March 8, 2021 
It’s International Women’s Day!
To celebrate, Hannah Selleck, Georgina Bloomberg, Laura Kraut, Mavis Spencer and Karen Polle are inviting you to hang out. Virtually. And listen as they share their stories, successes and struggles with you.
On Monday, March 8 at 6 p.m. (EST) five of the best-known female names in show jumping will come together for “Women in Show Jumping,” a virtual panel event in honor of International Women’s Day. Free tickets to view the panel are available here.
“While we’re still in a time where we can’t all be together in person, I wanted to come up with something, in honor of International Women’s Day, that would bring women together in a meaningful way,” said Hannah Selleck, an accomplished professional equestrian, founder of Descanso Farm and the organizer of the panel event.
Joining Selleck on the panel will be:
- Georgina Bloomberg (USA), professional equestrian, founder of The Rider’s Closet
- Laura Kraut (USA), 2008 Olympic team gold medalist and 2018 World Equestrian Games team gold winner
- Mavis Spencer (USA), professional show jumper and ambassador for U.S. Equestrian
- Karen Polle (JAP), award-winning show jumper, member of the Japanese National Show Jumping Team
“My hope was to create a diverse panel of women that all come to the conversation with their own unique backgrounds,” said Selleck. “Georgina and Laura are able to provide different perspectives as not only professional athletes but as mothers as well, and we all bring our own individual backgrounds and upbringings.”
Led by moderator Sarah Appel, editor in chief of Horse & Style magazine, the five female athletes will discuss the challenges, benefits and idiosyncrasies that female equestrians navigate in the sport of show jumping. From the strength and empowerment that they find in the saddle to balancing a professional career with motherhood to barriers to entry in the sport and more, Bloomberg, Kraut, Spencer, Polle and Selleck will cover as many topics as possible within the hour-long panel.
While doing so, the panelists also aim to raise funds and awareness for the Women’s Sports Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that exists to enable girls and women to reach their potential in sport and life.
“Our hope is that we can provide a meaningful conversation that listeners can find benefit in, while also giving back to a really wonderful organization,” concluded Selleck.
While registration to view the live, virtual event is free, viewers are encouraged to donate by texting WSFHorse to 91999 or by making an online contribution here.
To sign-up for a ticket to attend the virtual panel event, click here, and find the event on Facebook here.
