Bruce Springsteen’s Daughter Named To Olympic Equestrian Team

COLTS NECK, NJ - Move over, Boss: another Springsteen is making a name for herself in the public eye.

Jessica Springsteen, daughter of famed New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen and singer-songwriter Patti Scialfa, was recently named to the U.S. Olympic equestrian team’s jumping squad this week to try her luck in the Tokyo Olympics later this summer. She will compete aboard her 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion Don Juan van de Donkhoeve, owned by her family’s Stone Hill Farm in Colts Neck.

Springsteen, 29, grew up in Rumson but spent quite some time on her family’s 368-acre farm in Colts Neck where she first began riding at the age of four (she now resides in Los Angeles). She will compete in the horseback riding competition Aug. 2 through 7 alongside fellow world-class riders Kent Farrington, Laura Kraut and McLain Ward.

"I started riding when I was really little," Springsteen told People Magazine. "My mom had always wanted to ride so when we moved to New Jersey she started taking lessons. Our home is right across the road from one of the top junior training barns – and I went right into that when I was a teenager … I started competing and doing the jumpers, then I turned professional. It all really happened pretty naturally."

Springsteen is a graduate of the Ranney School in Tinton Falls and Duke University, where she earned a degree in psychology. Coinciding with her educational feats, she has garnered numerous accolades in riding from a young age including nods at the 2008 ASPCA Maclay Finals and the 2009 Winter Equestrian Festival Excellence in Equitation Championship. She’s also earned over $2 million in international competitions.

Springsteen reportedly secured her spot on the Olympic team last month when she won the K 4* Grand Prix Hubside Jumping Tour event in France with a time of 36.16 seconds, according to NJ.com.

The 29-year-old first served as an alternate rider for the 2012 Olympics, though 2021 will serve as her official Olympic debut. She is now ranked at No. 3 on the U.S. rider list, just behind Kraut and Ward. According to the most recent world rankings, Springsteen places at 27.

The American team has received medals in team jumping at six of the last nine Olympics, including a silver award in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

But while Springsteen's famous father is slated to take a break from his “Springsteen On Broadway” show just in time for the Olympic events, it’s likely that The Boss won’t be in attendance due to COVID restrictions prohibiting international spectators.