Equestrian events were included in the Olympic Games for the first time in 1900 and then in 1912, in a format very similar to that which will be used at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
In the past, the three-day event (Eventing) was restricted to military officers, while the jumping and dressage competitions were open to civilians, but only a handful of civilian riders competed up to 1948. Up to that time, the growth of modern sport had been rapid, but relatively few competitors were involved in international competitions. They all knew each other and the judges and were accepting of local variations to the fairly simple rules which existed. With the inclusion of the sport in the Olympic Games, it became obvious that some internationally recognised rules for the three Olympic disciplines were essential. In May 1921, delegates from 10 national equestrian organisations met in Lausanne to discuss the formation of an international federation.
Equestrian consists of three disciplines: Jumping, Dressage and Eventing (Three-Day Event).
马术概述（1900年成为奥运会正式比赛项目）
马术在1900的奥运会上首次亮相，接着出现在1912年的奥运会上，采用与即将举行的2004雅典奥运会极其相似的规则和形式。
过去，三日赛 （又称综合全能马术赛）的参赛权仅仅局限于军官。尽管障碍赛和花样骑术是对平民开放的，但是一直到1948年只有很少数的平民骑手参加比赛。在那时，现代体育事业已经在飞速发展了，但是只有相对很少的运动员参加国际性的比赛。运动员们彼此还有和裁判都很熟悉，而且他们也接受当时简单规则在当地的种种变化。随着马术加入到奥运会中，这三项赛事国际认证的规则的基本性变得更为显著。在1921年5月，来自10个国家的马术组织的代表在瑞士的洛桑会晤，共同磋商建立国际马术协会。
马术比赛包括三项赛事：障碍赛、花样骑术和综合全能马术赛（三日赛）。
