Olympic veteran Margie Engle and McLain Ward’s two-time Olympic mount Sapphire have been elected for induction into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame. They will be honored during the Hall of Fame’s annual induction ceremony at the Devon Horse Show in May.

Induction into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame is an honor bestowed annually upon select individuals whose contributions to the sport have set them apart and whose influence has had a significant impact on the sport of show jumping and the equestrian community.

Margie Goldstein Engle is one of the most accomplished riders in U.S. history. She competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, won the team silver medal at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, and is a three-time Pan American Games medalist, with team gold and individual bronze medals in 2003 and team silver in 1999. She has ridden in 17 World Cup Finals, represented the United States on numerous Nations Cup squads and has won over 200 grand prix classes, including many of the nation’s and the world’s most prestigious events.

Engle has won the American Grandprix Association Rider of the Year award 10 times; she is the only person to win the award more than four times. She was the first rider to place six horses in the ribbons and the first to sweep the top five places, in a single grand prix.

Engle contributed to the U.S.’s win in the FEI Nations Cup Series in 1997, the same year she rode Hidden Creek’s Laurel on USET squads that won Nations Cups at Rome and St. Gallen (Switzerland), along with an individual win in the Grand Prix of Rome.

In 1998, she tied for sixth place in the FEI World Cup Final in Helsinki (Finland) and won that year’s USET Show Jumping Championship. In 2000-2, she became the first rider to win the Hampton Classic’s (New York) featured grand prix three straight years.

In 2014, Engle rode Royce on winning U.S. teams at the Hickstead CSIO5* (England)  and at the Barcelona CSIO5*. In 2018, Engle celebrated her 60th birthday by winning the $500,000 CSI5* Grand Prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival (Florida)

Sapphire, a Belgian Warmblood mare carried McLain Ward to two Olympic team gold medals in 2004 and 2008, a WEG team silver in 2006 and dozens of individual wins at many of the world’s biggest and most prestigious events.

She was owned at different times by Ward in partnership with Harry Gill, Double H Farm, Blue Chip Bloodstock and Tom Grossman. Sapphire and Ward quickly became mainstays on all major U.S. teams and helped the U.S. win the Samsung FEI Nations Cup Super League in 2005. They were also part of the U.S.’s WEG team at Lexington, Kentucky, in 2010 when they again placed seventh individually.

Ward rode her in four FEI World Cup Finals, placing eighth in 2007 and second in 2009 when they jumped clear in all five rounds. Their long list of wins together includes the $1 Million CN International Grand Prix at Spruce Meadows (Alberta), the $1 Million Grand Prix at Saugerties (New York)), the $100,000 President’s Cup at the Washington International (District Of Columbia), the Grand Prix of La Baule (France) and Grand Prix of Rome in 2010, the $200,000 American Invitational (Florida), and both the $50,000 Grand Prix qualifier and $250,000 Hampton Classic Grand Prix (New York).

Sapphire was named the AGA Horse of the Year in 2007 and the USEF Show Jumping Horse of the Year in 2009. After her retirement in the spring of 2012, Sapphire lived a happy life at Ward’s Castle Hill Farm until her passing in 2014 at age 19.