Established in 1958, the Washington International Horse Show is the country's leading metropolitan indoor horse show with thrilling international world cup jumping, top national hunters, equitation finals, and community and educational events. Since 1958 the Washington International Horse Show has been held annually in October, attracting thousands of equine enthusiasts of all ages to exciting jumping, hunter and equitation competition plus Barn Night, Military Night, entertaining exhibitions including the wildly fun Shetland Pony Steeplechase races, and community and educational events like WIHS Kids' Day. WIHS 2023 will be held Oct 23-29 at The Show Place Arena at Prince George's Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro, MD, with international world cup show jumping, top hunter, junior and pony equitation finals, and Halloween Pony Hunt Teams. As a designated CSI5*-W event, WIHS holds the prestigious five-star rating by the Federation Equestre International, the world governing body of horse sports, with the W indicating its status a world cup qualifying event, one of only eight in the U.S. History
In its early days, WIHS provided a showcase for the finest horses from many breeds and disciplines, including Nations Cup team jumping and world cup international show jumping, hunt teams, side saddle, Saddlebred, Quarter Horse, Arabian, Morgan and other breed divisions, and driving, dressage and barrel racing. WIHS now focuses on its core disciplines of jumping, hunter and equitation, and has sought to bring together the best horses and riders, the most discerning judges and the most creative course designers in a forum to determine the best of the best. In 1958 it debuted at the Washington, DC, National Guard Armory, followed in 1975 by a 25-year run at US Air Arena in Landover, MD. In 2000, WIHS moved to the state-of-the-art professional sports venue, Capital One Arena, in downtown Washington, DC. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, in 2020-2021, WIHS was held outdoors at Tryon International Equestrian Center in North Carolina.
