96 SIDELINES NOVEMBER 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
THE BOTTOM LINE
S
he’s a horse jockey. She suited up in khaki pants and
an equestrian helmet when she rode
. If this doesn’t make
sense, don’t worry — the equestrian world hasn’t lost their
KRUVH VHQVH 7KHVH DUH UHFHQW FRPPHQWV IURP QRQ KRUVH\
PDJD]LQHV UHSRUWLQJ RQ FHOHEULW\ 0DU\ .DWH 2OVHQ FRPSHWLQJ DW WKH
Hampton Classic Horse Show.
0DU\ .DWH URGH LQWR KLVWRU\ SOD\LQJ WKH FKDUDFWHU 0LFKHOOH 7DQQHU
on the television show
Full House
and she still attracts the paparazzi
ZKHUHYHU VKH JRHV 6R ZKHQ 0DU\ .DWH FRPSHWHG LQ WKH +DPSWRQ
&ODVVLF WKLV \HDU WKH XQ KRUVH\ PDJD]LQHV ZHUH WKHUH WR FRYHU LW
EXW WKH\ GLGQ¶W XVH ZULWHUV ZKR ZHUH KRUVH VDYY\ :ULWHUV ZKR DOVR
happen to be riders. The ones who wear shirts saying “Horse Lovers
Are Stable People” and drive cars sporting the license plate holder,
“My other car is a horse.”
Instead, they used writers who didn’t know the front end from the
EDFN HQG RI D KRUVH :KLOH 0DU\ .DWH WXUQHG LQ D JUHDW SHUIRUPDQFH
at the Hampton Classic, the tabloids claimed she was “scared” and
³WHUUL¿HG´ ZKLOH ULGLQJ KHU ³JUDFHIXO VWHHG ´ , WKLQN IHOORZ ULGHUV ZRXOG
call that “concentrating” and having your “game face on” while riding,
for lack of a better word, your “horse” around the course.
0DU\ .DWH¶V ULGLQJ RXW¿W UHDOO\ VWXPSHG WKHP 3HUKDSV EHFDXVH
0DU\ .DWH¶V D IDVKLRQ GHVLJQHU RU EHFDXVH WKH\ KDG QHYHU VHHQ D
UHDO OLIH ULGHU ZK\ WKH\ GLGQ¶W MXVW *RRJOH ZKDW ULGLQJ FORWKHV ORRN
OLNH LV EH\RQG PH EXW WKHLU WDNH RQ KHU VKRZ RXW¿W PDGH PH UHDOL]H
WKLV ZDV WKHLU ¿UVW URGHR 7KH\ VDLG VKH ZRUH D ³QDY\ EOD]HU´ DQG
sported an “ultra preppy look” while being “attracted to riding.” For
what it’s worth, they did give her credit for looking “like a professional
rider” even though her horse refused one jump, which left her with,
according to their stories and apparent lack of research, “a big fat
zero on the score sheet.”
But it was probably a photo of her jumping that won the award for
best horse nonsense and made me realize these writers probably
would rather clean their room than muck a stall. The caption read:
³$
designer doing dressage? Yep, that’s Mary-Kate Olsen taking a leap
at the Hampton Classic Horse Show…”
The caption got a big reaction from the real horse world — with
ORWV RI VKRXW RXWV WR DOO WKH GUHVVDJH KRUVHV ZKR¶YH MXPSHG RYHU
WKH ZKLWH UDLOV RI WKH GUHVVDJH ULQJ GXULQJ D WHVW 6R LI 0DU\ .DWH
FDQ ¿JXUH RXW KRZ WR JHW KHU KRUVH WR GR GUHVVDJH DQG OHDS MXVW
like many of our horses, then I guess the tabloids and celebrity
PDJD]LQHV DUH ULJKW DERXW RQH WKLQJ ² FHOHEULWLHV DUH MXVW OLNH XV
0DU\ .DWH 2OVHQ
on course at the
Hampton Classic.
Photo by John Roca
By Jan Westmark
Celebrities
Ride
…
Just
Like Us
From
Full House
fame to life as a fashion designer,
businesswoman and author, Mary-Kate Olsen has
been making headlines her entire life. It's big news
when she enters the ring — it's just not always
reported correctly. Keep on galloping Mary-Kate
— your fellow equestrians understand what you're
doing and we like the way you horse around!
