Individual, Open

For the first time ever, the three-day individual and team events were held separately. One concern in 1996 was the effect on the horses of the extreme heat of the southern United States summer in the eventing endurance phase. The Organizing Committee took significant measures to prevent the horses from overheating, including starting the endurance competition at 0700. The endurance course distance was reduced from 26,950 metres to 19,695 metres. Mesh covers were placed over large portions of the course, to block direct sunlight, and misting stations wet and cooled the horses at several locations. There were multiple veterinarians and ambulances available, but due to the precautions, there were no major injuries to the horses.

There was no clear favorite as, in recent years, several different riders had won the three main events at the Badminton Horse Trials, the Burghley Horse Trials, and the Rolex Kentucky International. New Zealand had entered Mark Todd, the 1984 and 1988 gold medalist, but shortly before the event started, his horse pulled a muscle, so his teammate, Blyth Tait, bronze medalist in 1992, was substituted. After the endurance phase, Tait moved into the lead, 3.6 points ahead of her teammate, Sally Clark. Clark rode first in the jumping and went clear, forcing Tait to do the same. At the 12th jump, of 15, Tait’s horse Ready Teddy hit the top rail hard, but it stayed up, and they finished the course cleanly to win the gold medal, as Clark took silver. The bronze medal was closely fought as well, as American Kerry Milliken and France’s Jean Teulère were tied going into the jumping, just over one point ahead of Milliken’s teammate, David O’Connor. All three had difficulty in the jumping, but Milliken’s 6.50 faults was good enough to bring her the bronze medal as Teulère finished fourth and O’Connor fifth.