Margie Goldstein-Engle (born March 31, 1958) is an American
show jumping
Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrianism, equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, Show hunter, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including th ...
equestrian, and a 10-time
American Grandprix Association Rider of the Year.
Early and personal life
She was born in
Wellington, Florida, to Mona (an elementary school principal and teacher) and Irvin Goldstein (an accountant), and is Jewish.
She grew up in her middle-class family in South Miami, Florida, with two older brothers.
In third grade, she became passionate about horses.
At the age of nine, she took jobs at horse barns and dog kennels as a way to pay for riding lessons.
Less affluent than other riders, she said: "You're maybe not dressed like the other riders. You don't have the custom things, you don't have the top clothing, and a lot of my stuff was hand-me-downs.... It was more cliquish than anything. They'd more snub you than tease you."
She attended
South Miami High School and
North Miami Beach High School, and graduated from
Florida International University with a 4.0
GPA, majoring in business education.
She married her husband, horse veterinarian Steve Engle, in 1995.
Equestrian career
Goldstein-Engle won 6 World Cups and 20 Nations Cups between 1984 and 2005.
The FEI (
Federation Equestre Internationale) ranked her as high as # 6 all-time.
In 1987, she recorded a world-record-high jump of . Speaking of such high jump event, she said: "You have to figure the horse either has a lot of trust, or a lot of heart, because once the wall gets over six and a half feet, it looks more like the side of a building."
In 1991, she suffered broken bones and nerve damage in her left foot as the result of a fall at a horse show.
Doctors told her she would likely not ever walk normally again.
The following week, she was again riding, and 10 weeks later she resumed competing.
In 1992, a horse fell on her at a show, opening a deep cut on her back and breaking four of her ribs. In July 1998, she received injuries to her face as the result of a fall.
She rode the next day.
She has also fractured her left shoulder, and broken her collarbone twice, her arm, her wrist, and two fingers.
At the
1999 Pan American Games
The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and ...
in
Winnipeg, she won a silver medal with the U.S. jumping team (riding Alvaretto).
She competed for the
U.S. 2000 Olympics team in
Sydney, Australia
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...
.
She won a team gold medal and an individual bronze medal at the
2003 Pan American Games
The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America.
Al ...
, and a silver medal with the U.S. team in the
2006 World Equestrian Games
The 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games were held in Aachen, Germany from August 20 to September 3, 2006. They were the 5th edition of the games which are held every four years and run by the FEI. It was held in the Soers, a district of Aachen. The ma ...
(riding Quervo Gold).
Goldstein-Engel was the
American Grandprix Association’s (AGA) only ten-time Rider of the Year. She won the award in 1989, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999/2000, 2000/2001, 2003, 2005, and 2006.
She was also the 1991
American Horse Shows Association Equestrian of the Year.
Goldstein-Engle set a record with career show-jumping earnings of more than $4 million.
She has more than 195 Grand Prix victories, and as of October 2011 she was the all-time career leader in Grand Prix wins.
She set a record with most Grand Prix wins in a single season (11; on Saluut II).
Halls of Fame
In 2001, she was honored by the
U.S. Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2009 she was inducted into the
International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
On 25 March 2021, she was inducted into the US Show Jumping Hall of Fame.
See also
*
List of select Jewish equestrians
References
External links
''No Hurdle Too High: The Story of Show Jumper Margie Goldstein Engle'' by Mona Pastroff Goldstein, Margie Goldstein Engle, Globe Pequot, 2005,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldstein-Engle, Margie
1958 births
Living people
American female equestrians
Equestrians at the 1999 Pan American Games
Equestrians at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Equestrians at the 2003 Pan American Games
Florida International University alumni
Jewish American sportspeople
Olympic equestrians of the United States
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States
People from Wellington, Florida
Sportspeople from Miami
Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States
Pan American Games medalists in equestrian
Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American women