2024
The year of the horse

As an iconic French heritage site of international renown, the Palace of Versailles has been chosen to host the equestrian events of the Olympic Games 2024. This major chapter in the long history of the Palace underlines its already very close relationship with the world of horses.

Versailles, or the art of riding

Versailles, an Olympic Games 2024 venue

An exhibition devoted to horses

Versailles, or the art of riding

Although equestrian sports and dressage existed in ancient Greece, the art of riding found its full expression during the Renaissance, with the appearance of the first riding academies in Italy, and then in France in the late 16^th century. Riding was taught systematically, in the same way as dancing, fencing and the humanities; its theory was studied in these schools, where a very light, precise and elegant technique was developed. From a very young age, sovereigns received instruction delivered by the best riding masters, as excellence in horsemanship was thought to symbolize their ability to govern well. This idea was reinforced in art and literature, and the concept of the horseman-king became a facet of the royal identity. In a similar vein, some queens were depicted riding their faithful steeds.

Equestrian portraits

xxx — Equestrian Portrait of Henry IV, King of France

Ary Scheffer, 1828

xxx — Louis XIII, King of France (1601-1643)

Claude Deruet, 1630-1643

xxx — Equestrian Portrait of Anne of Austria

Justus Van Egmont and Jean de Saint-Igny, 1601-1700

xxx — Louis XIV, King of France (1638-1715),

Anonymous, circa 1653

xxx — Louis XIV, King of France (1638-1715),

René-Antoine Houasse / Charles Le Brun, 1674

xxx — Philippe of France, Duke of Orléans

Pierre Mignard, 1693

xxx — Maria Theresa of Austria on Horseback

Nicolas Bazin, 1682

xxx — Equestrian Portrait of Louis XV, King of France

Charles Parrocel / Louis-Michel Van Loo, 1723

xxx — Louis XV, King of France (1710-1774)

Charles Cozette / Louis-Michel Van Loo, 1763

xxx — Louis XVI, King of France (1754-1793)

Jean-Baptiste-François Carteaux, 1791

xxx — Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France on Horseback

Louis-Auguste Brun, known as Brun de Versoix, circa 1783

xxx — Bonaparte Crossing the Great St Bernard Pass, 20 May 1800

Jacques-Louis David and Jérôme-Martin Langlois, 1802

xxx — Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia (1784-1860)

Antoine-Jean, Baron Gros, 1807

xxx — Catherine of Wurtemberg, Queen of Westphalia

Antoine-Jean, Baron Gros, 1807-1813

xxx — Charles X Reviews Saint-Léonard Camp at Reims, 31 May 1825

Antoine-Jean, Baron Gros, 1824-1827

xxx — King Louis-Philippe, Flanked by his Five Sons, Riding through the Honour Gate at the Palace of Versailles after Reviewing Troops in the Courtyards, 10 June 1837

Horace Vernet, 1846

Elite horses

Louis XIV, who had a particular interest in horses, founded the National Stud Farms in 1665 on the advice of Colbert to improve French horse bloodlines. At Versailles, the King built the Great and Small Stables between 1679 and 1682, which housed some 700 horses by the end of his reign, three-quarters of which came from abroad. They were carefully selected and visitors marvelled at their beauty and at the quality of their dressage.

© Château de Versailles / Thomas Garnier

The Versailles School

Soon after the Great Stable was inaugurated, the Versailles School was established there and quickly became the cradle of academic riding in France. It drew inspiration from the treatise School of Horsemanship by François Robichon de la Guérinière (1688-1751), a famous riding master at the Parisian manège in the Tuileries, where he taught dressage steps and figures that turned horses and riders into true dance partners. In dressage competitions, and notably in the Olympic Games, all the elements defined during this period – regularity at different gaits, and movements such as the piaffe (a cadenced trot on the spot), passage (a short trot), and Spanish walk – are still performed today.

During the Enlightenment (1715-1789), French riding reached an unprecedented level of sophistication, and the reputation of the Versailles School was unrivalled. The classical term of dressage was coined during this period.

The French Revolution sounded the death knell for equestrian academies as riding masters moved to other European countries. All of the horses, including the 2,208 inventoried in the royal stables, were sold as revolutionary assets. Horses resumed their military role under Napoleon, and then to an even greater extent when Louis XVIII created the school for the instruction of mounted troops in Saumur (Maine-et-Loire), in 1814, and revived the Versailles School. They existed in parallel for some fifteen years until the Versailles School, which was not deemed to be serving any useful purpose, was closed permanently in 1830, and the Saumur school became the sole repository of the French equestrian tradition.

Jumping is one of the most prestigious and best-known disciplines in the riding world. Horse and rider must complete a course against the clock over jumps in different categories of height, length and difficulty. The aim is to achieve a clear round, as every pole knocked down incurs a penalty.

Dressage is the highest expression of horse training. The horse-rider pairing performs an artistic series of figures in a reprise.
The jury judges smoothness and flow as the pair move around the arena.

