Get To Know Jeanne Engela

There are several young show jumping riders making waves on the circuits at the moment, and it’s refreshing to have a chance to chat to one of these ‘youngbloods’ to experience the industry from their perspective.

Jeanne Engela, who shares her time between her ‘work’ home in Jo’burg and her ‘holiday’ home in Cape Town, has had a good showing jumping year, with both her horses performing better as the year progresses.

We have caught up with her to learn more about her level-headed approach to horse riding.

When did you start horse riding?

When I was about 10 years old. My mom is a rider and she took me to my first few lessons. We share a passion for horses and the sport of showjumping, but the way I started my riding career was in a fun environment with lots of friends and great camaraderie.

Have you always loved showjumping and who was your first competitive horse?

I was very competitive on my ponies (Magic Man, Springtide and Treasure) in Children’s and competed across all the disciplines and achieved my Western Province colours for all of them. When I went to Juniors I specialised in showjumping as it was my favourite discipline.

My first competitive Junior horse was Piermont’s Pride, a small, feisty bay horse who would either win the class or throw me off!

How do you prepare for competition?

I run my horses on a tight schedule that I believe suits them at the time from about two weeks prior. It changes throughout the year, according to how much they have done and how strong and fit they are, but once I have decided on it, it is highly unlikely that I will change it or miss a day.

It doesn’t really matter how busy I am, I will stick to it. This schedule only really includes two to three hard sessions and the rest is just fine-tuning. I believe your most important prep is done months before a big event.

What is your ‘day job’ and how do you find time to ride?

I form part of the Leadership Team in the Client Support Centre at Investec Bank Ltd., as a subject matter expert. I do a lot of business analyst-based work on projects and processes within the CSC, among other things.

I don’t have set hours, so it does become a bit of a balancing act, but in summer I generally ride in the morning before work and then in winter I ride after work. I generally work an eight- to nine-hour day and ride for about two hours.

If I have a big show coming up then I will give my horses more time and if I have a big project going live at work then I spend more time at the office. Sometimes riding and work are equally demanding and those times are busy, but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

What does it take to get to the top in this sport, and do you think SA riders have this X-Factor?

SA riders definitely have this X-Factor. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to the journey. It takes mastering the basics. It takes a deep understanding of the sport and the animal, and the specific mount you are working with at the time.

It takes love, passion and care. It takes intuition, belief and perseverance. It takes sacrifice. It takes time, natural ability, feel, and of course bucks.

With editing by gsport