There were 158 entries from 29 National Olympic Committees: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Soviet Union, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, USA and Venezuela.

The gold medal was awarded to Hans Günter Winkler of the Federal Republic of Germany, on his great mare Halla.

He finished the first round with 4 faults, after landing heavily after an early takeoff by his mount, resulting in a pulled groin muscle.

Of those 11 women, 2 won an individual medal (including previous silver medalist Lis Hartel) and another placed in the top 10.

Five nations competed in the equestrian events in Stockholm, but did not attend the Games in Melbourne: Egypt and Cambodia did not compete in Melbourne due to the Suez Crisis, whilst Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland all boycotted the Australian event in protest at the Soviet invasion of Hungary.