The equestrian program at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, included five medal events. There were individual competitions in dressage, eventing, and show jumping. Team scores were also gathered and medals awarded for teams in the eventing and jumping competitions. Equestrian had been absent from the Olympic program since the 1900 Summer Olympics, making the 1912 Games the second time the sport was featured. Ten nations competed: Belgium, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the USA. Only Sweden and Germany were able to supply a full team for all three disciplines, with several countries having several riders and horses used in two or even all three disciplines. A total of 88 entries ran in the three events, with 62 riders and 70 horses.
The equestrian events at the 1928 Summer Olympics included dressage, eventing, and show jumping. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions. The competitions were held from 8 to 12 August 1928. Teams were now fielded by three riders, rather than four, the purpose being to reduce pressure on national federations to find that many riders in order to compete for team medals. Riders had to be considered amateurs, which was defined as either an actively serving professional officer, or as a gentleman rider as defined by the rules of that rider's national governing body. A total of 113 entries were present from 20 nations: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the USA. This was the first appearance for Hungary, Japan and Argentina in equestrian events at an Olympics. Additionally, after being shut out from two Olympic competitions, Germany also returned to the Games to win a few medals in the equestrian events.
Nicole Uphoff is a German equestrian who competes in the sport of dressage. She won four gold medals in individual and team competition at the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics. Riding her star horse, Rembrandt, Uphoff also won numerous other international competitions, including the World Equestrian Games and the European Dressage Championships.
Heinz Pollay was a German horse rider who competed in dressage from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he won two golds and one bronze.
Gustav Fischer was a Swiss equestrian athlete who competed at five Summer Olympic Games, winning a total of five medals. He won medals in the team dressage events in the 1952, 1956, 1964, and 1968 games; there was no team dressage event held in 1960, but he won an individual dressage medal in that year.
The individual dressage in equestrian at the 2012 Olympic Games in London was held at Greenwich Park from 2 to 9 August. Great Britain's Charlotte Dujardin won the gold medal and Laura Bechtolsheimer the bronze. The silver was won by Adelinde Cornelissen of the Netherlands.
The individual dressage at the 1952 Summer Olympics took place between 28 and 29 July, at the Ruskeasuo Equestrian Hall. The event was open to women for the first time; of the 27 riders, 4 were female—including silver medalist Lis Hartel.
The team dressage at the 1952 Summer Olympics took place between 28 and 29 July at the Ruskeasuo Equestrian Hall. The event was open to women for the first time; of the 24 riders, 2 were female—including one member of the bronze medalist German team, Ida von Nagel.
The individual dressage at the 1928 Summer Olympics took place at Hilversum. The test was the same as for the 1924 Olympics, but the 10-minute limit was now raised to 13 minutes, giving the riders much needed time to complete it without losing points for going over the time allowed. Judging created controversy, both due to nationalistic tendencies by judges and the fact that individual judges had differing opinions on what was correct. While there was discussion on how to make it more fair—including dropping the lowest and highest scores, only having one judge from a neutral county, and removing 20 points from each score given to a countryman of each judge—no changes were made until after the judging scandal at the 1956 Games.
The team jumping at the 1928 Summer Olympics took place at Amsterdam. Scores from the individual competition were summed to give results in the team competition.
The individual eventing at the 1928 Summer Olympics took place at Hilversum. The event consisted of a dressage competition, a jumping competition, and an endurance test. Scores in each component were added to give a total. Scores from the individual competition were summed to give results in the team competition.
The team eventing at the 1928 Summer Olympics took place at Hilversum. The event consisted of a dressage competition, a jumping competition, and an endurance test. Scores in each component were added to give a total. Scores from the individual competition were summed to give results in the team competition.
The individual dressage in equestrian at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles was held at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades on 10 August. France's Xavier Lesage won the gold medal and his countrymen Charles Marion the silver. The bronze was won by Hiram Tuttle of the United States.
The team dressage in equestrian at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles was held at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades on 10 August.
The team dressage in equestrian at the 1948 Olympic Games in London was held in the town of Aldershot on 9 August. The French team consisting of André Jousseaume, Jean Saint-Fort Paillard and Maurice Buret won the gold medal. The United States won silver and Portugal took bronze.
The team eventing in equestrian at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles was held at the Riviera Country Club (dressage), a specially built course in Westchester (cross-country), and the Olympic Stadium (jumping) from 10 to 13 August. NOCs were limited to three horse and rider pairs.
The individual dressage at the 1956 Summer Olympics took place between 15 and 16 June, at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium. The event was open to men and women. The team and individual dressage competitions used the same results. Five judges gave scores, with the result being the sum of the scores.
The team dressage at the 1956 Summer Olympics took place between 15 and 16 June, at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium. The event was open to men and women. The team and individual dressage competitions used the same results. Five judges gave scores, with the result being the sum of the scores. The three individual scores were summed to give a team score.
The team dressage at the 1968 Summer Olympics took place on 24 October, at the Campo Marte. The event was open to men and women. The team dressage competition used the results of the first round of the individual dressage competition. The combined score of the three team members in that round was the team score.
The team eventing competition was one of six equestrian events on the Equestrian at the 1984 Summer Olympics programme. Dressage and stadium jumping portions of the competition were held at the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, California, the endurance stage was held at Fairbanks Ranch, California. Scores from the top 3 horse and rider pairs for each nation were summed to give a team score; the lowest pair's score was dropped. Teams without at least 3 finishing pairs were not given a final score.
