Equestrian at the 1980 Summer Olympics was represented by six events. All of them, with the exception of the Individual Jumping Grand Prix, were held in the Trade Unions' Equestrian Complex, which is situated in the Bitsa Forest Park. Individual Jumping Grand Prix was held in the Grand Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium at Luzhniki.
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 1952 Helsinki Summer Olympics included dressage, eventing, and show jumping. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions and were held from 28 July to 3 August 1952.
The equestrian events at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo included show jumping, dressage and eventing. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions. The competitions were held from 16 to 24 October 1964. These events took place at Karuizawa, which would become the first city to host Summer and Winter Olympic event when it hosted the curling events for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.
The equestrian events at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome included dressage, eventing, and show jumping. Eventing and show jumping presented both individual and team medals, dressage presented only individual medals. The competitions were held from 5 to 11 September 1960. 159 entries, including 8 women, competed from 29 nations: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Soviet Union, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Uruguay, and the USA. The youngest participant was Min Gwan-Gi from South Korea at 18 years old, while the oldest rider was Lilian Williams from Great Britain at 65 years old.
Equestrian competitions in all three disciplines at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics were held from 9 August to 21 August at the Hong Kong Sports Institute and Sheung Yue River in Hong Kong. It was the second time that the equestrian events were hosted by a member of the IOC other than the member hosting the main games. Unlike 1956, however, the equestrian events were part of the main games, and were held within the same period.
Gustaf Adolf "Gösta" Boltenstern Jr. was a Swedish officer and horse rider who competed at the 1932, 1948, 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics.
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 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 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 dressage at the 1928 Summer Olympics took place at Hilversum. Scores from the individual competition were summed to give results in the team competition. 1928 marked the first appearance of the team dressage competition, making it the last of the modern six-event Olympic equestrian programme to appear.
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 eventing competition was one of six equestrian events on the Equestrian at the 1992 Summer Olympics programme. Dressage and endurance portions of the competition were held at the Club Hípic El Montanyà, the stadium jumping stage was held at Real Club de Polo de Barcelona. The scores of the top three rider/horse pairs for each nation in the individual event were summed to give a team score.
The team eventing competition was one of six equestrian events on the Equestrian at the 1988 Summer Olympics programme. Dressage and stadium jumping portions of the competition were held at the Seoul Equestrian Park in Seoul, the endurance stage was held at Wondang Ranch in Goyang.
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 team dressage in equestrian at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin was held on the May Field on 12–13 August. The host German team won the gold medal. France won silver and Sweden took bronze.
The team eventing in equestrian at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki was held from 30 July to 2 August. Only 33 of the 57 starters were able to finish the competition, with 19 being disqualified in the cross-country, 3 more retiring during that phase, and 2 being disqualified in the jumping. This left only 6 of the 19 teams with all three riders finishing.
The team eventing at the 1980 Summer Olympics took place between 25 and 27 July. The event was open to men and women. The competition included three segments: dressage, cross-country, and show-jumping. Penalties from each were summed to give a total score. 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.
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.
