| Date | 11 – 14 June 1956 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Kapplöpningsbana, Ulriksdal / Fäboda, Järväfeltets Naturreservat, Sollentuna / Stockholms Olympiastadion, Stockholm | |
| Participants | 56 from 19 countries | |
| Format | Dressage, cross-country, and jumping. | |
Incidents at the 22nd obstacle of the endurance course marred the eventing competition. The fence was a trakehner ditch, 2.50 metres in width and 1 metre in height with rails in the centre and sloping sides. It caused 28 refusals, 12 falls, and one horse fatality, Iller, who was put down after being injured from a fall at obstacle 22.
Dressage opened the three-day event, as always, with the lead taken by German Otto Rothe. The defending gold medalist, Hans von Blixen-Finecke, Jr. was in eighth place after the first day. The endurance phase often determines the eventing medals and it did in Stockholm, as Sweden’s Petrus Kastenman had the best score with +69.87 and moved into the lead, ahead of Germany’s August Lütke Westhues and British rider Frank Weldon. However, the competition was close and if anyone of those three faltered in the jumping, the gold medal could change hands. In the end, all three leaders had two faults in the jumping phase, for 20 penalty points, and there was no change in final standings, with Kastenman winning the gold medal, followed by Lütke Westhues and Weldon.