And they're off! Eventing kicks off today in Tokyo (Thursday, July 29 – 7:30 p.m. ET), with the first of three Olympic dressage sessions. Competitors from 29 nations will go head to head, vying for a spot on the coveted Olympic podium.
The Field:
The Officials:
New Format Explanation:
This year, there is a new eventing format, and only three riders will compete for a team. There is no drop score. However, there is an opportunity to substitute a horse and rider.
With the new format, the traveling reserve must pass both horse inspections, and they can be subbed into the competition up to two hours before the dressage phase begins, with no penalty to the team. The horse that the reserve replaces then becomes the new team reserve. So what happens next?
If all of the combinations make it through all three phases, their scores are combined, and they get a team score.
If a combination doesn't complete the dressage phase, 100 penalty points are added to the overall team score.
If a combination doesn't complete the cross-country phase, 200 penalty points are added to the overall team score.
At this point, the team has a few choices:
1. They can bring the reserve combination in and keep the penalties acquired from the incompletion, plus 20 more penalties for bringing in the reserve. Whatever penalties that reserve accumulates will also be added to the team's final score.
2. OR, the team can bypass the substitution and bring the eliminated or retired pair back into the competition with the non-completion penalties added to the score. There are exceptions to this if the horse suffers from an injury, disqualification, horse fall, or if the rider gets penalized because of unsafe or abusive riding. At this point, a substitution is also not allowed.
Only one substitution can be made per team, and it must be both horse AND rider. Substitutes made overnight between phases will only inquire 20 penalties. Only riders that compete in all three phases are eligible for individual medals.
Helpful Links:
The Full Schedule:
*(Note that days and times are provided in Eastern Daylight Time first and Japanese Standard Time second.)
Click here to view the official Olympic schedule.
Eventing Dressage Team and Individual Day 1 – Session 1
THURSDAY, JULY 29, 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM (EDT)
FRIDAY, JULY 30, 8:30 AM – 11:00 AM (JST)
Eventing Dressage Team and Individual Day 1 – Session 2
FRIDAY, JULY 30, 4:30 AM – 7:10 AM (EDT)
FRIDAY, JULY 30, 5:30 PM – 8:10 PM (JST)
Eventing Dressage Team and Individual Day 2 – Session 3
FRIDAY, JULY 30, 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM (EDT)
SATURDAY, JULY 31, 8:30 AM – 11:00 AM (JST)
Eventing Cross-Country Team and Individual
SATURDAY, JULY 31, 6:45 PM – 10:10 PM (EDT)
SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 7:45 AM – 11:10 AM (JST)
Eventing Jumping Team Final and Individual Qualifier
Eventing Jumping Individual Final
Eventing Team Victory Ceremony
Eventing Individual Victory Ceremony
MONDAY, AUGUST 2, 4:00 AM – 9:25 AM (EDT)
MONDAY, AUGUST 2, 5:00 PM – 10:25 PM (JST)
Still riding high on the excitement of the 2024 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event? So are we! One of the most exciting parts about the event is getting to watch, and sometimes meet, your eventing idols up close and in person. This year, the Kentucky team put together a group of really fun "behind the barn" videos with both four- and five-star competitors to help you get to know them a little bit better.
It was a weekend to remember at the 2024 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event. Special stories were plentiful, with Oliver Townend taking his fourth Kentucky win in his 100th career five-star start, horses like Sharon White's Claus 63 and Liz Halliday's Cooley Nutcracker completing their first five-stars, and fan favorites like Mia Farley and Phelps and Lauren Nicholson and Vermiculus impressing.
Pierre Le Goupil, a former elite-level eventing athlete, turned decorated course designer in charge of designing the eventing course at this year’s Paris Olympics, has been appointed the new cross-country course designer for the MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill presented by Brown Advisory, beginning in 2025.
The USEA is saddened to share that the Kent Horse Trials in Kent, Connecticut, will be ending its run after 44 years. This USEA Area I event has been a historical staple in the eventing community since its first event ran in 1980. This decision was not made lightly by the organizing committee, but the team behind the Kent Horse Trials cited various challenges which led to this decision.