A third discipline, eventing, is a form of equestrian triathlon. It combines the two disciplines described above (jumping and dressage) with a third event: cross-country. This consists of a long course with a mixture of natural and static obstacles to test competitors’ endurance and experience. The best overall horse and rider pairing at the end of the three events is the winner.

The development of riding in the modern Olympic Games

1900

Paris: riding features on the programme

Four years after the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens (Greece), equestrian sports feature among the disciplines. The five events organised by the French Equestrian Society take place on Avenue de Breteuil (in the 7th arrondissement of Paris) rather than on the banks of the Seine like all the other events. However, only three events are recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC): showjumping; the high jump with an 1.85-metre obstacle cleared by French rider Dominique Gardères and his mare Canela; and the long jump, for the first and last time, with a winning jump of 6.10 metres.
Despite the French Equestrian Society’s very healthy balance sheet, the International Olympic Committee refuses to include equestrian sports in the 1904 and 1908 Olympic Games.

International equestrian competition, Place de Breteuil, 1900
© Ville de Paris / BHVP (photographie Henry de Lestrange)

1912

Stockholm: a full programme of events is presented

Equestrian sports are introduced as a permanent fixture on the Olympic programme at the Games in Stockholm (Sweden) at the instigation of Count von Rosen, the King of Sweden’s Grand Equerry. The events include the “Military”, which is similar to the modern eventing competition. Taking place over the course of five days, it consists of dressage, jumping, and endurance and speed events with an 80-kilogramme minimum weight-bearing requirement for horses, with lead weights being added to the saddles of riders who are too light. The same rider competes in all the events, but can change horses.
This is also the first time that dressage is an event in its own right.

HRH Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia in the Olympic Stadium during the jumping event
© CIO (CC)

1920

Antwerp : the current jumping position makes its debut

The Olympic Games in Antwerp (Belgium) feature a vaulting event for the first and last time, but a new riding position for jumping obstacles is introduced by the Swedish team. This “suspended” upright position in the stirrups, which reduces the strain on the horse and is much more practical, becomes the default position for all riders.

1924

Paris : a cross-country event is added to the competition

Riding events take place in Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine) and at Auteuil racecourse (Paris, 16^th arrondissement). This is the starting point for the 36-km cross-country race to Villacoublay (Yvelines), an event which never features in the programme again.

Swiss rider Alphonse Gemuseus (Gold medallist) on Lucette
© Alamy

1932

Los Angeles : horses travel outside Europe

Equestrian events take place outside Europe for the first time, in Los Angeles (United States), which means lengthy travel times for horses. The French and Swedish teams opt for a sea crossing to New York City followed by a train journey to California. The Dutch team installs a treadmill system on its boat, which is specially designed to allow horses to exercise their legs in transit. Japanese rider Takeichi Nishi wins the gold medal in the jumping event, Japan’s first and only Olympic riding victory.

Japanese rider Takeichi Nishi (gold medallist) on Uranus
© CC

1952

Helsinki: equestrian events are open to non-military competitors and one event is open to women

Riding becomes a permanent fixture at the Olympic Games in three individual and team events: jumping, dressage, and eventing. The competition, which until this point has only allowed military officers to take part, is opened up at the Olympic Games in Helsinki (Finland) to non-military competitors with both men and women now competing, as women are authorised to take part in the dressage event. The silver medal in dressage is won by Danish rider Lise Hartel, an athlete with polio-related disabilities.

Danish rider Lis Hartel (silver medallist) on Jubilee
© picture-alliance / dpa

1964

Tokyo : women can compete in all events

After the dressage event, jumping is also opened up to women in 1956, but women riders are not allowed to compete in all three equestrian events until the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo (Japan), making this the first fully mixed Olympic sport.

Henri Chammartin, Marianne Gossweiler and Gustav Fischer, the Swiss dressage team members
© rts.ch

1996

Atlanta : para-dressage is introduced

36 years after the invention of the Paralympic Games in Rome (Italy) in 1960, an equestrian event is introduced to the Paralympic Games in Atlanta (United States) in 1996: para dressage.

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The national estate of Versailles has been designated as the host venue for the equestrian events of the Olympic Games 2024, which will open with eventing from 27 to 29 July, followed by dressage from 30 July to I August and, lastly, jumping from 2 to 6 August. The modern pentathlon – which also includes a riding event – will take place from 9 to 11 August, and para dressage will be held from 3 to 7 September 2024.

Temporary infrastructure has been erected at the Étoile royale site to the west of the Grand Canal. Significant work has been undertaken to level the ground, which will be fully restored to its original state when the Games are over. An 8,250 m² arena with grandstands in a “U” shape opening onto the Grand Canal has been installed there to accommodate 16,000 spectators. However, some 40,000 spectators are expected to attend the cross-country event in the Palace grounds, where riders will cross the Grand Canal on wooden pontoons specially built for the occasion.