Individual, Open

The endurance course was designed by Hugh Thomas. It was held at Wondang Ranch, 43 km north of Kwachon, which was a hilly terrain and after inspection, six of the obstacles had to be lowered and the first element of #27 was removed. The four phases measured a total of 26,761 metres in length.

There was no clear favorite in 1988, as the big three competitions, Burghley, Badminton, and Rolex (Kentucky) had been won by several different riders in the last few years. However the defending champion was New Zealander Mark Todd and he had won at the Burghley Horse Trials in 1987, and Virginia Leng was the reigning World and European Champion. Todd opened up with the best score in the dressage phase, and in the endurance competition, he and his teammate Tinks Pottinger both had perfect rides, with no faults. Todd went into the jumping with a comfortable lead over British riders Virginia Leng and Ian Stark. Unusually, for someone who won the endurance phase, Pottinger was well back, in seventh place, because of a poor performance in dressage – she was only 23rd. Todd secured his gold medal with a safe ride, with only one fault. Seven riders went clean in the jumping, including Stark and Pottinger. This moved Stark ahead of Leng for the silver medal, while Pottinger, due to her difficulties in dressage, could only place fifth. Todd became the second eventing rider to defend his individual gold medal, after Dutch rider Charles Pahud de Mortanges in 1928 and 1932.