The Maccabi USA show jumping and dressage teams each took silver at the World Maccabiah Games in Israel on July 8-12.
Every four years since 1953, thousands of athletes travel to the Holy Land to join Israeli athletes in a series of around 40 games, ranging from cricket, to rhythmic gymnastics, chess, archery, badminton and more—in an Olympic-style format. Marked as the third largest sports event in the world, the competition is often referenced as the “Jewish Olympics” since its inception in 1932—this year it gathered more than 10,000 athletes from more than 80 countries in 34 sports.
This year the Games were doubly significant, as they fell on the same year as Jerusalem’s 50th anniversary, celebrating the reunification of the competition’s host city.
The United States fielded two open equestrian teams—dressage and show jumping—each comprised of four women who competed in the Winter Stadium about 20 minutes from Tel Aviv.
Both teams took silver, right behind the winning Israeli teams. Each member of the dressage team—Leah Marks, Hope Cooper, Anna Sylvan Jaffe and Rebecca Erin Cord—competed on borrowed horses, against 16 total participants. Individually, Jaffe placed fourth at the advanced level and at the dressage medium level, Leah Marks placed fourth. Jaffe also coached the team.
Anna Sylvan Jaffe, the coach of the open dressage team, also competed at the medium level on Rubijo and helped the U.S. team take silver. Photo courtesy of Debby Hymowitz
Kate Levy coached the show jumping team—Cloe Hymowitz, Andrea Glazer, Haley Schaufeld and Sydney Shulman—to silver. Individually, Hymowitz claimed fourth place and Schaufeld received fifth place.
(From left) Haley Schaufeld, Cloe Hymowitz, Sydney Shulman and Andrea Glazer joined forces to bring home silver for the United States. Photo courtesy of Debby Hymowitz
One of the greatest challenges of the Maccabiah Games is that not all of the riders bring their own horses; they have the option to borrow horses provided by the Games for the competition. Two of the four riders on the show jumping team—Glazer and Shulman—took advantage of this, both riding unfamiliar horses over the 1.20-meter jumps, around a tough course, in front of a packed audience that was loud even throughout the riders’ courses.
“To learn how to handle that pressure of a championship format at the lower height was a super good experience for me. I will take what I learned jumping for a team if I get a chance to represent the country again—I will know how to handle that pressure better and jump clear rounds,” said Hymowitz.
Hymowitz, 20, competed on her own horse, Fineman, who was shipped with Haley Schaufeld’s horse, Harley 86, from summer competitions in Europe. She enjoyed competing on the grass, the genuine atmosphere of the events and the beautiful medals with Hebrew on them. Hymowitz and Fineman picked up just 6 faults over three rounds of team jumping to help the U.S. team place second; Schaufeld was the anchor of the team, jumping two clear rounds and one round with just 4 faults aboard Harley 86.
Glazer, 22, from the USA’s show jumping team at the Games initially expected to ride on the dressage team, but was accepted in a discipline she wasn’t as familiar with. An eventer since age 6, Glazer had never competed at the 1.20-meter height, and spent the six months leading up to the competition in intense training to prepare. In her senior year at Auburn University (Ala.), she got permission to take a week off to go to HITS Ocala (Fla.) to train with Neal Shapiro to compete in the first “real” jumper show of her career. Her hometown trainer, Julie Richards, in Louisville, Ky., went “above and beyond” to find horses for Glazer to ride.
“I think I rode every horse in Alabama and Georgia,” Glazer said in a joking tone.
Not only did she compete in an unfamiliar country, in an unfamiliar discipline, but she also rode an unfamiliar horse—Chin Chinello—that she drew three days before the competition began.
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“He was the biggest horse there, [standing] at 17.2 hands. The first day I couldn’t even get him to trot. His owners said he’d perk up at the competition. He was a good boy, but nothing like what I’m used to—it was the biggest leg workout of my life,” Glazer said. “The good thing about eventing is that you can’t be scared on a random horse with jumps that fall down, when you’re used to jumps that don’t [fall].
“I rode through it and proved it to myself that I could be an eventer in the show jumping world. My mom was crying and I felt famous—it was like a scene out of a movie. Neither I nor the horse had jumped that high before. And the line that looked the highest—a triple bar into a triple combination—was the best part of my entire course. I definitely made mistakes, but all in all, I couldn’t have been happier,” Glazer said proudly.
Andrea Glazer aboard Chin Chinello, an Israeli horse that she drew in the pool of horses.
Her teammates helped through the nerves, talking through the course with Glazer beforehand and reassuring her. “They told me that there was no pressure and that we were just here, representing America and to have fun. That’s what I needed. Those girls are my best friends now,” said Glazer.
