An exciting new initiative from US Equestrian has just been announced in an effort to build visibility and engagement for equestrian sports ahead of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The US Equestrian Open will span all three Olympic disciplines — dressage, eventing, and show jumping — with nationwide competitions culminating in a final that will award nearly $1 million in total prize monies across the sports.
“Each discipline’s series will consist of qualifying events that lead up to a final that ultimately names a US Equestrian Open champion,” a press released distributed by US Equestrian stated. “The US Equestrian Open aims to build towards the excitement of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and support the growing momentum around the sport amongst mainstream audiences. The prize money will total more than $1mm across the series finals with each discipline final hosted at three different premier venues across the country. US Equestrian will elevate the presence and visibility of equestrian sport within the United States and globally by broadcasting all three finals on ESPN.”

Tim Price and Falco compete at the Paris Olympics. The US Equestrian Open will facilitate greater engagement with equestrian sports in the lead-up to the next Games in Los Angeles (2028). Photo by Tilly Berendt.
The Open will be accompanied by a dedicated effort to increase public engagement, including a “dedicated microsite, live leaderboard tracking, publicly accessible and enhanced horse and rider information, as well as significant mainstream airtime on major sports broadcasting platform, ESPN, alongside live coverage via USEFNetwork powered by ClipMyHorseTV.”
The US Equestrian Open comes out of strategic planning and a commitment to invest in equestrian sports to increase awareness, exposure, and engagement. Upon approval by the FEI Board of Directors in June of this year, we’ll now see the first qualifying event for the US Equestrian Open of Eventing this fall.
“The launch of the US Equestrian Open series has been a priority for us. There’s a purpose-driven need for equestrian sport to produce a more commercially significant and identifiable championship model within the United States, particularly focused around the Olympic disciplines,” said David O’Connor, US Equestrian’s Chief of Sport. “We’ve seen new and creative branded series introduced across other mainstream sports, such as golf and tennis, which have experienced tremendous success, both from an athlete and spectator perspective. As an organization, we felt strongly we needed to move the needle forward in our sport by providing access to significant prize money and standing behind a unique model for each discipline, which encourages participation at the highest levels.”

Morven Park will host the US Equestrian Open of Eventing Final in 2025. Photo by Sally Spickard.
The Open of Eventing will consist of qualifying events throughout the year without geographical restrictions. The calendar of qualifying CCI4*-S events has yet to be published, but the Eventing Final will take place at Morven Park’s CCI4*-L in the fall of 2025. A $50,000 series award will be distributed based on rankings, and $200,000 in prize money will be awarded at the final.
“Morven Park is thrilled to welcome the US Equestrian Open to our grounds,” said Stacey Metcalfe, Executive Director/CEO of Westmoreland Davis Memorial Foundation, Inc./Morven Park. “For over 50 years, our cross-country courses have maintained a legacy of eventing excellence at all levels of the sport, and as one of five venues in the United States to host a 4*-L we welcome the opportunity to continue this legacy into the future as part of the US Equestrian Open.”
You can read more about the US Equestrian Open, including information on the dressage and show jumping portions of competition, here. We’ll keep you up to date with more information as it becomes available.