Equestrian at the 1936 Summer Olympics

The Equestrian Events at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics included Dressage, Eventing, and Show Jumping. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions. The host country, Germany, had a stellar year, winning both individual and team gold in every equestrian event, as well as individual silver in dressage. The competitions were held from August 12, 1936 to August 16, 1936.

Medal summary

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Individual dressage	Heinz Pollay and Kronos Germany (GER)	Friedrich Gerhard and Absinth Germany (GER)	Alois Podhajsky and Nero Austria (AUT)
Team dressage	Germany (GER) Heinz Pollay and Kronos Friedrich Gerhard and Absinth Hermann von Oppeln-Bronikowski and Gimpel	France (FRA) André Jousseaume and Favorite Gérard de Ballorre and Debaucheur Daniel Gillois and Nicolas	Sweden (SWE) Gregor Adlercreutz and Teresina Sven Colliander and Kål XX Folke Sandström and Pergola
Individual eventing	Ludwig Stubbendorf and Nurmi Germany (GER)	Earl Foster Thomson and Jenny Camp United States (USA)	Hans Lunding and Jason Denmark (DEN)
Team eventing	Germany (GER) Ludwig Stubbendorf and Nurmi Rudolf Lippert and Fasan Konrad Freiherr von Wangenheim and Kurfürst	Poland (POL) Henryk Roycewicz and Arlekin III Zdzisław Kawecki and Bambino Seweryn Kulesza and Tóska	Great Britain (GBR) Alec Scott and Bob Clive Edward Howard-Vyse and Blue Steel Richard Fanshawe and Bowie Knife
Individual jumping	Kurt Hasse and Tora Germany (GER)	Henri Rang and Delfis Romania (ROU)	József von Platthy and Sellő Hungary (HUN)
Team jumping	Germany (GER) Kurt Hasse and Tora Marten von Barnekow and Nordland Heinz Brandt and Alchimist	Netherlands (NED) Johan Greter and Ernica Jan de Bruine and Trixie Henri van Schaik and Santa Bell	Portugal (POR) José Beltrão and Biscuit Domingos de Sousa and Merle Blanc Luís Mena e Silva and Fossette

Participating nations

A total of 127 horse riders from 21 nations competed at the Berlin Games:

• Austria (8)
• Belgium (3)
• Bulgaria (3)
• Czechoslovakia (9)
• Denmark (4)
• Finland (1)
• France (9)
• Germany (9)
• Great Britain (6)
• Hungary (9)
• Italy (6)
• Japan (4)
• Netherlands (9)
• Norway (6)
• Poland (6)
• Portugal (3)
• Romania (5)
• Sweden (9)
• Switzerland (6)
• Turkey (4)
• United States (8)

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Germany (GER)	6	1	0	7
2	France (FRA)	0	1	0	1
	Netherlands (NED)	0	1	0	1
	Poland (POL)	0	1	0	1
	Romania (ROU)	0	1	0	1
	United States (USA)	0	1	0	1
7	Austria (AUT)	0	0	1	1
	Denmark (DEN)	0	0	1	1
	Great Britain (GBR)	0	0	1	1
	Hungary (HUN)	0	0	1	1
	Portugal (POR)	0	0	1	1
	Sweden (SWE)	0	0	1	1

Controversy

The 1936 Olympics produced controversial results, with the Germans winning all 6 gold medals, the only time in Olympic history where one team has made a clean sweep. One incident occurred on the cross-country course in the eventing competition, where the 4th fence, a 3 ft post-and-rail dropping into a pond, produced a great number of falls. The landing was much deeper than anticipated and the footing underneath did not hold up well. However, all of the German team members made it through without a problem, suggesting that the host team might have known the true condition of the obstacle.

References

• International Olympic Committee medal database
• Bryant, Jennifer O. Olympic Equestrian, A Century of International Horse Sport. Lexington, KY: Blood-Horse Publications, 2008