Great Meadow International 3 Day Event

About the

Great Meadow International

HISTORY OF GMI

The First Year - 2014

In 2014, Olympian David O’Connor sought to prepare riders for the World Equestrian Games in Normandy by creating an Advanced-level Prep Trial that would later grow to become the Great Meadow International.

Great Meadow International - 2015

Great Meadow hosted its inaugural CIC3* event in 2015 in conjunction with a Pan American Games preparation trial. This event gave spectators both at the event the opportunity to tune into the live stream and preview the Pan American Games contenders in one of their final outings before heading to Toronto.

FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ - 2016-18

With the success of the 2015 event, Great Meadow International was awarded the first-ever FEI Eventing Nations Cup outside of Europe in 2016. Throngs of spectators came to Great Meadow to see teams from the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain vie for a spot at the top of the podium. This elite team competition served as the final preparation for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Eventing Team.

The FEI once again awarded Great Meadow the sole North American leg FEI Eventing Nations Cup in 2017. The U.S., Canada, and Great Britain once again faced off for top honors at Great Meadow with the U.S. clinching the win for the second year running.

For the third year in a row, the Great Meadow International hosted FEI Eventing Nations Cup in 2018. Coming full circle, the 2018 Great Meadow International served as preparation for heading to the World Equestrian Games in Tryon, North Carolina.

New Era of the Great Meadow International - 2019

After partnering with the Great Meadow Foundation to bring high-performance eventing and the Great Meadow International to Northern Virginia, Five Rings Eventing assumed complete management of this event in 2019. 2019 also ushered in a new title sponsor: MARS Equestrian.

The "Great Meadow Model" - 2020

During the pandemic, most events were canceled. Pivoting quickly, the organizing committee successfully implemented the “Great Meadow Model” to run a safe event during the pandemic. This model allows for spectator sponsors to be in safely distanced tailgates to enjoy and support the event.

USEF High-Performance Bid - 2021

In 2021, USEF opened a bid process where events holding advanced or 4*-S and above competitions needed to apply for a license to hold their events on specific dates. GMI was successful and was granted a USEF license to run on a similar date for the next five years.