It was the German team, however, who rode off into the sunset with most of the Grands Prix. The top contenders tied with Great Britain on the medals table with five medals: but reigned supreme with their four golds and a silver, compared to GB’s two golds and 3 bronzes. 

Isabell Werth, the German 'Queen of Dressage’, became the most decorated Olympic equestrian athlete of all time in the Paris Olympics. The 55-year-old now holds 14 Olympic medals —eight of which are gold. 

Werth earned a gold medal in team dressage and a silver in her individual dressage event. Her freestyle routine fondly honoured her horse as her accompanying music “Mandy” by Barry Manilow was re-written as “Wendy” for her mare.

Fellow German Michael Jung also made history in Paris, becoming the first rider to win the Olympic individual eventing title three times. Navigating the tricky track co-designed by Santiago Varela and Grégory Bodo, the 41-year-old knew he had it in the bag after completing the final section of his run, after which he punched the air and then kissed his horse Chipmunk.

"I tried to stay really focused and to concentrate through the whole week, not thinking about the ceremony or about the third gold medal," Jung said. "It's a really special moment for me.”

Jessica von Bredow-Werndl went home with yet another two golds. The German rider also took home a double from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. On her steadfast mare Dalera, she played up the French atmosphere and piaffed to a medley of Edith Piaf’s greatest hits to take the gold in dressage. 

Team GB suffered quite a few setbacks in their Paris appearance. They took the team golds for eventing and jumping but Harry Charles and his horse, Romeo, withdrew from the competition before the individual showjumping event. Another rider for the team withdrew before the Games opened. Charlotte Dujardin was provisionally suspended after a video of her mistreating a horse surfaced.

Olympic riders were vocal about equestrian needing a significant culture change to stop violence toward horses, with Britain’s Carl Hester going as far as saying the sport’s survival was at stake.

"If something happened in the wrong way, we have to stop it immediately. This is a responsibility of all of us. If we love the sport and if we want to keep it going, this is what we have to do," said Werth, who has been a strong advocate for better horse welfare at the Games.