Melanie Smith (equestrian)

For other people named Melanie Smith, see Melanie Smith (disambiguation).

Melanie Smith
Personal information
Birth nameMelanie Ainsworth Smith[1]
BornSeptember 23, 1949 (1949-09-23) (age 74)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Medal record
Equestrian
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1984 Los Angeles Team jumping
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1979 San Juan Team jumping

Melanie Smith (born September 23, 1949) is an equestrian from the United States and Olympic champion.

She was born in Germantown, Tennessee, and grew up on her parents' farm learning to ride horses.[2] She won several amateur competitions and got better at her sport, advancing into the Grand Prix class in 1976. She won many of the top competitions in this class over her long career in show jumping.

She was on the U.S. gold medal team in the Pan American Games in 1979, riding Val de Loire.[1] She qualified for the 1980 Olympics, but did not compete due to the U.S. Olympic Committee's boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russia. She was one of 461 athletes to receive a Congressional Gold Medal instead.[3] She also won a bronze medal in the individual jumping category on Calypso at the Alternate Olympics. She qualified for the Olympics again four years later in 1984, and helped win the first team gold for the U.S. in Olympic Show Jumping, again riding Calypso. In 1980 she placed second in the World Cup on Calypso, and at the 1982 World Cup, she won. She also rode Calypso to help the U.S. team win the Nations Cup and the World Cup in 1983. She won the show jumping triple crown on Calypso, becoming one of two riders to achieve that honor, as well as the only horse/rider team ever to do it.[4]

Smith was inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 1988.[5] Her mount, Calypso, is in the Show Jumping Hall of Fame.[6] Smith was included in the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.[7]

She married Lee Taylor in 1985, and lives on Wildwood Farm in Germantown, where she continues to breed thoroughbred horses for show jumping, hunting, and polo. She worked with her husband on the farm until his death in 2005.[5] Since her retirement, Smith has provided commentary for many major televised jumping events and taught horse clinics throughout the United States, including at her own farm. She has judged competitions and designed courses for show jumping. She wrote the book Riding With Life: Lessons from the Horse, about what she has learned over the years living with horses.[8]

  1. ^ a b "Taylor, Melanie Smith (1949—) | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  2. ^ "Ten Questions Answered by Melanie Smith Taylor – For Students Of Horsemanship". eclectic-horseman.com. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  3. ^ Caroccioli, Tom; Caroccioli, Jerry. Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Highland Park, IL: New Chapter Press. pp. 243–253. ISBN 978-0942257403.
  4. ^ "Calypso – 2002 | Show Jumping Hall Of Fame". Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Print. "Show Jumping Horseman Of The Year: Melanie Smith Taylor". www.chronofhorse.com. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  6. ^ "Inductees | Show Jumping Hall Of Fame". Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  7. ^ "Melanie Smith Taylor – 1998". Show Jumping Hall Of Fame. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  8. ^ "Melanie Smith Taylor Clinic". GCHS. February 2, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2021.