Unable to put the experience into words, Glazer described the whole trip as a dream—pinching herself that it actually happened. “I want to sleep with my medal and in my pinque coat,” she said.
For Glazer, it was for her hometown and for the whole Jewish community of Louisville, her parents and trainer. She said that her improvement as a show jumper was palpable.
Another rider from the show jumping team, Sydney Shulman, 22, rode an Israeli horse named Chees De La Luna, whom she borrowed from friends in Israel. Shulman and Chees De La Luna had rounds with 4, 12 and 4 faults.
Sydney Shulman on Chees De La Luna.
Shulman was impressed with the Israeli riders and their horses that were “great, careful and rideable.” Shulman couldn’t have anticipated how much she would enjoy participating in the Maccabi Games—at first skeptical about the whole occasion.
It was the opening ceremony that turned the dial for her.
“We were revved and got to walk around, meeting the other athletes as we waited to enter the stadium. When they opened the gates it was like unleashing zoo animals and we all went out screaming. It was pretty emotional and the entire stadium was packed,” Shulman said.
“The people couldn’t have been nicer and the courses were phenomenal. And for me, getting on a new horse is always so exiting,” said Shulman.
The opening ceremonies on July 6 at Teddy Kollek Stadium in Jerusalem stood out to all of the show jumping riders.
“Walking into that arena with all Jewish athletes was the coolest experience ever. Everything about the whole thing was the coolest thing ever. Now I wear something that says USA on it all the time; I’m so proud to be from the best country ever,” said Andrea Glazer.
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“We got to the ceremony at Teddy Stadium at around 3 p.m. and the USA athletes didn’t march until like 10:00 p.m.. We had a big group, second to Israel, and the energy was so amazing. There was USA chanting, the Star Spangled banner, soccer songs—everyone was screaming and dancing. Being recognized as a U.S. athlete was the biggest honor you could want in a sport,” said Hymowitz.
The U.S. riders celebrating during the opening ceremonies.
For the show jumping team and around 1,000 other athletes from the United States who traveled to Israel, the Games represented more than just a competition. It was also an opportunity to unite in horses and heritage. Part of the Maccabiah Games’ mission is “Building Jewish pride through sports.” This is done through athletic, cultural and educational programs.
For the first half of their time in Israel, the U.S. dressage and show jumping riders didn’t compete. Instead, they participated in a week-long program hosted by Israel Connect, a cultural and education program, established by Maccabi USA. Members of Team USA toured different areas of Israel by day, with parties, cultural and special events in the evenings. By the busload, American athletes and competitors of many other nationalities, mainly in their 20s, were guided around the country to see cultural sites like the Western Wall, Yad Vashem, the Jewish memorial to the Holocaust and Masada, an ancient fortress in the desert, swim in the Dead Sea, and enjoy religious ceremonies.
The activities align with the organization’s mission statement of providing American athletes with a Jewish experience—to enrich lives, to heighten their sense of Jewish identity and to strengthen their feelings of cross-cultural pride.
Hymowitz spoke of a particularly enlightening exchange between her and an Israeli man.
“At first the Israel Connect program, each of the buses had an Israeli soldier on them. On our bus we had Ayal, a 21-year old who was in doing army training to be a combat soldier but hurt his back. It was special and interesting to connect with someone basically my age who has been through so much in Israel, with the war and other difficulties that the country has. I didn’t feel any negative connotations between our cultures at all. It was an experience to talk about things with someone young and liberal from Israel—any [general] stereotypes aside. He explained Israeli politics and how the government parties work. It was eye-opening to learn from someone firsthand who is so young and to feel a genuine friendship with him—talking openly and honestly,” she said.
Not only did Hymowitz and her teammates connect with the community, but they also spent time with the Israeli athletes.
“They’re amazing! I made good friends who ride for Israel and we went to lunch and hung out, talked about horses and our sport. It was great to connect with someone on a different level and talk about our sport. It brought us together. It doesn’t feel like we’re from different countries. Maybe we have some different views, but it just feels like we’re talking about horses,” Hymowitz said.
Hymowitz described how the whole experience made her think more about her religion than ever before.
“I was touched by the different ways people practiced [Judaism] there. There was a good balance within the athletes that allowed you to feel how you felt with no pressure from teammates to do things in a certain religious way. Everyone was lighthearted about it. We connected through Jewish blood, but really enjoyed people as people, without only focusing on religion,” said Hymowitz.
The U.S. show jumping and dressage teams both won silver, but relished in a golden experience as described by the show jumping riders—connecting with Israeli culture, through shared religion, sport, friendship, all the while expanding the global riding community and celebrating a mutual joy of horses and competition.
