Para Equestrian at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games – [Equestrian Sport Guide]

Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley 2023

Para equestrian is the only equestrian sport held at the Paralympics, including at the upcoming Paris 2024 Paralympics in September.

Para equestrian athletes demonstrate precision and harmony with their equine counterparts as they perform different dressage movements in the Paralympic arena. Judges score the pairs on the quality of their movements and overall impression of the team.

Para equestrian is relatively new to the Paralympics, with the first event hosted in 1996 as part of the Atlanta Summer Paralympics. Like the Olympic equestrian events, men and women compete together in para equestrian, but are separated into Grades based on the athlete’s physical ability.

This guide covers the history, rules, scoring, and events in para equestrian sport to help you prepare for watching the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

Equestrian in the Paralympics

Para equestrian is a form of dressage, testing the ability of para-athletes to perform prescribed movements with their equine mounts. The Paralympics have held equestrian competitions every four years since 1996.

History

Sport events for athletes with impairment were widely introduced after World War II, to help injured war veterans and civilians continue in sporting events. ^[1] Dr. Ludwig Guttman recognized sport as an important part of injury rehabilitation, and pushed for the first competition for wheelchair athletes at the London 1948 Olympic games. ^[1]

The movement further developed with the introduction of the Paralympic Games in 1960. ^[1] The term “Paralympic” derives from the Greek preposition “para”, meaning beside or alongside, and “Olympic”, indicating the close tie the Paralympics have with the Olympics. ^[1]

Para equestrian first appeared in the games in the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta. In this competition, riders competed on borrowed horses as opposed to riding their own mounts. ^[2] Great Britain won the first team para equestrian competition and would continue that winning streak until London 2012. ^[2]

In 2004, riders used their own horses for the first time during the Athens Paralympic Games. 2004 had the highest number of countries participate in the Paralympics, with 29 countries represented in para equestrian that year. ^[2]

Grades

Para-athletes undergo an evaluation to determine which Grade they should participate under. The Grades group athletes based on the impact of their impairment on their ability to perform equestrian sport. ^[3]

For the 2024 Paralympics, the Grades are defined as follows: ^[4]

• Grade I: Severe impairments affecting all four limbs and the trunk
• Grade II: Either a severe impairment of the trunk and minimal limb impairment or moderate impairment of the trunk, arms, and legs
• Grade III: Severe impairments in both legs with minimal impairment of the trunk, or moderate impairment of the trunk, arms, and legs
• Grade IV: Severe impairment or deficiency of both arms, or a moderate impairment of all four limbs, or a short stature
• Grade V: Vision impairment or complete blindness, or mild impairments to movement or muscle strength, or a deficiency of one limb, or a mild deficiency of two limbs

Para Dressage

The only equestrian event in the Paralympics is para dressage. Dressage is a competition where athlete and horse combinations perform a prescribed set of movements and are scored based on the quality of the performance. ^[5]

Horses should appear as if they are doing the movements without being asked, in harmony and synchronicity with their rider. ^[5]

Each Grade in the Paralympics has its own dressage tests to ensure that the movements performed are suitable for the horse and rider’s ability. ^[6]

Movements that may be asked for each Grade include: ^[6]

• Grade I: Movements in walk
• Grade II: Movements in walk and trot
• Grade III: Movements in walk and trot, including more advanced movements than Grade II
• Grade IV: Movements in walk, trot, and canter, including lateral work in the trot
• Grade V: Movements in walk, trot, and canter with lateral work in all gaits

During the Freestyle tests, riders put together their own choreography to music, based on the movement requirements for their specific Grade.

Scoring

Each judge has a score sheet outlining the required movements for the test performed. The judges score each movement on a scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being an excellent performance.

Additional scores are given for the general impression of the whole test. During the Freestyle, the judges can award additional points for artistic impression, such as the quality or difficulty of the choreography.

After the athlete performs, the judges’ scores are summed to produce a mark out of 100. The horse and rider team with the highest percentage score wins the event.

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Attire and Equipment

Dressage riders typically wear black tall boots, white breeches, white gloves, and a dark tailcoat. All Para-athletes must wear protective headgear in black or another dark colour. ^[6]

The horses wear saddles, white saddle pads, a bridle, and in some cases, compensating aids. The precise compensating aids that a horse wears depends on the requirements of their athlete. Riders must declare the additional equipment they require as part of their nomination to perform in a Para event.

Examples of compensating aids include: ^[6]

• Hand holds
• Whips
• Jointed, looped, or ladder reins
• Foot reins
• Additional straps to hold the rider in position in the saddle
• Elastic bands to hold feet in the stirrups

Stewards in the warm up arena observe the equipment used by each athlete and horse prior to competition to ensure that it meets the guidelines set out by the competition committee.

Paralympic Sports Organizations

The Paralympics are organized by the International Paralympic Committee. For each sport, the IPC partners with major sports organizations to determine the ideal competition format and rules for the event. For the equestrian sports, the major IPC partner is the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI).

