Young Springsteen: equestrian prodigy

Most 17-year-old equestrian prodigies don't have to worry about juggling interview requests. Then again, most 17-year-old equestrian prodigies aren't the offspring to The Boss.

That's right. Jessica Springsteen is the daughter of legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen. Her mom is longtime E Street Band member Patti Scialfa.

In a sport that receives little mainstream coverage, Springsteen is carving a name for herself. The attention she's getting, which is piling, correlates with her success.

Still, when the teenager competes-and contends-many fans aren't so much interested in the riding as they are the search for her parents in the crowd.

She knows the drill. She's fine with it.

"Everyone is so used to it now because I've been doing this sport for so long," said Springsteen, who was 5 when she took up riding with her mom. "It's not really a big deal. You just want to make sure you look out for who you are as an individual instead of who your parents are."

Springsteen's resume seemingly grows with every show. Just this year, she won the George H. Morris Excellence in Equitation competition in March. Thanks to that, she earned Cavalor Show Jumping Hall of Fame Rider of the Month honors.

In May, she captured the $10,000 ASG Software USHJA International Derby. Then she took fourth in the Young Rider division at the Adequan FEI North American Junior/Young Rider Championships in July. Her team won the gold.

In October, she was a runner-up at the Talent Search Finals-East. Springsteen capped her year by winning the Pessoa/USEF Hunt Seat Medal Final, one of the nation's top equitation competitions.

If it's hard to interpret those results, take it from a three-time U.S. Olympic show jumping medalist.

"At her age level, she's the best [in the country]," said Beezie Madden, who won back-to-back team Olympic gold medals in the 2004 Games in Athens and the 2008 Games in Beijing and an individual bronze in 2008. For full disclosure, Madden helps train Springsteen and has known her for almost 10 years.

"The last three years, whatever level she has been at, she's been one of the best," Madden, 46, said. "Experience-wise, she's ahead of where I was at that point. She definitely has the even temper that you need and the level of concentration that you need at this level."

And what level is that?

The senior level. The international level. Perhaps one day the Olympic level, near-absurd speculation for a teenager in equestrian.

It's not a Facebook-generation sport. Olympic show jumpers are usually in their late 30s or early 40s, like Madden. The oldest athlete at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games was a rider-67-year-old Hiroshi Hoketsu of Japan.

Madden admits the London 2012 Olympic Games is not a conceivable goal right now; Springsteen, for all her talents, is still too green. If her rapid development continues, she could be competing at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 at 24.

"I would love to go the Olympics some day," Springsteen said. "I'm ready to take as much time as it needs. I know it's going to be a lot of work, putting a lot of time into it, but I'm not trying to rush anything."

In an age when so many young athletes flame out, Springsteen says she's strapping her riding boots for the long haul. She is in the process of dropping non-Olympic disciplines so that she can focus solely on jumping, which is part of the three-pronged Olympic program with eventing and dressage.

Springsteen is in her senior year at the Ranney School in Tinton Falls, N.J., near where she trains under Stacia Madden at Beacon Hill Show Stables in Colts Neck. Beezie Madden and Stacia Madden married brothers.

Among the colleges she is considering is Brown, partly because the Ivy League school has an equestrian team. She'll try her best to continue to mix studies with shows.

Before graduating, Springsteen will make her annual training trip to Wellington, Fla., this winter. She's expected to enter her first international competition later next year.

In equestrian terms, it's a big jump.

"It's the difference from being a senior in high school, being at the top of your game, to being a freshman at college, and you feel a little lost in a whole new set of rules," Stacia Madden said. "She has a foundation that it takes to excel, but, with the next transition, instead of being at the top of her peers, she's going to be competing against Olympic show jumping riders. She's going to be butting heads against the very best in the world instead of the very best young riders."

So the scrutiny will only intensify.

The last name has certainly helped Springsteen mature in an expensive sport. On the other hand, it has also brought potential distractions.

Perhaps the biggest news story of Springsteen's young career was not results-based. Two years ago, 2000 U.S. Olympic Team alternate Todd Minikus sued Bruce for backing out of a contract to buy his daughter one of Minikus' horses for $850,000.

The Boss reportedly settled out of court.

The Springsteen camp isn't craving attention. Her parents decline interviews, and little has been written about Bruce's involvement-other than the fact that he rides Western saddle and attends as many of his daughter's shows as possible.

But it's that last name that could bring one of the lesser-known Olympic sports into a spotlight.

"Obviously, you probably can't get around that fact," Beezie Madden said. "It'd be nice if we could do something in our sport [so] we don't need that publicity."

That always has been tough.

Equestrian was literally off the map at the Beijing Olympics because of horse quarantine restrictions in China. Many riders didn't even attend the memorable Opening Ceremony; rather they watched it on a big screen from their competition site, Hong Kong, to avoid a three-day back-and-forth trip from Beijing.

Beezie Madden brought two medals home from those Games to her farm in upstate New York. Springsteen recently visited while at a show in the Hamptons and got a chance to gaze at them.

She didn't touch or hold the medals, however. She's willing to wait a while for that.

"It was really cool," Springsteen said of the experience. "It makes me want to go and be in the Olympics."

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Nick Zaccardi is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of any National Governing Bodies.

Tags: Beezie Madden, Bruce Springsteen, Jessica Springsteen, Nick Zaccardi, Stacia Madden, Todd Minikus, USEF