Jessica Springsteen

“I love the freedom you feel on horseback, and enjoy the discipline of competition.”

“My personal style depends on what I'm doing or where I am. I wear a lot of jeans and jean shorts and t-shirts, and I love leather jackets; it's pretty relaxed.”

“You can have the most amazing horse in the world and not be able to ride it, so it has to be a good match for sure.”

“I try and borrow my mom's vintage stuff as much as she lets me - she has this amazing vintage Gucci that I love.”

“I think working hard at anything when you're young and getting positive results, it's always an incredible feeling to see that.”

“The best riders in the world with the best horses make it look so elegant and graceful. When you watch it done well, it looks so easy that it's difficult for the public to understand how hard this really is.”

“As for singing, my parents say I have a good voice, but then again, they have to say that.”

“I think the riding uniform has always been so classic, with the britches and the blazers.”

“Every sport has its dangers. I've been pretty lucky, knock on wood. But I've had really confident, brave and smart horses growing up, which I think is important when you're young. You are working with massive animals over big fences, and especially at this top level, there is really no room for error.”

“I think some horses are meant to do... eventing or dressage. We have Western horses who canter around. I think it takes, especially at the level I'm at now, it takes a horse that wants to do it.”

“My parents taught me that having a passion is a rare thing, so following it through and working hard, even when it's tough, is important.”

“I had a paint pony called Half-Pint, and I rode her in Madison Square Garden, and that was my first big show. But my first real pony was this red pony called Chantal. He was absolutely amazing. He was a great pony, except he did spin me off a couple of times! I would blink, and then I would be on the floor.”

“We have some goats, some chickens, and we used to have pigs. There used to be two ostriches as well, but they were a little bit violent, so we had to give them away. When we were little, we used to play with the goats all the time. We each had our own little goat, and we'd go and run around with them.”