Most of the 1976 equestrian events were held at the Olympic Equestrian Center in Bromont, Quebec, which was specially constructed for the Montreal Olympics and was finished in 1975. The site continues to be used frequently for equestrian competition. The only event not held there was the team jumping which was conducted on the last day in the main Olympic Stadium.

The severe veterinary regulations in place for Olympics equestrianism, especially concerning equine piroplasmosis, influenced the participation, as Poland and Chile could not send horses at all, and France and Italy had to keep some at home.

The equestrian program consisted of the standard six events, with individual and team events in dressage, eventing, and show jumping, all of which were open to both men and women, as they had been since 1964.

Only seven nations won equestrian medals in Montreal as West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) won seven medals and the United States four, with both winning two gold medals.

The equestrian events at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal included show jumping, dressage and eventing. All three disciplines, except for the Nations Cup, were held at the equestrian stadium in Bromont, which had a capacity of 15,000 spectators, and the cross-country and steeplechase were also nearby. Building this stadium provided some headache for the Organizing Committee after the original estimate of 1 million Canadian dollars increased to CAD 4,425.

Poland and Chile were not allowed to ship horses into the host country due to the concern of piroplasmosis, and France and Italy also had to keep some horses home due to veterinary regulations. Overall 23 nations competed: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Denmark, France, Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), Great Britain, Guatemala, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, the Soviet Union, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, and the US, with the Montreal Games being the first for Guatemala and Puerto Rico in equestrian events.

The 1976 Olympics was also the first Games with a disqualification due to a positive equine drug test, after San Carlos, ridden by Ronald McMahon of Ireland, received treatment following an injury during transport. Although the treatment was needed, the rules did not allow for him to compete.

The format was the same as 1972 with a preliminary and final round, with the top 12 finishers in the preliminaries advancing to the finals. The top 12 final placements were based only on the score in the final round. The Grand Prix test lasted 10 minutes with 39 movements, while the Grand Prix Special had a time limit of 8:45.

Switzerland’s [Christine Stuckelberger] and German [Harry Boldt] were the class of the field, going 1-2 in both the qualifying and the final round, with Stuckelberger winning the gold medal. She would compete at the Olympics through 2000, winning five medals but this was her only gold medal. Her only other individual medal was a bronze in 1988. However, in 1980, Stuckelberger won the Dressage Festival that was held opposite the Moskva Olympics as an alternate competition for those nations boycotting the 1980 Olympics, and which had a much stronger field than the Olympic event.

West German riders had finished 2-3-4 in the individual dressage so their team victory in this event was won with a huge margin of 471 points over Switzerland. West Germany had not won in 1972, and would not compete in 1980 because of the American-led boycott. However, West Germany or Germany has otherwise won this event at every Olympics from 1964-2008. Switzerland was led by the individual champion [Christine Stuckelberger]. The United States finished third with an all-female team of [Hilda Gurney], [Dorothy Morkis], and [Edith Master]. This was also done in 1956 by the German silver medalists.

The format was the same as in 1972 and consisted of two rounds, with the top 20 riders in round one advancing to the final round. The total score for both rounds determined placements. The 1974 World Champions were Hartwig Steenken of West Germany (men) and France’s [Janou Lefèbvre-Tissot] (women), but neither rider was on their nation’s team for the 1976 Olympics. The individual event was marred by heavy rains especially near the end of the competition.

In the first round, only West German [Alwin Schockemöhle] had a clean ride, with second place shared by seven riders with 4.00 faults. Schockemöhle then rode cleanly in round two, for a perfect score in two rounds, the first Olympic jumper to ever achieve this. In 1928, Czechoslovakian [František Ventura] was clean in one round, but also went clean in a jump-off. Three riders tied for second behind Schockemöhle with a total of 12.00 faults – [Michel Vaillancourt] (CAN), [François Mathy] (BEL), and [Debbie Johnsey] (GBR). In the jump-off Vaillancourt won the silver medal with 4.00 faults, Mathy taking bronze with 8.00 faults, while Johnsey dropped off the podium with 15.25 faults.

This was a separate competition from the individual jumping. The format was the same as in 1972 with four-person teams riding two rounds, with the best three scores in each round to count towards the team score. Only the top eight teams after the first round advanced to the second round. It rained for several days before the competition and the Olympic Stadium did not drain water well, causing discussion about moving the team event to Bromont, but it was eventually held as scheduled.

The Nations’ Cups in 1975-76 had been shared relatively equally between West Germany, Great Britain, the United States, and Italy. In round one France and West Germany tied with 24.00 faults, followed by Canada, Spain, Mexico, and Belgium, as the USA barely advanced. France had the best second round with 16.00 faults, which brought them the gold medal with a total of 40.00 faults, followed by West Germany, which was second best overall and in the second round. The United States had the third best second round to move up to fourth, but could not catch Belgium, which won the bronze medal. This was the first medal for Belgium in an equestrian event since 1920.

Barbara Kemp became the first woman to design an Olympic cross-country course. The total length of the endurance course was 27,465 metres. Of the 7,695 metres of cross-country, which contained 36 obstacles, 3,200 metres went over a golf course (obstacles 10 to 25), 900 metres were in the forest, 1,300 metres on gravel roads, and 2,300 metres over meadows.

American [Bruce Davidson] had won the 1974 World Championships at the Burghley Horse Trials. [Mark Phillips] had won at Burghley in 1973 and at Badminton in 1974 but was not on the British team for Montreal. Britain did have [Richard Meade], the defending gold medalist, [Lucinda Prior-Palmer], the 1973 Badminton Champion, and of course, [HRH Princess Anne]. West German [Karl Schultz] took the lead after the dressage, followed by Davidson. Schultz then finished fifth in the endurance phase and took the lead after the jumping. The endurance contest was led by American [J. Michael Plumb] followed by his teammate [Tad Coffin]. Coffin moved into second, followed by Plumb, with Prior-Palmer in fourth, and Meade fifth going into the jumping, as Davidson struggled and dropped back to 11th place.

Schultz made two faults in the jumping, costing him 20 points, and this dropped him off the top step of the podium and down to a bronze medal. Coffin rode cleanly in jumping, as did 11 other riders, which brought him the gold medal. Plumb had one fault in jumping but was able to hold onto second place and the silver medal. Plumb first competed at the Olympics in 1960 and would compete in seven Olympics through 1992, also making the 1980 US Olympic team. He would win six Olympic medals, including two golds, a team gold in Montreal and another at Los Angeles in 1984.