Your Ultimate Guide to the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event

We are ready to hit the ground running at the 2026 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event at Kentucky Horse Park, and we hope to see you soon on site! Whether you are following along with us in person or from afar, we’ve got information on the schedule, live stream and more for you in this Ultimate Guide. We’ll also keep it updated with links each day from our coverage, which is supported by Kentucky Performance Products, so we recommend keeping this bookmarked as a handy reference throughout the week.

EN’s coverage of Defender Kentucky is supported by Kentucky Performance Products, your one-stop shop for all the science-backed nutritional support your horse needs. Learn more about KPP here.

Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event: [Website] [Tickets] [Schedule] [Entries/Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer] [CrossCountry App XC Map] [Venue Map] [Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage] [Support Our Sponsor: Kentucky Performance Products]

The Schedule

The schedule below will reference competition action, including the Major League Show Jumping Kentucky International CSI5* (which is a new organizer for the show jumping this year and brings more jumping classes than ever to Kentucky!). You can find the full schedules of demonstrations and more here. We also recommend downloading the Defender Kentucky app from the App Store or Google Play for on-site information.

Wednesday, April 22 — 1:00 p.m. EST: First Horse Inspection (CCI5*) only

Thursday, April 23 — 8:30 a.m. EST: CCI4*-S Dressage
Thursday, April 23 — 1:00 p.m. EST: CCI5* Dressage
Thursday, April 23 — 7:00 p.m. EST: Kentucky International CSI5* $62,500 1.55m Qualifier

Friday, April 24 — 8:00 a.m. EST: CCI4*-S Dressage
Friday, April 24 — 1:00 p.m. EST: CCI5* Dressage
Friday, April 24 — 5:45 p.m. EST: Kentucky International CSI5* $62,500 Speed 1.50m
Friday, April 24 — 7:00 p.m. EST: Kentucky International CSI5* $200,000 1.50 MLSJ Team Competition

Saturday, April 25 — 9:00 a.m. EST: CCI4*-S Cross Country
Saturday, April 25 — 12:30 p.m. EST: Kentucky International CSI5* $32,000 Power & Speed
Saturday, April 25 — 1:30 p.m. EST: CCI5* Cross Country
Saturday, April 25 — 7:00 p.m. EST: Kentucky International CSI5* $340,000 1.60m Grand Prix

Sunday, April 26 — 7:30 a.m. EST: CCI4*-S / CCI5* Final Horse Inspection
Sunday, April 26 — 10:45 a.m. EST: CCI4*-S Show Jumping
Sunday, April 26 — 2:00 p.m. EST: CCI5* Show Jumping

How to Watch and Follow

Tom McEwen and Brookfield Quality. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There IS a way to watch Kentucky for free, but there are a few conditions. US Equestrian has instituted a collaboration with ClipMyHorse.TV, and USEF members (including the free fan membership level) will have free access to the live action all week long. This is only an option for active USEF members (though I believe it should still work outside the U.S. as long as you have a USEF login that’s active — if anyone tests that out and finds that not to be true, let me know!), so everyone else will need to have a dedicated ClipMyHorse.TV account.

One more disclaimer about the USEF login: it does not give you access to on-demand coverage, so if you need to watch off hours, definitely sign up for ClipMyHorse.TV separately.

Now, here is the page of information for the USEF link to ClipMyHorse.TV. We’ve seen a few issues with this on social media over the years, and while we are not the providers of or otherwise affiliated with the live stream, we do want you to have a successful experience. You can view all of the information on linking your USEF account and watching live here.

If you’re just using ClipMyHorse.TV on its own, you can access it live and on demand here. All show jumping for the MLSJ Kentucky International will also be live streamed.

The Players

Monica Spencer and Artist. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

If you haven’t already, be sure to dive into our Form Guide to the CCI5* field, which is full of back stories on each pair as well as recent form and more. Via the Form Guide, you can also access our full 5* Horse & Rider Wiki to the whole field, which will provide you with more information than you probably need to enjoy the weekend (or become a professional stalker).

Over on the EquiRatings side, you can view the Prediction Centre for both the CCI5* and CCI4*-S here. Once you’ve studied up on both, be sure to stop over and book in your Eventing Manager team, and you can even go one step further to join the EN Eventing Manager league by using code PCTD or clicking here.

EN’s Coverage

SUNDAY, APRIL 26

All Presented Pass Defender Kentucky CCI5* Trot-Up; One Withdrawn from CCI4*-S

SATURDAY, APRIL 25

FRIDAY, APRIL 24

THURSDAY, APRIL 23

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22

All 29 CCI5* Horses Set Sail for Defender Kentucky after First Horse Inspection

PRE-EVENT COVERAGE

EN’s coverage of Defender Kentucky is supported by Kentucky Performance Products, your one-stop shop for all the science-backed nutritional support your horse needs. Learn more about KPP here.