Equestrian Jumping

Equestrian events have been on the Olympic Program since 1900 when events were contested at the Olympics in Paris. Equestrian events were not held again, however, until 1912 in Stockholm. Since that year, the sport, and the discipline of jumping, has always been on the Olympic Program. Through 1948, Olympic equestrian events were limited to military officers and men only, but in 1952 this was changed and equestrian jumping became open to either gender at the Olympics.

Jumping consists of the horse and rider jumping over a series of obstacles, with the goal being to clear the fences cleanly. Each horse and rider start with a perfect score of 0, and penalties are given for failing to clear a fence cleanly or balking at a fence, or time penalties may be given for taking an excessive amount of time taken to finish the course.

Jumping events at the Olympics consist of an individual and team competition. Each event comprises several rounds, with a “cut” after each round in which the lower placed competitors, or teams, are eliminated. The horse/rider team with the fewest penalties wins the competition.

Equestrian disciplines are governed by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI), which was formed in 1921 by Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, and the United States, and had 138 member nations as of 2020. The FEI governs several different disciplines of equestrianism, including jumping, eventing, dressage, driving, and vaulting. The top nations in equestrian events at the Olympics have been Germany, Sweden, the United States, and France.