Equestrian Events, Inc. (EEI) was formed to as a non-profit organization to help plan the competition and raise public awareness.

In 1977, the National Pony Club Rally and the North American Junior Three-Day Event Championships were also held there.

The success of the World Championships helped to convince the EEU to continue the event annually.

Although the event began as an advanced three-day, and later included open intermediate and preliminary competitions, today it only holds the highest level: the CCI****.

However, in 2006 it was announced that, due to lack of funds and interest from upper level riders, the event would only offer the short format.

The CCI**** competition was first suggested in 1994 by Denny Emerson, who believed the United States had enough competitors at this high level to warrant the development of a four-star.

Previously, American riders trained in England when they were preparing for international competition, as the country had the only two annual CCI**** at that time: Badminton and Burghley.

The USET began making plans in 1996, and held the country's first and the world's third annual four-star competition at the Kentucky Horse Park in 1998.