We had already announced the publication of the Jumping qualification criteria for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
On this occasion we will focus on Dressage, which will precede another article with information on eventing.
In Dressage, the Olympic competition will feature 60 combinations divided into two events: individual and team. Each country will be able to qualify a maximum of one team of three combinations, and the discipline is mixed, with no distinction between men and women.
The qualification process begins with the team event, followed by the individual one. The countries that secure a team quota place may also field three combinations in the individual event, while those that fail to do so will be eligible to compete for an individual place.
The main team qualification route will be the 2026 World Championships, to be held from 11th to 15th August in Aachen, Germany, as part of the FEI World Equestrian Games. This competition will distribute six Olympic slots. Each country may enter four horse-and-rider combinations, and the sum of the three best scores obtained in the Grand Prix—the test that will decide the places on 12th August—will count. Entry is open and does not require prior qualification.
In addition, eight team places will be allocated through continental quotas in 2026 and 2027. The FEI divides countries into seven geographical groups. Spain is placed in Group B, sharing qualification spots with Group A (Western Europe). The distribution will be as follows: three places for Groups A and B at the 2027 European Championship in Randbøl, Denmark; one place for Group C at a championship to be designated; two places for Groups D and E at the 2027 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru; one place for Group F at the 2026 World Championship in Aachen; and one place for Group G also at the 2026 World Championship.
The United States, as the host nation, is guaranteed a place in the team event. Furthermore, for a country to participate in the Games, at least three different riders must achieve the minimum MER, which consists of finishing an accredited FEI competition with a score higher than 67 % in a Grand Prix, both overall and in a specific class judged by an L4-level judge, between 11 August 2026 and 31 December 2027. Should it fail to meet this requirement, the country would lose its team place, which would be reallocated, although it could still qualify for individual places.
In the individual Dressage event, two quota places will be allocated to Groups D and E via the 2027 Pan American Games. The remaining thirteen places will be allocated via the Olympic ranking, which will take into account results obtained between 1 January and 31 December 2027. The distribution by groups will be two places for Groups A, B, C, D/E, F and G, and one additional global place. The global places will be allocated last, after first removing the countries qualified by teams, the twelve athlete/horse combinations qualified via regional quotas and the two coming from the Pan American Games. Next, the best combinations according to the Olympic ranking will be chosen, regardless of their group. In order to compete at the Games, each combination must achieve the minimum MER between 1 January 2027 and 11 June 2028, under the same technical criteria established by the FEI.
FEI publishes Jumping qualification criteria for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games