The FEI not only approves the para equestrian events at the Paralympics, but it also regulates all international level equestrian Paralympic events. At the national level, each country has its own equestrian governing body that regulates sport within their country and nominates horse and rider pairs to their national team.

In the United States, the national governing body is the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF). In Canada, horse sport is regulated by Equestrian Canada (EC).

Paris 2024 Paralympic Events

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will begin with the arrival of the horse and rider teams in France. Arriving several days in advance allows the horses to adjust to their new environment and recover from their long journey to Versailles.

Horse Inspection

Veterinarians inspect every horse competing at the Paralympics for health and soundness prior to competition. ^[7] This ensures that the horses are fit to compete and can perform safely. A second inspection is held before the Individual Freestyle competition, to ensure that the horses have not sustained any injuries during their Paralympic performances. ^[7]

Para Dressage

Riders compete in three different competitions during the Paralympics: ^[7]

• Individual Grand Prix: A specific dressage test used for competitions at the Grand Prix level
• Team Grand Prix Special: A variant on the standard Grand Prix test used for international events
• Individual Grand Prix Freestyle: A custom test choreographed to music

Each Grade has its own set of tests to ensure that the test requirements are suitable for the athletes. Since each Grade has different requirements, they receive medals separately to ensure fairness and equitable competition.

Victory Ceremonies

There are 11 total victory ceremonies in para dressage: ^[7]

• Individual Championships, with one set of medals for each of the 5 grades
• Team Championships, with one set of medals
• Individual Freestyle Championships, with one set of medals for each of the 5 grades

For the victory ceremonies, horses receive ribbons to wear during the ceremony proceedings. Each winning horse also receives a stable plaque for their stall. The athletes enter with their horses, then pass them to grooms who hold the horses while the athletes receive their medals and pose on the podium.

Qualifications

78 horse and rider pairs can qualify for the Paralympics in Para equestrian. 60 of these pairs qualify as part of the national team. 18 spots are available for individual competitors who did not qualify on a national team. ^[8]

Team Qualification

By default, France earned a team qualification position as the host country of the Paris 2024 Paralympics. ^[8]

For the remaining countries, team qualification began in 2022, at the FEI World Championships. ^[8] At these championships, the top seven ranked teams, excluding the Olympic host country, qualified for the Paralympics. An additional team qualified at the 2023 FEI European Championships by being the highest ranked team not otherwise qualified.

Finally, the top ranked teams in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania who have not yet qualified earn a spot. Then, the remaining two spots go to the top ranked unqualified teams from any country, for a total of 15 teams.

Individual Qualification

Individuals can qualify for the Paralympics even if their national team does not qualify. ^[8] The top 3 highest ranked unqualified athletes from each region – Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania – earn a spot as an individual participant.

If a region does not have enough athletes to fill the individual positions, the spots are allocated to the next highest ranked individuals regardless of region.

Three individual qualification spots are also available to individuals who submit an application to the Bipartite Commission. The Bipartite Commission grants qualification to individuals who may not have had the opportunity to qualify through other methods and ensures representation of individuals with high support needs.

Paris 2024 National Para Equestrian Teams

Para equestrian teams qualified for Paris 2024 include: ^[8]

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Canada
• Denmark
• France
• Germany
• Great Britain
• Ireland
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Singapore
• Sweden
• USA

Each team consists of 3 to 4 horse and rider combinations. At least one team member must compete in sport class Grade I, II, or II. ^[8] There must be a maximum of 2 athletes in the same sport class for each team. ^[8]

Para Equestrian Medals

Para equestrian offers both team and individual medals at the Paralympics. Riders can participate in three events: ^[7]

• Individual Championship
• Team Championship
• Individual Freestyle Championship

One medal is awarded for the Team Championship, while one medal is available for each Grade category in the individual championships. ^[7]

Individual Championship

The Individual Championship is the first event in the para equestrian series. All horse and rider pairs participate in the Individual Championship, and individual medals are awarded for each Grade category. ^[7] The top 8 combinations per Grade qualify for the Individual Freestyle Championship. ^[7]

Team Championship

All the team horse and rider pairs participate in the Team Para Grand Prix Special event. ^[7] The scores of each team are combined, with the highest combined score winning the event. Teams with four horse and rider pairs use the top three scores from their team for their final score. ^[7]

Individual Freestyle Championship

Each Grade has an Individual Freestyle Championship, where the riders and horses perform a custom dressage test set to music. ^[7] The highest scorers for each Grade receive Individual medals.

Paralympics Para Equestrian Results

The following are the results from the Para Equestrian events at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics:

Schedule

Like the other equestrian events at Paris 2024, the para equestrian events will take place at the Palace of Versailles. The para equestrian events run between September 3rd-7th. ^[9]

The schedule for the para equestrian events is: ^[9]

Note: This schedule is current at time of publication, but is subject to change by the IOC.

How to Watch the Para Equestrian Events

If you can’t make it to the Palace of Versailles for the 2024 Paralympic Games, you can watch the events online on NBC Olympics or CBC Sports.