Since the addition of the equestrian sport to the Summer Olympic Games in 1912, the US Equestrian Team has fielded top competitors. Its team competes in all three Olympic disciplines of dressage, eventing, and showjumping. The US team also competes in other major competitions, including the Nations Cups, Pan American Games, World Championships, and World Equestrian Games.
The team does not limit its competition to only those disciplines represented in the Olympic games. It also fields competitors in the disciplines of:
- combined driving,
- endurance,
- para-equestrian competitions,
- reining,
- vaulting.
The US Equestrian Team fields a unified team of both genders since equestrian does not provide separate gender competitions. Since 1964, the year the Olympic committee first allowed women to compete, the US team welcomed female riders. The 1964 team included Lana DuPont, and the team won the Silver medal.
The fierceness of its competitors has made the formidable US team tough to beat. It ranks second in all-time Olympic wins, tallying 52 team and individual medals since 1912.
Since the inception of para-dressage in 1996, the US has also fielded teams in the Paralympic Games. Those competitors have logged four Individual medals.
The official website provides introductory learning materials for young equestrians in video format. It also provides a number of youth programs throughout the US to help young riders get started in the sport.
Supported by the USET Foundation, the equestrian competitors train and travel together. The Foundation supports the competitors at the elite level and the developing International High-Performance athletes. The 501(c)(3) organization supports the riders’ horses, too. It governs the sport’s elite and international US competitors by utilizing best practices to stave off unethical activity. The Foundation also provides webinars and safety resources to help maintain safer competitions.
The Foundation and the Team headquarters are at Hamilton Farm in Gladstone, NJ. The farm, a gift from James Cox Brady and named for his wife, Elizabeth Brady, nee Hamilton. The team trains at Hamilton Farm, but its operations do require continued funding. The US government nor the Olympic committee provides funding to the USET Foundation, which operates fully on donations.