The 1956 Olympic Games (games of the XVI Olympiad) were held in Melbourne, Australia. These were the first Olympic games to be held in the southern hemisphere. In those days, air travel was not as easy or as fast as it is today and many people still travelled by boat. It would have taken several weeks to get from Europe or the Americas to Australia.

However, this was not the main reason why the equestrian events were not held in Melbourne. It was because of quarantine regulations in Australia which, even today, are still some of the strictest in the world. Not only would the horses have to have spent several weeks in transit on boats, they would have had to have been quarantined in Australia for six weeks before the games.

Due to the logistical problems that this would have posed, the IOC decided to hold the equestrian events in Stockholm, Sweden, (the venue of the 1912 games) over 15500km (9600 miles) away.

Due to the fact that the games were held in the southern hemisphere, they were held at the end of the European autumn which was the beginning of the Australian summer from 22nd November to 8th December. However, the equestrian events were held six month earlier in the European summer in June.

German show jumper, Gunter Winkler, managed to win gold medals in both the individual and team events. His Olympic career spanned six Olympic games ending in 1976 during which time he won five gold medals.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org