Since the mid-1990s, the U.S. Equestrian Federation has used selection trials in some manner to select teams for major international championships—the Olympic Games and World Equestrian Games. The selection was done purely objectively for many years, based just on the selection trials results.

Former chef d’equipe George Morris re-introduced some subjectivity to the process in the last decade, adding the ability for a selection committee to name a team member or two independent of their trials results.