See how mares have become champions at the highest levels of dressage, show jumping, and 3-day eventing

In 2024 the Trakehner mare TSF Dalera BB and Jessica Von Bredow-Werndl won both the individual gold medal and team gold medal (for Germany) at the Paris Olympics. Just three years earlier they achieved the same feat in the Tokyo Olympics.

There was a time not so long ago that mares were rarely seen winning at the highest levels of dressage, show jumping, and eventing. That seems to be changing, with mares becoming more competitive against geldings and stallions. But what has made these mares so successful? Is it the breeding? The training? The care and management? Experts shed some light on why mares can be such successful partners.

Early Show Jumping Successes by Mares

Prior to 2000 a mare as an Olympic champion was scarce. The first notable standout was a Standardbred-cross named Halla, ridden by Hans Günter Winkler of Germany. At the 1956 Olympics in Stockholm, the pair won both individual and team gold medals in show jumping. Four years later in Rome, they were part of the German gold medal show jumping team. Halla remains the only horse to win three Olympic gold medals in show jumping