The United States Equestrian Team, Inc. (USET)

is a non-profit organization which represents

the United States in international equestrian

sports. For the past four decades, the USET has

carried the responsibility for selecting,

training, equipping and financing teams of the

highest possible standard to represent the

United States in Pan American and Olympic

Games, World Championships and other

international competitions.

Athletes representing the USET have achieved

outstanding success over the last four decades.

By winning World Championships in Show Jumping,

Three-Day Eventing, Endurance Riding and

Combined Driving, the USET has positioned

itself among the world's elite equestrian

powers. An impressive 27 Olympic and 54 Pan

American Games Medals in Dressage, Show Jumping

and Three-Day Eventing give U.S. equestrians a

record of which the entire country can be

proud.

Overall, USET riders have won 27 Olympic medals

since 1952, including six Gold and 12 Silver.

Gold Medals have been won in Show Jumping by

Bill Steinkraus (1968) and Joe Fargis (1984) in

addition to one team Gold in 1984. In Three-Day

Eventing, Tad Coffin won the individual Gold

Medal in 1976 to go with team Gold Medals in

1976 and 1984.

At World Championships, USET Show Jumpers won

team and individual Bronze Medals in 1978,

followed by a team Gold and individual Silver

Medal in 1986. In addition, USET riders have

won seven F.E.I. Show Jumping World Cup Finals,

the world's premier annual competition for

individual Show Jumping riders.

USET Three-Day squads have won team and

individual Gold Medals at the World

Championships in 1974, team Bronze and

individual Gold in 1978, team and individual

Bronze Medals in 1982, an individual Bronze

Medal in 1990 and the individual Silver Medal

in 1994.

The USET first sent a team to compete at a

World Driving Championship in 1980, and has

competed at every World Championship since. The

USET reached new heights in driving in 1991

when it won the Pairs World Championship in

Zwettl, Austria. That win was a key factor in

the naming of Gladstone, New Jersey, as the

host of the 1993 Pairs World Championship.

Adding to the driving boom were victories in

1989 and 1992, when U.S. drivers won the

Masters Trophy at the Royal Windsor Horse Show

in England.

The USET has also been successful in dressage,

with its most significant achievements being

team Bronze Medals at the 1976, 1992 and 1996

Olympic Games, and at the 1994 World

Championship. Additionally, the USET won the

team Silver Medal at the 1987 Pan American

Games, plus team Bronze and individual Silver

Medals at the 1991 Pan American Games and team

and individual Silver Medals at the 1995 Pan

American Games. Two USET riders, Robert Dover

and Carol Lavell, have placed as high as fourth

at the Dressage World Cup Finals.

In 1992, the USET added Endurance Riding to its

roster, bringing its number of equestrian

disciplines for which it oversees international

competition to five. U.S. Endurance riders have

had tremendous success, led by Becky Hart's

three World Championships in 1988, 1990 and

1992. The U.S. also won the team Gold Medal in

1988 and individual Gold Medals in 1986

(Cassandra Schuler) and 1994 (Valerie Kanavy)

and 1996 (Danielle Kanavy) and also won the

team Gold Medal in 1988 and 1996.

While many riders and drivers train primarily

at their own stables, the USET maintains a

facility at which final preparations and

training are conducted prior to Olympic and Pan

American Games, and other international

competitions. There are programs to develop

young riders and drivers, including the Rolex

Talent Search program, as well as programs to

train and prepare horses, loaned or donated by

supporters. The Team training center is used to

fill these vital needs.

The USET is wholly financed through

contributions made by individual, corporate and

organizational supporters. Support received in

the form of allocations from the U.S. Olympic

Committee amounts to only about one-tenth of

the average annual budget. All contributions

are tax-deductible. Helping to provide the U.S.

with winning teams through USET membership and

donations is an important way to contribute to

the growth and recognition of horse sports. It

is primarily through the support of U.S.

individuals that the USET is able to maintain

its outstanding record.

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