The Kentucky Horse Park, the world’s only park dedicated to man’s relationship with the horse, had been opened to the public shortly before the championship. It was a historic venue since there had been horses on the Park’s grounds for more than 200 years.
The event took place from 14 to 17 September. Riders and horses competed under punishing heat and extreme humidity. Only 24 horses out of the original 47 and four out of seven teams were able to make it to the end.
However, a great deal was learned about mitigating the effects of heat and humidity, which stood the sport in good stead by the time the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games came around.
In the individual competition, American Bruce Davidson won the second world title of his career riding Might Tango, making him the first rider of any nationality to win the event back-to-back. However, the victory was not without controversy.
The inexperienced Might Tango was Davidson's backup horse after Irish Cap went lame, leading to a scenario which Sports Illustrated likened to "a junior high school quarterback leading USC to victory in the Rose Bowl". Might Tango's inexperience led to increased tiredness and the horse had to be treated with oxygen after the cross-country test to restore his optimum physical condition, a practice which was subsequently banned.
The silver medal went to John Watson (IRL) on Cambridge Blue, who had risen dramatically up the leaderboard with one of the best cross-country rounds of the day Blue being one very few horses not to need oxygen. Helmut Rethemeier (FRG) on Ladalco won the bronze.
Among those eliminated were future Eventing greats Mark Todd (NZL) and Andrew Hoy (AUS), who were taking part in their first championship.
Canada won team gold with Elizabeth Ashton, Juliet Bishop, Mark Ishoy and Cathy Wedge, while silver went to the Federal Republic of Germany and bronze to the USA.
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