Georgina Bloomberg speaks with Molly Sorge and the Chronicle of the Horse about the excitement of expecting her first child with fellow rider Ramiro Quintana, her professional career, her desire to be a mother and the controversy that competing while five months pregnant caused when she finished third in the Grand Prix at the Hampton Classic.
The 30 year old daughter of New York’s Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has been a steady presence for US showjumping since her international debut in 2005 at the FEI Rolex World Cup Finals in La Vegas, NV. At the tender age of 22 year old, Georgina was skyrocketed into the international show jumping spotlight, but having been amongst some of the world’s most influential people in her lifetime, due to her father’s position in American politics, Georgina has certainly adjusted to the life of a professional equestrian athlete rather effortlessly.
But now, 8 years after her international debut in the sport, Georgina is expecting her first child with partner Ramiro Quintana, who rides for Argentina. Georgina, along with 36 year old international rider Ramiro, will expect their exciting addition to the family this December and no one is more excited than Georgina. The couple, who competed in Europe for the majority of the summer, saw successes in Munster, Germany as well as Spangenberg, Germany where they both competed at the CSI3* events there. However, after a very exciting third place finish at the World Cup Qualifier at the Hampton Classic, Georgina is happily taking a step back from competition and will remain out of the saddle until her due date in December. Here, Georgina speaks with Molly Sorge about her decisions and the excitement of competing and expecting
Q: The mainstream media definitely focused on your pregnancy and you got some criticism from the public. Did that bother you?
“I know it was controversial and I knew I’d get criticism for showing at the Hampton Classic. At that horse show in particular, we get so much attention from spectators that don’t know our sport well, so I knew I’d get some comments. But that wasn’t going to stop me from showing. I was going to listen to my body and be careful and smart about it and continue with as much as I felt comfortable doing.”
Q: How did you decide when to stop riding?
“During the first trimester I actually felt worse than I do now. It was harder, physically, for me to show in May than it was to show at the Hamptons. I had always said “If I find out I’m pregnant, I’m going to stop riding.” And then once it happened, I was like, “You know what, I feel good and I’d like to keep going.”
But obviously, it’s not just a matter of how I feel; it’s a matter of being smart. I tried to make good choices. I feel very safe on Juvina; she can jump anything. She’s not a horse that say, doesn’t jump the water or has a bad spook. Obviously anything can happen, but I feel very safe on her. I just took it week by week.
I knew for sure that the Hampton Classic would be my last show no matter what. That’s a show that’s close to my heart, so I wanted to do it. I still felt fit and healthy enough to do it, but I knew there was no going past that.
I showed all summer in Europe, and when we came back from Europe, the Hampton Classic was still three weeks away. I wanted to stay as fit as possible and keep riding, but when it came down to it, I wanted to be safe. I had both Paul [O’Shea] and Ramiro lined up to ride my young horses if I decided that I didn’t feel comfortable doing it. I ended up staying really fit and feeling really good and like I could do it, so I decided to take the chance.”
Source: Molly Sarge for Chronicle of the Horse
Photo Courtesy of Lucio Landa