Eventing is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combine and compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This event has its roots in a comprehensive cavalry test that required mastery of several types of riding. The competition may be run as a one-day event (ODE), where all three events are completed in one day or a three-day event (3DE), which is more commonly now run over four days, with dressage on the first two days, followed by cross-country the next day and then show jumping in reverse order on the final day. Eventing was previously known as Combined Training, and the name persists in many smaller organizations. The term "Combined Training" is sometimes confused with the term "Combined Test", which refers to a combination of just two of the phases, most commonly dressage and show jumping.
The Badminton Horse Trials is a five-day event, one of only seven annual Concours Complet International (CCI) Five Star events as classified by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI). It takes place in May each year in the park of Badminton House, the seat of the Duke of Beaufort in South Gloucestershire, England.
The Defender Burghley Horse Trials is an annual three-day event held at Burghley House near Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, currently in early September. Defender Burghley Horse Trials is classified by the FEI as one of the seven leading three-day events in the world. It has competition at CCI5*-L level. The prize for first place is currently £110,000. Prize money is given down to 20th place.
The FEI World Equestrian Games are the major international championships for equestrianism, and are administered by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI). The games have been held every four years, halfway between sets of consecutive Summer Olympic Games, since 1990. Prior to that year, all ten of the FEI's individual disciplines held separate championships, usually in separate countries. The modern WEG runs over two weeks and, like the Olympics, the location rotates to different parts of the world. Riders and horses competing at WEG go through a rigorous selection process, and each participating country sends teams that have distinguished themselves through competition as the nation's best in each respective discipline. At the 2010 Games, 57 countries were represented by 800 people and their horses.
Kimberly "Kim" Severson is a highly successful international equestrian. She took several years of dressage lessons before training in eventing, and began with a background in Pony Club. One of her first upper level event horses was Jerry McGerry, whom she took intermediate.
Winsome Andante was an English imported crossbred eventer who competed successfully to the highest levels of the sport of eventing with rider Kimberly Severson. Winsome Andante 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.
William Speed Lane Fox-Pitt is an English equestrian who competes in eventing. His career highlights include winning three Olympic medals in the team event, with silver in 2004 and 2012, and bronze in 2008. At the World Equestrian Games, he won team gold and individual silver in 2010, and team silver and individual bronze in 2014. He also won World team medals in 2002 and 2006. At the European Championships, he has won six team gold medals, as well as Individual silver in 1997 and 2005, and Individual bronze in 2013. He is the recordman CCI*****'s winner with 14 grand slam titles. In 2011, he became the first rider to win five different five-star events, having won the Burghley Horse Trials a record six times, Rolex Kentucky three times, Stars of Pau twice, the Badminton Horse Trials twice, and the Luhmühlen Horse Trials once (2008). A serious fall in 2015 left him in a coma for two weeks, but he came back to make the British eventing team and attend the 2016 Summer Olympics. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours.
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.
The World Eventing Championships, or the eventing competition in the World Equestrian Games (WEG), began in 1966. It includes both a team and individual competition for the best horses and riders in the sport of eventing. The World Championship is held every four years, and is held at the CCI**** level, the highest level of eventing competition.
Bruce Oram Davidson is an American equestrian who competes in the sport of eventing. He grew up in a family uninterested in horses, but began to compete in Pony Club events after a family friend introduced him to riding. He began college at Iowa State University, but left in his third year to train full-time with the United States Equestrian Team. In 1974, he married, and his two children were born in 1976 and 1977. His son, Bruce Davidson Jr., has followed in his footsteps to become a top eventing rider.
Equestrian sports were first included in the Olympic Games in the Summer Olympics of 1900 in Paris. They were again included in 1912, and have been included in every subsequent edition of the Games. Currently, the Olympic equestrian disciplines are dressage, eventing, and show jumping. In each discipline, both individual and team medals are awarded. Since the XV Olympiad in Helsinki in 1952, women and men compete on equal terms.
The Luhmühlen Horse Trials are an annual equestrian eventing competition held in Luhmühlen, Salzhausen, Germany. Riders compete at the highest level: the CCI*****. There are only Seven events of this kind in the world, the others being the Badminton Horse Trials, the Burghley Horse Trials, the Kentucky Three-Day Event, the Australian International Three Day Event, the Stars of Pau and the maryland horse trails
The Concours Complet International (CCI) is the competition rating for the equestrian sport of eventing, given by the international governing body for the sport, the FEI. The rating system was recently changed, effective 1 January 2019.
Bramham International Horse Trials is one of the Europe's leading three-day events, taking place every June at Bramham Park, near Wetherby in West Yorkshire. The event attracts around 60,000 spectators over four days of competition.
The Red Hills Horse Trials is held in Tallahassee, in the U.S. state of Florida and is one of the equestrian world's top events. It is an annual major eventing competition held by the United States Eventing Association, Area III and the 16th event held in Area III consisting of Dressage, Cross-country, and Show jumping.
The Grand Slam of Eventing, sponsored by Rolex, consists of three of the top CCI5*-L equestrian eventing competitions in the world. Pippa Funnell in 2003 and Michael Jung in 2016, are the only riders to have achieved the Grand Slam since its inception in 1999. To win the Grand Slam, a rider must consecutively win all three events, although they are permitted to ride different horses in each competition. This is especially important, since the Badminton Horse Trials is only one week after Kentucky, and the horse would not have sufficient time to recover between the two competitions, especially since they would have to be flown overseas in that time.
Lucinda Fredericks is an equestrian athlete who competes in eventing. Having formerly competed for Great Britain, she now represents Australia. Riding Headley Britannia, she has won three CCI 4* events; winning Burghley in 2006, Badminton in 2007 and Rolex Kentucky in 2009. She won an Olympic silver medal in the team event at Beijing 2008, and also competed at the 2012 London Olympics.
The Étoiles de Pau or Stars of Pau is an annual three-day event held in Pau, in the South of France, near the Pyrénées mountains. It is one of only seven annual Concours Complet International (CCI) five-star events in the world as classified by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) and the only one held in France. It takes place every year in October in the Domaine de Sers in Pau.
William 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 in the hunt fields of Virginia Piedmont Hunt. His father was an avid fox hunter and became his first show jumping coach. After Coleman began to focus on eventing he started training with Karen and David O’Connor, beginning an apprentice with the pair after his graduation from Woodberry Forest School.
Oliver David Townend is a British eventing rider known for competing at the international three-day level. He won team gold medals at the European Championships in 2007, 2009 and 2017. Townend has also secured victories at events such as the Badminton Horse Trials, Burghley Horse Trials, and the Kentucky Three Day Event.
