| Equestrian at the Games of the XIV Olympiad | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Aldershot Tweseldown Racecourse Empire Stadium |
| Dates | 9–14 August 1948 |
| No. of events | 6 |
| Competitors | 103 from 17 nations |
| Equestrian events at the 1948 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Dressage | individual | team |
| Eventing | individual | team |
| Jumping | individual | team |
The equestrian events at the1948 London Summer Olympics includeddressage,eventing, andshow jumping. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions. The competitions were held from 9 to 14 August 1948, with the first five days held in the military complex atAldershot, the endurance day on the army grounds of Aldershot atTweseldown, and the jumping at theEmpire Stadium inWembley. World War II resulted in a greatly reduced number of competitors, including the absence ofGermany, althoughBrazil made its first appearance in the equestrian events. 103 entries from 17 nations (Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States) competed. The youngest participant wasAëcio Coelho from Brazil at 23 years old, while the oldest rider was the ItalianAlessandro, Count Bettoni Cazzago, at 55 years old.[1]
44 riders from 15 nations contested the 16-obstacle/19-jumping effort course. The 870 meter course had fences up to 1.60 meters in height, and was very slippery due to heavy rains during the week. One round of jumping was used for both team and individual competition.
The dressage event had 19 riders from 9 nations. Since World War II had made training dressage horses hard, the difficulty of the test was reduced and only asked for 13 minutes of work with neitherpiaffe norpassage included. Only 3 judges were used rather than the traditional 5. Horses were also required to be ridden in an English saddle with adouble bridle. They were not allowed to usemartingales, bearing reins, bandages, gaiters or blinkers.
45 riders for 16 countries rode in the eventing competition. Like the dressage competition, the requirements of the eventing were reduced. This included a shortened (3500 meter) steeplechase, lowering the speed of the roads and tracks phases from 240 to 220 meters/minute, and a shortened cross-country course at 33.5 km (compared to Berlin's 36 km course in 1936). The maximum height of both the cross-country and jumping were raised from 1.15 to 1.20 meters. The ground and terrain of the course were also challenging, taking place over difficult footing on a hilly course.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  France | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
 Mexico | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| 3 |  United States | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 |  Switzerland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 |  Sweden | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 6 |  Spain | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 |  Great Britain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Portugal | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (8 entries) | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 | |
Argentina (9)
Austria (2)
Brazil (6)
Denmark (6)
Finland (5) France (8) Great Britain (6)
Ireland (3)
Italy (6) Mexico (6)
Netherlands (5) Portugal (8) Spain (7) Sweden (9) Switzerland (4)
Turkey (6) United States (8)Appointment of officials was as follows:[2]
Albert-Eugène-Édouard Decarpentry (Ground Jury President)Carl Bonde (Ground Jury Member)
Max Thommen (Ground Jury Member)Xavier Bizard (Ground Jury President)
Henry Somerset (Ground Jury Member)Arne Francke (Ground Jury Member)Michael Ansell (Course Designer) Phillip Blackmore (Course Designer) Ernest Haccius (Technical Delegate)
Gen. de Landrain (Ground Jury President)Ranieri, Count Di Campello (Ground Jury Member) Ernst A. Sarasin (Ground Jury Member)
Roger Moeremans d'Emaüs (Technical Delegate) | Editions |    | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Events |
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51°15′37″N0°46′17″W / 51.2604°N 0.7713°W /51.2604; -0.7713