Rising star Natalie Dean is bringing the girl power to show jumping.
The 25-year-old currently rides for Cannes Stars, the only team on the Global Champions League circuit that is entirely made up of female riders, breaking the status quo of show jumping being a relatively male dominated sport.
Competitive jumping is one of the few sports that sees men and women compete directly against each other, with the mixed format introduced to the Olympic programme in 1964.
But despite being a truly integrated sport, out of all the equestrian disciplines, jumping is still viewed as the most male dominated.
Competing as part of the wider Global Champions Tour, the six-strong team, owned by Iron Dames, extended their 2024 season lead with a third place finish at the GCL’s London leg and Dean noted the importance of the team in proving that women can jump.
“It shows that girl power angle and I think our team has such great support behind us with the Iron Dames,” she said.
“We’re improving every show and everyone is always motivated. This is the priority for us.
“The goal is always for us to be top of the podium and I think we keep pushing and showing that dreams can come true and women can do it just as good, if not even better than men.”
Dean is the youthful energy behind the team, with the GCL rules stating that each side must include one under-25 rider.
Bolstered by the experience of established jumpers Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmerman, Katrin Eckermann, Sophie Hinners, Sanne Thijssen and Kim Emmen, Cannes Stars currently lead the GCL standings on their first season with new ownership under the Iron Dames.
At the London event, Dean joined forces with Hinners and Meyer-Zimmerman to clinch third place in what Global Champions Sporting Director Marco Danese describes as a unique concept to sport.
“We have 14 teams which are not related to the nations competing and are run by private owners,” he said.
“They have a list of six riders from any country and at each show they compete with two or three riders in rotation.
“Within the six riders there is an obligation to have an under-25 rider so we have a lot of young riders competing.
“It’s a really nice concept because they compete in a different way to the other team competitions around the world as it’s consecutive throughout a season.”
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