Individual, Open

The competition consisted of two rounds, with total scores for both rounds to count towards final placements. The course was 780 metres, and was designed by Shunzo Kido, a 1928-32 Olympian. There were 14 obstacles, with 17 jumps. The major obstacles came near the end, with the next-to-last obstacle a water jump of 5.00 metres, then, after a left turn, an oxer measuring 1.45 x 1.50 x 1.85 metres. It had rained for several days, which had made the ground very deep and soft, but it was fortunately not slippery.

The last three European Championships had been won by Graziano Mancinelli (1963), David B. Barker (1962), and David Broome (1961). There had been no World Championships since the 1960 Olympics. The leaders after the first round were Britain Peter Robeson, Australian John Fahey, and Portugal’s Joaquim Silva, all of whom had 8.00 faults. The 1952 gold medalist, Pierre Jonquères d’Oriola, was alone in fourth place with 9.00 faults. In the second round, Jonquères d’Oriola had a clean ride, giving him a total of 9.00 faults and allowing him to win a second gold medal in the event, 12 years after his first. German Hermann Schridde had the next best ride of the second round, with only 1.25 faults, giving him the silver medal with 13.75 faults. Robeson and Fahey tied at 16.00 faults and rode-off, with Robeson riding cleanly for the bronze medal.