the sport of eventing.
Karen Lende O'Connor is an American equestrian who competes in three-day eventing. Although she did not come from a family of equestrians, her interest in horses started at an early age, and she received her first horse for her 11th birthday. O'Connor began competing internationally in the late 1970s, and in 1986 began riding for the US national eventing team. Since then, she had ridden in five Olympic Games, three World Equestrian Games and two Pan-American Games, winning multiple medals, including a team silver at the 1996 Olympic Games and a team bronze at the 2000 Olympic Games. She has also posted numerous wins and top-10 finishes at other international events. As of 2013, O'Connor is not competing, having suffered fractures to two thoracic vertebrae during a fall at a competition in October 2012.
James Cunningham Wofford was an American equestrian who competed in many international competitions in the sport of eventing. He was most known as a trainer of both horses and riders, and as a retired president of the AHSA and vice-president of the USET.
Phillip Peter Dutton, OAM is an Australian-born Olympic-level equestrian rider competing in eventing for the United States of America. He is a dual Olympic gold medalist who formerly competed for his country of birth but now competes for the USA.
Robert Jeffrey Dover is an American equestrian who has had international success in the sport of dressage. Riding from the age of 13, he began specializing in dressage at age 19 and competed in his first Olympics in 1984. He competed in every summer Games between 1984 and 2004, winning four team bronze medals. He also took a team bronze at the 1994 World Equestrian Games. Dover is the most honored dressage rider in the United States, and has been inducted to the United States Dressage Federation Hall of Fame. Outside of competition, Dover founded the Equestrian Aid Foundation in 1996 to assist others in the equestrian world, and hosted a TV show that searched for the next dressage star. From late 2009 to early 2011, Dover served as the Technical/Coach Advisor for the Canadian national dressage team. In April 2013, Dover was named Technical Advisor/Chef d'Equipe for the US national dressage team.
Gina Miles is an American eventing rider. Riding McKinlaigh, owned by Thom Schulz and Laura Coats, Miles won a silver medal in individual eventing at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
John Michael Plumb is an American equestrian and Olympic champion who competes in the sport of three-day eventing. He holds the title of the US Olympic competitor who has competed in the greatest number of Olympics, winning two team gold medals, three team silvers and one individual silver.
Laura Tomlinson MBE is a German-British dressage rider competing at Olympic level. As of 30 June 2012 the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) ranked her 3rd in the world riding Mistral Højris and 36th on Andretti H. In that year, Tomlinson, riding Mistral Højris under her maiden name of Laura Bechtolsheimer, won two medals in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London; gold for Great Britain in the team dressage with Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin, the first ever Olympic team gold in the discipline for her country, and bronze in the individual dressage behind gold medalist and compatriot Dujardin.
Edith Louise Master was a Jewish-American equestrian who specialized in dressage.
Jack Louis Joseph Marie Le Goff was a French equestrian, best known as the coach of the American three-day eventing team from 1970 to 1984. He coached the team to multiple international championships, winning 18 international medals, including several in the Olympics. Le Goff is known for having a large impact on the American eventing world, and the era in which he coached has been called the golden era for American equestrianism.
Steffen Peters is a German-born equestrian who competes for the United States in dressage. He has participated in five Olympic Games, winning a team bronze medal on two occasions and a team silver medal once (2020). Peters has been successful in numerous other international competitions, including winning team bronze at the 2006 World Equestrian Games, two individual bronze medals at the 2010 World Equestrian Games and individual and team gold medals at both 2011 and 2015 Pan Am Games. The horse upon which he won many of his titles, Ravel, was retired in 2012. After 2012, his international successes came on Legolas. At the beginning of 2017, Peters handed over the ride on Legolas to his assistant rider Dawn White-O'Connor. Peters is currently working with a new international competition horse, Rosamunde.
Carl Hester is a British dressage rider competing at Olympic level. As of 8 August 2012, the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) rank him 12th in the world riding Uthopia. In 2012, Hester formed part of the Great Britain Dressage team that won gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Boyd Martin is an American equestrian competing in the discipline of eventing. He has participated in three consecutive Summer Olympic Games and is a two-time Pan American Games team gold medalist and individual gold medalist. Boyd and his wife Silva run their Windurra USA training operation out of Cochranville, Pa. He is a two-time CCI5*-L winner, most recently taking top honors aboard On Cue at the 2021 Maryland CCI5*-L, and previously rode True Blue Toozac to the win in the 2003 Adelaide CCI5*-L.
William "Will" Coleman III is an American equestrian. At the 2012 Summer Olympics he competed in the Individual eventing and Team eventing. At the age of six, Coleman's family moved to Charlottesville, VA where he started riding. His first horse was a Shetland pony that arrived in the bed of a pickup truck. Coleman soon started riding in the hunt fields of Virginia Piedmont Hunt where he learned the fundamentals of horse back riding. His father was his first show jumping coach, being an avid fox hunter and horseman in his own right. As his love for eventing grew he started training with Olympic veterans Karen and David O’Connor regularly. After graduating from Woodberry Forest School in 2001, Coleman took an apprenticeship with the O’Connors.
The individual eventing event, part of the equestrian program at the 1996 Summer Olympics, was held from 23 to 26 July 1996 in the Georgia International Horse Park, in Conyers, Georgia. Like all other equestrian events, the eventing competition was mixed gender, with both male and female athletes competing in the same division.
Denny Emerson is an American equestrian. He is the only equestrian to have won both an international gold medal in eventing and a Tevis Cup buckle in endurance. In 1972, Emerson was named United States Eventing Association's Rider of the Year. He was a member of the United States Three Day Eventing Team that won the gold medal at the 1974 Eventing World Championships. As of 2015, Emerson operates as a clinician and trainer. He is a regular contributor to The Chronicle of the Horse's "Between Rounds" column. He and his wife, May Emerson, run Tamarack Hill Farms in Strafford, Vermont and Southern Pines, North Carolina.
