7 riders with celebrity parents (you may be surprised…)

Twenty-nine-year-old Jessica Springsteen (pictured above, right), daughter of rock legend ‘The Boss’ Bruce, is one of America’s top five showjumpers, but she’s not the only celebrity offspring making waves in the equestrian world…

1. Jennifer Gates

Twenty-four-year old Jennifer’s dad is none other than Bill Gates, the Microsoft squillionaire himself. The oldest of the three Gates children, Jennifer is a talented rider, making a name for herself on the US showjumping circuit. Her proud father regularly watches her compete, and in 2014 bought a huge estate with top-notch equestrian facilities in Wellington, Florida. Jennifer works hard, though, and graduated from Stanford University in 2018 with a degree in human biology and more recently attended medical school in New York City.

2. Gemma Owen

Seventeen-year-old Gemma’s dad is footballer Michael Owen. Together with his horse-mad wife Louise, Michael owns and breeds racehorses at their home in Cheshire. Gemma has represented Wales in dressage, and was the proud owner of Der Kleine Lord, a top international dressage pony who won team silver and individual bronze for Great Britain. She is now competing at prix st george and inter I level.

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3. Hannah Selleck

Famous for his moustache and appearance in Friends as Monica’s boyfriend Richard, Tom Selleck has a 32-year old daughter, Hannah, who is following in his footsteps. Tom became so attached to the steed he rode in a Western film that he bought it, and the riding bug has passed to Hannah, who is a grand prix showjumper.

4. Bella Lloyd Webber

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of the richest men in Britain, and he and his third wife Madeleine are keen equestrians, owning a very successful racehorse stud farm, Watership Down in Berkshire. Their 24-year old daughter Isabella Aurora (known as Bella) is an eventer, with results up to CCI3*-L level.

5. Chelsea Pearce

Daughter of former England under-21 manager and former England captain Stuart Pearce and Elizabeth Pearce, 22-year old Chelsea has represented Great Britain in eventing at pony and junior level and more recently has results up to intermediate and CCI3*-L level.

6. Lila Bremner

Comedian and impressionist Rory Bremner’s daughter Lila, 18, is a rising showjumping star and has competed on the British European team and more recently, up to 1.50m.

7. Brandi Cyrus

Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray’s daughter, has achieved world domination in the singing, writhing about and sticking out her tongue stakes, and older sister Brandi wants to do the same with equestrianism. The 33-year old DJ-podcaster-blogger is currently showjumping her seven-year-old grey mare Starpower at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Ocala.

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Gemma Redrup

H&H features, racing and point-to-point editor

Gemma is an experienced journalist, having been part of the H&H team since 2014, who is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at in August 2018. Gemma’s reporting talents have taken her to numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.