©IOC

The reason for the presence of this horse is very simple to understand. Melbourne, Australia was the host of the Summer OG in 1956. However, Australia had very strict legislation regarding the entry of animals into its territory. Therefore, the horses that were taking part in the equestrian events of the Melbourne OG would have had to spend six months in quarantine before being able to compete. This would have caused too many organisational problems, so the equestrian events ended up being moved to Stockholm, Sweden. Therefore, it was on the occasion of these equestrian Games that this medal was created. On its obverse, there is a motif of a horseman on his mount, inspired by ancient Greek imagery, along with the following inscription, engraved around the edge: “XVI Olympiadens Ryttartävlingar / 1956 Stockholm”.