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Equestrian Four-in-Hand "Mail Coach" Event at the Olympic Games

The Four-in-Hand "Mail Coach" competition was one of five equestrian events held at the Paris International Horse Show, part of the Exposition Universelle in 1900. Four-in-Hand refers to a coach drawn by four horses driven by one person.

It was not until much later that some of the equestrian events from that Paris show were considered Olympic. The Mail Coach event has not been recognized as officially part of the 1900 Paris Olympic Games, but we have classified it as a demonstration sport alongside those events that were. The other 'equestrian demonstration' from that time was the "Hacks and Hunter Combined".

a mail coach from 1865 a mail coach from 1865 like the ones used for competition

In the Mail Coach horse driving event, contestants drove mail coaches drawn by four horses each, with the winners determined by a jury. Many of the coaches were driven by their owners. The event took place at the Place de Breteuil, a square in the 7th and 15th arrondissements of Paris, France.

1900 Mail Coach Results

The event was won by the driving team of Georges Nagelmackers of Belgium.

  1. Georges Nagelmackers (Belgium)
  2. Léon Thome (France)
  3. Jean de Neuflize (France)


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