5 Compelling Horsewomen
Queen Elizabeth II
The expression of a true horse lover. May 17, 1997. Copyright Getty Images.
“I should like to be a horse” - Queen Elizabeth II
The Queen’s love of horses is well documented. Only someone who loves horses understands the feeling that sometimes we love them so much, we wish we were them - just look at the popularity of hobby horse riding. Her love of horses shines through in her photos, her words, and the fact that she has ridden her entire life, from the age of four to ninety-four, when she reportedly had to stop last year due to discomfort. She seems like the kind of person who knows which of her stable hacks prefer carrots and which prefers apples, and I can imagine her daydreaming about her latest racehorse acquisition during a long, dry political meeting. Despite having unimaginable wealth, I don’t envy her. I bet horseback riding gives her the one, maybe the only, thing she has ever lacked in her life: freedom.
June 16, 1961
Zara Phillips, the Queen, and Princess Anne, 2004
Charlotte Casiraghi
Is there anyone more enviable, more impossibly blessed, than the “Princess of Monaco?” If she were a fictitious character in a book she wouldn’t be believable and yet - here she is, in real life. The granddaughter of Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco, Charlotte Casiraghi is not technically a princess, since her mother chose not to give her children royal titles, but when you’re this beautiful and this glamorous, does it even matter? She’s aristocratic, she’s multilingual, she’s a talented show jumper, she’s a model for Gucci (a fashion house with a long equestrian tradition), and she has impeccable style: no one makes riding clothes look chicer than she does. Oh, I’m sure she has her problems, woes and travails like anyone in this world, but her problems are the kind I’d like to have.
Beezie Madden
Beezie is a true blue horsewoman. Not only is she one of the most, if not the most, talented riders in the world, but she makes her own horses. Unlike the aforementioned horsewomen, she didn’t grow up with a silver spoon. While money and some degree of talent can buy your way into the upper echelons of show jumping, the very top riders are always the professionals, the ones who had to work their way up. I’m glad about that.
Her origin story is near mythical. Short on money but long on ambition and talent, Beezie and her then trainer, John Madden, pooled their savings to buy one-way tickets for two horses to Europe in the eighties, long before they were married.
“We didn’t have enough money to fly home unless we won enough prize money,” explained Beezie in this great story.
By couch surfing, sleeping in the stables with the horses, and even in their truck, Beezie and John scrimped and saved their way through Europe and did, eventually, win enough prize money to return back to the USA, triumphant. She went on to become one of the most consistent and decorated equestrians in the world, with wins at Spruce Meadows, Aachen and the Olympics. More than that, Beezie has a kindness and an authenticity about her which is magnetic. Her love of horses shines through in everything she does.
From "Her Horse: A Celebration in Words and Pictures” by Jim Dratfield.
Amber Marshall
Amber Marshall is the star of the hit, long-running Canadian drama Heartland. Amber’s character in the show, Amy Fleming, has gained international appeal as a homespun, down-to-earth “miracle girl” who can understand and tame troubled horses in a way no one else can. I believe her character is compelling because it speaks to the archetypal little horse girl in all of us.
Amber proves that life does indeed imitate art. As far as I can tell, she is basically Amy Fleming. As her Instagram account documents, she lives on a sprawling ranch in the Foothills of Alberta, with a cowboy husband, herd of horses, and countless critters.
Told you I was a fan - the author (right), pictured here with Amber Marshall
Karen Polle
Copyright: Sidelines Magazine
Last but not least is Karen Polle, member of the Japanese National Showjumping Team and top-ranked Asian rider in the world. Representation matters. In a sport so utterly composed of white people, Karen is helping to forge the way for BIPOC riders. Aboard her longtime great mount, With Wings, Karen has garnered some impressive wins including the $250, 000 Hamptons Grand Prix and 1.50 m CIBC Cup at Spruce Meadows. With Wings is no easy horse to ride: “He can be extremely wild,” Karen said in this article. “He has a trick where he starts to rear to get me out of balance and then he starts to buck.”
Proof:
Photo from Karen Polle’s Instagram.
Thanks for reading! This is far from an exhaustive list.