By FEI

A total of six nations will be making their Olympic and Paralympic debuts at Rio 2016 when they field athletes for the equestrian disciplines of Jumping, Dressage, Eventing, and Para-Equestrian Dressage.

Five National Olympic Committees will be sending equestrian athletes to an Olympic Games for the first time at Rio in August 2016, including Chinese Taipei and Qatar for Jumping, the Dominican Republic and Palestine for Dressage, and Zimbabwe for Eventing. Uruguay will be sending its first Para-Equestrian Dressage athlete to the Paralympics. 

Rio 2016 is the first Olympic and Paralympic Games ever to be held in South America, and a total of nine South American countries will compete in equestrian at Rio 2016, with Peru securing its first individual qualification in Jumping.

A total of 43 nations have earned qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games across the three disciplines of Eventing, Dressage and Jumping, with 30 countries targeting the equestrian medals at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, where Para-Equestrian Dressage will celebrate 20 years in the Paralympic Movement.

“We are thrilled to be welcoming new nations to the Olympic and Paralympic equestrian family and to have 43 flags at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and 30 for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games,” says FEI President Ingmar De Vos.

“It’s a testament to the increasing global appeal and universality of our sport to see equestrianism represented at the top level in so many countries. The Olympic and Paralympic Games are the pinnacle of our sport and we are looking forward to absolutely top-class equestrian action during both Games.”

The Olympic equestrian events begin the day after the opening ceremony in Rio on August 6, 2016 in Deodoro, Rio de Janeiro where the world’s best athletes will compete for team and individual medals in Eventing, Dressage and Jumping.

The Rio 2016 Para-Equestrian Dressage action kicks off on September 11 for what promises to be the largest celebration yet of high-performance sport for people with an impairment - where athletes will target individual medals across grades Ia, Ib, II, III and IV, as well as team medals.

The full list of qualified Olympic nations is here.

The full list of qualified Paralympic nations is here, with summaries on the Olympic and Paralympic qualified nations below.

Olympic Summary

Jumping - maximum 75 starters

• 27 nations: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Morocco, Netherlands, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela.
• 15 teams: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Netherlands, Qatar, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States.
• 12 nations represented by individuals only: Belgium, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Egypt, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, Peru, Portugal, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Dressage - maximum 60 starters

• 25 nations: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Palestine, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Ukraine, United States.
• 11 teams: Australia, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United States.
• 14 nations represented by individuals only: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Palestine, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Ukraine.

Eventing - maximum 65 starters

• 24 nations: Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States, Zimbabwe.
• 14 teams: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, United States.
• 10 nations represented by individuals only: Belarus, Belgium, Chile, China, Ecuador, Finland, Japan, Puerto Rico, Spain, Zimbabwe.
• Nations fielding full teams in all three Olympic disciplines: Australia, Brazil, France, Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and the United States will field full teams in all three Olympic disciplines.

Total - 43 nations: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Palestine, Peru, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.

All documents on the Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualification process are here.

Paralympic Summary

Para-Equestrian Dressage - maximum 78 starters

• 30 nations: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, USA.
• 14 teams: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, USA.
• 2 nations can field composite teams: France (4 individual slots) and Russia (3 individual slots).
• 15 nations represented by individuals only: Argentina, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay.  

All documents on the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games qualification process can be accessed here.

Photo: Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, where equestrian sport celebrates 104 years in the Olympic Movement and 20 in the Paralympic Movement.