Show Jumpers Make History

History was made at the Del Mar Horsepark on Sunday when an all-female show-jumping team earned the right to represent the United States in Sydney, Australia.

Never before in the male-dominated sport has an all-female team competed in the Olympics. And for all the doubters, Margie Goldstein-Engle had an answer.

“Na na na na na na,� she sang.

Goldstein-Engle, 42, and her horse Hidden Creek’s Perin, a 10-year-old Westphalian gelding, qualified in the top spot, and will lead Nona Garson and Rhythmical, Laura Kraut and Liberty, and Lauren Hough and Clasiko into history.

“There’s a lot more women riders here,� Goldstein-Engle said. “In Europe it’s the opposite. There will probably be more women on our team than all the others put together.�

Goldstein-Engle, Garson and Kraut led the field by so much going into the final round, they didn’t even have to jump, although Goldstein-Engle brought Perin out to give him a shot at the liverpool (a vertical over water), a jump he has never attempted.

Kraut and Garson chose not to jump the final round.

For Hough, however, the final round was crucial. She trailed Todd Minikus and Oh Star by .25 in faults, and was tied with Nicole Shahinian-Simpson and El Campeon’s Cirka Z.

After Shahinian-Simpson committed 12 faults, knocking her out of contention, Minikus and Oh Star recorded a round of eight, taking over the fourth and final qualifying spot.

Hough and Clasiko--a German gelding, trained by Conrad Homfeld, an Olympic team gold medalist and individual silver medalist in the 1984 games--came next, and the duo dazzled the crowd with perfection through the first eight jumps, before just brushing No. 9, an oxer, with a spread of 5 feet 6 inches, for their only fault.

“It hasn’t hit me yet,� said Hough, 23. “I’m in shock. I saw the standings going into the second round, but I didn’t want to think about it. But, I knew coming down the last line I’d made it and I just wanted to get it over with.�

Hough, the one rider on the team with little international experience, knocked Minikus into fifth place, the alternate spot.

Kraut, 34, and Liberty, a Dutch Warmblood mare, of Oconomowoc, Wis., qualified in third, and being able to skip the final round was a blessing for them. Kraut revealed after the competition that Liberty had been suffering all week from an infection in his left front pastern (the area between the ankle and hoof). And because of Olympic drug testing, Liberty was unable to receive medication.

“I was so relieved not to have to run the final round,� Kraut said. “It’s been a nerve-racking week. Even though [Liberty] has been sound, I know that when she lands a 5-3 jump, it hurts. It has to. But she has tremendous heart.�

Kraut, an alternate for the 1992 Olympics aboard Simba Run, never thought she’d have another chance.

“I thought I’d used up all my chances,� she said. “And I was happy with that. I’m thrilled to be going. And the [all-female team] will add to the excitement of being there.�

Garson and Rhythmical, a Russian Warmblood gelding, originally traded by the Russian government for 150 used washing machines, came into the final rounds with the lead, and after an eight-fault round, held on for the second qualifying position.